Romy Hoffman (born 1980) is an Australian songwriter and musician who has performed under the names Macromantics, Romy and Agender. Initially based in Sydney, since 2014 she has worked in Los Angeles.

Life and career

Romy Hoffman was raised in a Jewish household. In 1995 as a 15-year-old she started playing guitar with her high school classmate

Ben Lee Benjamin Michael Lee (born 11 September 1978) is an Australian musician and actor. Lee began his career as a musician at the age of 14 with the Sydney band Noise Addict, but he focused on his solo career when the band broke up in 1995. He appe ...

's pop, punk band

Noise Addict Noise Addict (sometimes styled as Noiseaddict) was an Australian alternative rock band formed in 1993 by founding mainstay Ben Lee on lead vocals and guitar. He was joined in 1995 by Romy Hoffman on guitar before the group disbanded early in 19 ...

. With the group, she toured the United States where she encountered the New York-based hip hop culture. She told Tim Colman of ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'', "I just did the last tour with them, which was great because I got to go to America." While a member of Noise Addict she was recorded for the track, "Spritz", which is the B-side of their single, "The Frail Girl" (1995). She later returned to the US, to spend time writing, in San Francisco. As a result, she released her debut solo seven-track extended play, ''Hyperbolic Logic'', in 2004. Colman observed, "It's a challenging listen, with Hoffman spitting tight, at times confronting, rhymes over dark, uneasy and engaging beats... The listening effort unearths a poetic and abstract wordsmith sharing personal experiences and insights."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

's Heather Phares noticed, "

he EP He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

which introduced her passionate and often witty MC style." 2006 also saw Hoffman become the first hip-hop act (and only the second Australian act) to be signed to the US record label,

Kill Rock Stars Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but was originally kn ...

(home to

The Gossip Gossip (or The Gossip) was an American indie rock band formed in Searcy, Arkansas, originally active from 1999 until 2016. For most of their career, the band consisted of singer Beth Ditto, multi-instrumentalist Brace Paine, and drummer Hannah ...

Deerhoof Deerhoof are an American musical group formed in San Francisco in 1994. They currently consist of founding drummer Greg Saunier, bassist and singer Satomi Matsuzaki, and guitarists John Dieterich and Ed Rodriguez. Beginning as an improvised no ...

Sleater Kinney Sleater-Kinney ( ) is an American rock band that formed in Olympia, Washington, in 1994. The band's current lineup features Corin Tucker (vocals and guitar) and Carrie Brownstein (guitar and vocals), following the departure of longtime member J ...

and

Bikini Kill Bikini Kill is an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington, in October 1990. The group consisted of singer and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. The band pioneered the r ...

). She released her first full-length album, ''

Moments in Movement ''Moments in Movement'' is the first studio album by Australian hip hop artist Macromantics. Originally released in 2006, it was re-released on Kill Rock Stars Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and ...

'', in September 2006 created in collaboration with local producer Tony Buchen. The album was nominated for the 2006

J Award The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J and which are judged by the music and on-air teams from radio stations Triple ...

. 2007 saw Macromantics undertaking a national tour and supporting

Lily Allen Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. Her music career began in 2005 when she made some of her vocal recordings public ...

's tour of Australia. In 2010, after two years of extensive touring, Romy began work on a dark electro pop record. The single "Sleep" was released in 2010 with remixes by DFA's The Juan Maclean and

Brain Children A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ i ...

. In 2011 she embarked on a U.S with

JD Samson JD Samson (born August 4, 1978), stage name of Jocelyn Samson is an American musician, producer, songwriter and DJ best known as a member of the bands Le Tigre and MEN. Background Samson grew up in Pepper Pike, Ohio, and attended Orange High ...

's group

MEN A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chro ...

. In 2011 she worked on another record as ROMY. This time, a house inspired record. In 2012/2013, the single "Elixir" was released on prestigious house label Nervous Records. The follow up "Home" came out on the chic underground cult label 100% Silk. Hoffman has always maintained her punk roots. In 2011 she made a "schitzo synthy paranoid punk" lo-fi solo record as AGENDER. She played all the instruments on the record. In 2013 AGENDER morphed into an all girl 3 piece, known for their intense, fast, tight knit punk shows. The band's record ''Fixations'' was released on French label Desire Records. The band toured the U.S in June/July 2014.

Discography

Albums

Singles

*"Four Facets" b/w "Conspiracy Remix" (2005) *"Sleep" (2010) (as Romy) *"Home" (2012) (as Romy) *"Elixir" (2012) (as Romy) *"Mani Pedi" (2013) (as Agender)

Awards and nominations

AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as

AIR Awards The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. History The inaugural 2006 awards were held at ...

) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. , - ,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

, Macromantics , Most Oustsanding New Independent Artist , , -

J Award

The

J Awards The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J and which are judged by the music and on-air teams from radio stations Triple J, ...

are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owne ...

's youth-focused radio station

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

. They commenced in 2005. , - ,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

, ''Moments in Movement'' , Australian Album of the Year ,

References

External links

Macromantics
on Myspace * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffman, Romy 1980 births Living people Australian women singer-songwriters Australian hip hop singers Australian women rappers Australian Jews Jewish Australian musicians Jewish rappers Singers from Melbourne Noise Addict members Rappers from Sydney