RISING ELECTRO POPSTAR
BELLE
IN our quest for the latest trend in pop music we have found Kiesa Rae Ellestad better known as KIESZA. Her smash hit "HIDEAWAY" ranked top ten this summer as a hot dance/electronic song. She made her first US TV debut just last July on CBS "The late Show with David Letterman where she recreated the video in and outside the Ed Sullivan Theatre. Born in January 16, 1989 in Calgary Canada at the age of 16 she took part in the Sail and Life Training Society (SALTS) program and a year later she joined the reserves of the Royal Canadian Navy along with her brother, with whom she became a NavCom (Naval Communicator) It was whilst she was at crew singalongs at the Navy that she taught herself to play guitar. She attributes her time in the Navy as a reason why, in 2008, she gave away 4,500 CDs to Canadian troops serving in Afghanistan. The 25 year old spent part of her teens trying to be a ballerina. Meanwhile, she also entered the Miss Universe Canada pageant.
The video for HIDEAWAY was shot in Williamsburg New York in two takes inspite of the fact that the day of the shoot she broke a rib and had to learn five completely dance style with three. How did she managed to be tossed around filming the video with a broken rib is determination although this kept her off her feet afterwards for an entire month. The video is a one take shot as she dances thru the city streets , switching off dancing partners .
Kiesza has a lot of creative projects on the go. There’s the music, there’s the art – she paints, and do sort of surrealist artwork, oil painting and Photoshop artwork. That’s a separate project. And then there’s her fashion.
She is also writing a piece of film opera. It’s all contemporary music… the whole thing is sung from start to finish.
Kiesza is launching a new album this month and although it is not all dance music by any means; it’s fast and slow and then there’s piano ballads. She is paying homage to that ’90s era, but combined with modern sounds.
Kiesza seems appreciative for the massive success of ‘Hideaway’, which has become a cultural event as much as a single, might be considered intimidating. For Kiesza having so many people around the world waiting to hear more is really an amazing feeling.
It just makes her want to do the best work she can do.
We wish KIESZA continue success with her new album and we are all looking forward to hear more from her.
click on image above for video