Ladyhawke

Ladyhawke biography

Phillipa Margaret "Pip" Brown (born 13 July 1979), better known by her stage name Ladyhawke, is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She was part of the Wellington-based band Two Lane Blacktop (2001-2003), named for the 1971 road film of the same name. After moving to Australia, she formed the Sydney-based art rock band Teenager in 2004 with Nick Littlemore of Pnau (and later Empire of the Sun). Ladyhawke took her stage name from Richard Donner's 1985 film of the same name. In 2007 she relocated to London. She is best known for her hit singles "Paris Is Burning" and "My Delirium". Her self-titled debut album was released on 22 September 2008 on Modular Recordings and topped the RIANZ Albums Chart. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2009, Ladyhawke won Breakthrough Artist in both album and single categories. Her second album Anxiety is due for release in May 2012.

Early life

Phillipa Margaret Brown was born on 13 July 1979 in Masterton, a town in the Wellington Region of New Zealand.^A She came from a musical family, with her mother being a singer-guitarist and her stepfather, a jazz drummer. During her childhood, various illnesses and allergies kept her in and out of hospital. At age ten she contracted erysipeloid, a disease that is common in seagulls but had not been seen in humans in New Zealand for twenty years. Her allergies to antibiotics, penicillin and antihistamines greatly complicated treatment efforts and almost put her into a coma, and she came close to dying.

Brown has been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. She believes that the large amount of her childhood she spent absorbed in music, be it listening to the radio or to her mother's Beatles and Pretenders albums, was attributable to this syndrome.

While attending Chanel College, she played in several grunge bands. After high school, Brown moved from Masterton to Wellington.

In 2001 in Wellington, Brown formed the band Two Lane Blacktop with some friends, playing lead guitar. She described the group as being "like Iggy and The Stooges meets The Clash". She cites her experience playing the notorious New York City club CBGB with Two Lane Blacktop as being a defining moment. In 2003 Two Lane Blacktop disbanded when their lead singer, Matt Harrop, and drummer, Phil Smiley, both quit the band two days prior to a scheduled tour of Australia with Modey Lemon, after which they were due to play at SXSW in Austin, Texas. Brown then made the impulsive decision to take her flight to Australia anyway, and she relocated to Melbourne.

Some time after Brown's move to Melbourne, Sydney-based musician Nick Littlemore of Pnau (he later formed Empire of the Sun) heard of her relocation and asked her if she was interested in joining an art rock band he had started called Teenager. Brown liked Littlemore's music and, in 2004, decided to join. Brown and Littlemore played together for two years, with Brown relocating to Sydney to be closer to the band, as well as other people she enjoyed playing and writing music with. Teenager's song "Pony" is featured in the 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV.

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