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Regina Spektor
Regina Spektor at the keyboard of an electronic piano
Background information
Born	February 18, 1980 (1980-02-18) (age 28) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Genre(s)	Alternative, Indie rock, Piano Rock, Anti-folk
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter, record producer
Instrument(s)	Piano, Vocals, Guitar
Years active	1999 – present
Label(s)	Warner/Sire
Website	Official website

Regina Spektor (Russian: Регина Спектор; born February 18, 1980) is a Russian-born Jewish-American singer-songwriter and pianist. Her music is associated with the anti-folk scene centered on New York City's East Village.

Early life

Spektor was born in Moscow, USSR (now Russia), to a musical Jewish family. Her father, Ilya Spektor, is a photographer and amateur violinist. Her mother, Bella Spektor, was a music professor in a Russian college of music, and now teaches at a public elementary school in Mount Vernon, New York.¹

Spektor learned how to play piano by practicing on a Petrof that was given to her mother by her grandfather.² She was also exposed to the music of rock and roll bands such as The Beatles, Queen, and The Moody Blues by her father, who obtained such recordings in Eastern Europe and traded cassettes with friends in the Soviet Union.¹ The family left the Soviet Union in 1989, when Regina was nine, during the period of Perestroika, when Soviet citizens were permitted to emigrate. Regina had to leave her piano behind.³ The seriousness of her piano studies led her parents to consider not leaving the USSR, but they finally decided to emigrate, due to the ethnic and political discrimination which Jews faced.⁴

Traveling first to Austria and then Italy, the family settled in the Bronx, New York, where Spektor graduated from the SAR Academy, a middle Jewish day school in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. She then attended high school for two years at the Frisch School, a yeshiva in Paramus, New Jersey, but transferred to a public school, Fair Lawn High School, in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, where she finished the last two years of her high school education.²⁵

Beginnings as a songwriter

In New York, Spektor studied classical piano with Sonia Vargas, a professor at the Manhattan School of Music, until she was 17; Spektor's father had met Vargas through her husband, violinist Samuel Marder. ⁶ Although the family had been unable to bring their piano from Russia, Spektor found a piano on which to play in the basement of her synagogue, and also practiced on tabletops and other hard surfaces.²

Spektor was originally interested only in classical music, but later became interested in hip hop, rock and punk as well.¹ Although she had always made up songs around the house, Spektor first became interested in more formal songwriting during a visit to Israel with the Nesiya Institute in her teenage years when she attracted attention from the other children on the trip for the songs she made up while hiking and realized she had an aptitude for songwriting.⁴

Following this trip, she was exposed to the work of Joni Mitchell, Ani DiFranco, and other singer-songwriters, which encouraged her belief that she could create her own songs.⁴ She wrote her first a cappella songs around age sixteen and her first songs for voice and piano when she was nearly eighteen.¹

Spektor completed the four-year studio composition program of the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College within three years, graduating with honors in 2001. Around this time, she also worked briefly at a butterfly farm in Luck, Wisconsin, and studied in Tottenham, England for one semester.

She gradually achieved recognition through performances in the anti-folk scene in downtown New York City, most importantly at the East Village's Sidewalk Cafe, but also at the Living Room, Tonic, Fez, the Knitting Factory, and CB's Gallery.² She sold self-produced CDs at her performances during this period: 11:11 (2001) and Songs (2002).

Style

Regina Spektor in concert, April 2007.

Spektor has said that she has created 700 songs,⁷ but that she rarely writes any of them down. She has also stated that she never aspired to write songs herself, but songs seem to just flow to her.⁸ Spektor's songs are not usually autobiographical, but rather are based on scenarios and characters drawn from her imagination.⁹⁴ Her songs show influences from folk,¹⁰¹¹ punk, rock, Jewish,⁹¹² Russian,⁹ hip hop,¹⁰¹³¹⁴ jazz,¹⁰¹³ and classical music.⁹¹³ Spektor's musical style has drawn many comparisons to fellow singer-pianists Tori Amos and Fiona Apple,¹⁵¹⁴ as well as the vocal stylings of Björk. Spektor has said that she works hard to ensure that each of her songs has its own musical style, rather than trying to develop a distinctive style for her music as a whole.⁸

Spektor possesses a broad vocal range and uses the full extent of it. She also explores a variety of different and somewhat unorthodox vocal techniques, such as verses composed entirely of buzzing noises made with the lips and beatbox-style flourishes in the middle of ballads, and also makes use of such unusual musical techniques as using a drum stick to tap rhythms on the body of the piano or chair.¹⁶⁴ Part of her style also results from the exaggeration of certain aspects of vocalization, most notably the glottal stop, which is prominent in the single "Fidelity". She also uses a strong New York accent on some words, which she has said is due to her love of New York and its culture.¹

Her lyrics are equally eclectic, often taking the form of abstract narratives or first-person character studies, similar to short stories or vignettes put to song.¹⁶¹ Spektor usually sings in English, though she sometimes includes a few words or verses of Latin, Russian, French, and other languages in her songs. Some of Spektor's lyrics include literary allusions,⁴ such as to F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway in "Poor Little Rich Boy", The Little Prince in "Baobabs", Virginia Woolf and Margaret Atwood in "Paris", Ezra Pound and William Shakespeare in "Pound of Flesh", Boris Pasternak in "Après Moi", Samson and Delilah in "Samson", and Oedipus the King in "Oedipus", and Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome in "2.99 cent blues". She also used a line from Joni Mitchell's California in her song "The Devil Came to Bethlehem". Recurring themes and topics in Spektor's lyrics include love, death, religion (particularly Biblical and Jewish references), city life (particularly New York references), and certain key phrases have been known to recur in different songs by Spektor, such as references to gravediggers, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the name "Mary Ann". Spektor's use of satire is evident in "Wasteside," which refers to the classic satirical novel by the Soviet authors Ilf and Petrov The Twelve Chairs, and describes the town in which people are born, get their hair cut, and then are sent to the cemetery.

In Spektor's early albums, many of her tracks had a very dry vocal production, with very little reverb or delay added. However, Spektor's more recent albums, particularly Begin to Hope, have put more emphasis into song production and have relied more on traditional pop and rock instruments.³ Spektor says the records that most impact her are those of "bands whose music is really involved",¹⁷ specifically naming The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Billie Holiday, Radiohead, Tom Waits, and Frédéric Chopin as primary influences.¹⁸¹⁷

Performances

Spektor at her first performance in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 3, 2007

Spektor's first nationwide tour was accompanying The Strokes as the opening act on their 2003–2004 Room on Fire tour, during which she and the band performed and recorded "Modern Girls & Old Fashion Men". Kings of Leon were the second opening act on that tour, and they invited Regina to open for them on their own European tour right after The Strokes tour. In June 2005, Spektor was the opening act for the English piano rock band Keane on their North American tour, during which she performed at Radio City Music Hall on June 7, 2005.¹⁹ During her 2006 headlining tour in support of the Begin to Hope album, Spektor sold out two shows at Town Hall Theater in New York City on September 27 and September 28, 2006.²⁰

Spektor has appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien (three times), The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (twice), Jimmy Kimmel Live (twice), Last Call with Carson Daly (five times), Late Show with David Letterman, CBS News Sunday Morning, Good Morning America, and Australia's Rove Live.²¹ Since January 2005, Spektor has performed on a bright red Baldwin baby grand piano.²² She plays a seafoam Epiphone Wildkat archtop hollow-body electric guitar.²³

Although she generally only performs original material, Spektor occasionally performs covers. Most famous of these covers were her performances of songs by Leonard Cohen and Madonna, for the 2nd Annual Jewish Music & Heritage Festival at the 92nd Street Y in New York City.⁴ In 2006 and 2007, Spektor embarked on a headlining tour of the U.S. and Europe, selling out numerous clubs and theaters.^{citation needed} She covered John Lennon's "Real Love" at the performance arts center of her alma mater, State University of New York at Purchase, on March 28, 2007, at a benefit concert for the Conservatory of Music.²⁴ In 2007, Spektor recorded "Real Love" for the Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur CD, which was released in June of that year. She recorded a version of the song for Triple J's Like a Version radio segment which was shown on jTV. Spektor recorded her new song for the movie soundtrack of "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" named "The Call".

Regina Spektor performing in Brighton on 2006-10-26.

On March 8, 2007, Spektor appeared on ITV's Loose Women, promoting and performing "Fidelity" live, and on April 20, 2007, she performed on the Late Show with David Letterman. On Saturday, April 28, 2007, she appeared at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. On Friday, May 18, 2007, she appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. On June 16, 2007, she performed at the Bonnaroo Music Festival and later performed at the 2007 Lollapalooza on August 4, 2007 and Virgin Festival on August 5, 2007 in Baltimore, Maryland. On September 16, 2007, she performed at the Austin City Limits Music Festival and recorded a set for the Austin City Limits TV show the following day. She performed acoustic at the Bridge School Benefit at Shoreline Amphitheatre on October 27 and October 28, 2007.

On November 14, 2007, at her concert at Ryman Auditorium, in Nashville, it was announced that Spektor collapsed during the sound check and was taken to a local emergency room. According to the statement given to the audience, Spektor was fine, but doctors said she could not perform that night. It was later reported that the cause of the collapse was an inner ear infection which caused intense vertigo. The show was initially rescheduled for December 6, 2007,²⁵ but the date was once again rescheduled, and the concert finally occurred on February 27, 2008.²⁶ After her initial collapse in Nashville, she was able to perform in concerts at Mountain Stage on November 18, 2007,^{citation needed} and at Duke University on November 19, 2007.²⁷ After a relapse, however, she was unable to play at Toad's Place in Richmond on November 21, 2007. The Richmond concert was rescheduled for December 10, 2007, but was ultimately rescheduled once again, due to Spektor's recurring illness.^{citation needed}

Media coverage

Spektor performing at the Hammerstein Ballroom on October 16, 2007

Since 2005, Spektor's music has been used in various television programs and commercials. In late 2005 "Us" (from Soviet Kitsch) was used in a commercial as part of the What Do You Want To Watch? series for the United Kingdom's British Sky Broadcasting. The advert features a clip from a documentary on skateboarder Danny Way. In the summer of 2006, a clip from "Us" was used for the teaser website for Microsoft's Zune project at ComingZune.com, as well as for a promotional campaign for MtvU. The same track is used by Dutch telecom company KPN in a commercial. "Somedays" was used in a 2005 episode of CSI: NY and "Samson" was used in a 2006 episode of the same series. "On the Radio" was used in an episode of ABC's Grey's Anatomy. "Field Below" was used in a 2006 episode titled "The Last Word" of CBS's Criminal Minds. "Fidelity" has also been used in an episode of Grey's Anatomy titled "Six Days, Part 2", Veronica Mars titled "Witchita Linebacker",, Brothers & Sisters titled "Sexual Politics" and in the most successful brazilian telenovela called A Favorita. "Better" is currently being used in a commercial for XM Satellite Radio. Her song "Music Box" is currently being used in a commercial for JC Penney. Spektor also sang the title song "Little Boxes" of Showtime's television series Weeds in the episode "Mile Deep and a Foot Wide" (2006) and her "Ghost of Corporate Future" was used both at the beginning and end of the episode.²⁸ On January 21, 2007, she was featured on CBS News Sunday Morning.⁸

Spektor received increased attention in 2006 when her video for "Fidelity" was viewed over 200,000 times in two days on YouTube. On SIRIUS Radio's Left of Center channel, her single "Fidelity" was voted by listeners as the #1 song of 2006. Towards the end of 2006, VH1 showcased her as part of their "You Oughta Know: Artists on the Rise" featurettes: they played clips from the "Fidelity" music video and showed parts of an interview with Spektor during commercial breaks on the channel.²⁹ Regina was recently named #3 on VH1's Top Artists Charts.

Regina Spektor performing in the West London Synagogue, February 2007.

In Australia, Spektor's music has rapidly gained popularity in mainstream culture primarily due to Begin To Hope being played on the nation-wide radio station Triple J, where it eventually became a feature album. Prior to Begin To Hope, Regina Spektor had only a small following in Australia in comparison to the US and Europe.

Spektor reached #33 on Blender magazine's top 100 of 2006 and was also listed as one of the "Hottest Women of...Rock!".³⁰ "Fidelity" was also used in a 2007 television commercial in New Zealand advertising Yahoo!Xtra, a new partnership between Yahoo! and Telecom's Xtra ISP, and in the third episode³¹³² of the ITV series, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, in the UK. Also in 2007, the mobile phone company Vodafone used her lyric, "Come into my world..." from the track, "Hotel Song" on Begin to Hope, in an extensive TV advertising campaign in the UK and Ireland.

On October 1, 2007, Spektor's new video for "Better" was released on VH1 and YouTube, where it was viewed more than 100,000 times within the first 24 hours. "Fidelity" was used in the trailer for the film 27 Dresses, released on October 3, 2007.³³

On February 4, 2008, Spektor performed the music for Oscar de la Renta's 2008 fashion show in New York City. Her performances included "Fidelity", "Us", and "Hotel Song". ³⁴

Her song "The Call" appeared prominently in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, as part of the film's finale sequence.

Charity

In 2008 she participated in a music album called Songs for Tibet, which is an initiative to support Tibet, Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso and to underline the human rights situation in Tibet. The album was issued on August 5 via iTunes and on August 19 in music stores around the world.³⁵

Discography

Spektor's first two albums were released exclusively in the United States; Soviet Kitsch and Begin to Hope were released worldwide. The compilation Mary Ann Meets the Gravediggers and Other Short Stories, containing songs from Spektor's first three albums, was put together for the UK market.

• 1999: Demo Cassette (Unreleased)
• 2001: 11:11 (Self-released)
• 2002: Songs (Self-released)
• 2003/2004: Soviet Kitsch (Self-released/Shoplifter/Sire)
• 2006: Begin to Hope (Sire)
• 2009: Forthcoming album (Sire)

EPs and singles

• 2005: Live at Bull Moose EP (Sire)
• 2006: "Carbon Monoxide"
• 2006: "Us"
• 2006: "On the Radio"
• 2006: "Fidelity"
• 2007: "Better"
• 2007: Live in California 2006 EP (Sire)

Compilations

• 2000: Public Domain (Purchase Records)
• 2006: Mary Ann Meets the Gravediggers and Other Short Stories (Transgressive)
• 2007: Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur
• 2007: "Alan Glazen: PBS producer, picks Regina best of 2007"
• 2008: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (soundtrack)

Collaborations

• 2004: Modern Girls & Old Fashion Men - The Strokes' Reptilia single (RCA)
• 2007: Hell No - Sondre Lerche' Dan In Real Life Soundtrack
• 2008: You Don't Know Me - Ben Folds's album Way to Normal (Sony)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Regina Spektor

• Official site
• Regina Spektor profile on Myspace
• Regina Spektor Music Profile on imeem
• Regina Spektor at the Internet Movie Database
• Regina Spektor at the Open Directory Project
• "Regina Spektor" interview by Noel Murray (from The A.V. Club, 21 June 2006)
• "Regina Spektor Talks... and Talks... and Talks", interview by Michael Roberts (from Denver Westword, 3 May 2007)
• Interview from Soundcheck, WNYC, 13 September 2005
• Interview from All Things Considered, National Public Radio, 28 June 2006