Amandah Wilkinson (born ) is a New Zealand-Australian pop musician from the

Gold Coast, Queensland The Gold Coast, also known by its initials, GC, is a coastal city and region in the state of Queensland, Australia, located approximately south-southeast of the centre of the list of Australian capital cities, state capital, Brisbane. It is ...

. She was the founding mainstay lead singer and guitarist of

Operator Please Operator Please were an Australian pop band, originating in the Gold Coast, Queensland, in 2005. Their final line-up consisted of vocalist and guitarist Amandah Wilkinson, drummer Tim Commandeur, keyboardist Chris Holland, bassist Ashley McC ...

from 2005 to 2011, which released two studio albums before splitting. Wilkinson went solo as Bossy Love in 2011 and used the same name when forming a duo in 2013 with John Baillie Jnr, ex-lead vocalist and drummer of Scottish pop-rock group

Dananananaykroyd Dananananaykroyd was a Scottish six-piece, self-dubbed 'Fight Pop' band formed in 2006 in Glasgow. Their name is a play on the name of Canadian-American actor Dan Aykroyd. They announced via Facebook and Twitter on 29 September 2011 that they ...

(2006–2011). As from 2016 they are based in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and released their debut album, ''Me + U'', in October 2019 via Double-A Side Records.

Biography

Amandah Wilkinson was born in Australia to an Indonesian mother and an English father. She was raised in

New Plymouth New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, in Devon, from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. The New Pl ...

and

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

with an older sibling, whom she describes as "a huge influence, musically and artistically." In 1997 the family moved to Australia and settled on the

. After seeing American musical comedy film, ''

Josie and the Pussycats Josie and the Pussycats (sometimes simply known as The Pussycats) is a fictional girl group rock band created by Dan DeCarlo for Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc. (often referred to simply as Archie Comics) is an American comic boo ...

'' (2001), and listening to its related

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

, Wilkinson decide to pursue a career in pop music. OperatorPleasePRphotoByDanielBoud

While a secondary student at

Elanora State High School Elanora State High School is the high school serving the Elanora, Queensland, Elanora area of the Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1990, it currently has a student body of 950. Music department The schoo ...

in 2005 she canvassed fellow students to form a teen pop group,

. Alongside Wilkinson on lead vocals and guitar were

Tim Commandeur Timothy Commandeur (born 21 June 1990) is an ARIA Award–winning Sydney-based drummer and producer, best known as the drummer in Operator Please and Panama. Biography Drumming since the age of ten, Commandeur joined Amandah Wilkinson and th ...

on drums, Sarah-Jane Gardiner on keyboards, Stephanie Joske on violin and Ashley McConnell on bass guitar, who were all aged from 17 to 19. They entered and won a local Battle of the Bands competition, soon after Joske was replaced by Taylor Henderson on violin. As a member of Operator Please, Wilkinson co-wrote most of their tracks for both studio albums, '' Yes Yes Vindictive'' (2007) and ''

Gloves A glove is a garment covering the hand, with separate sheaths or openings for each finger including the thumb. Gloves protect and comfort hands against cold or heat, damage by friction, abrasion or chemicals, and disease; or in turn to provide a ...

'' (2010), and the associated singles and extended plays. She also co-produced ''Gloves'' with Justin Tresidder. While Operator Please were supporting English band

the Futureheads The Futureheads are an English post-punk band from Sunderland, formed in 2000. The band consists of Ross Millard (vocals and guitar), David "Jaff" Craig (vocals and bass guitar) and brothers Barry Hyde (vocals and guitar) and Dave Hyde (drums) ...

in 2008 in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

, Wilkinson met the lead vocalist and drummer John Baillie Jnr of fellow support act,

. When her group had ended in 2011 Wilkinson started performing as Bossy Love and issued a single, "Fight This Off", which featured rapping by Kween G (Giladesi Namokoyi) in December. Wilkinson moved to London in 2012 to continue writing material. She sent one of her tracks to Baillie in Glasgow and he produced a recording for her. The pair continued collaborating and Bossy Love became a duo in 2013. While living in London Wilkinson also worked for the railways, on weekends she would travel to Glasgow to perform and co-write with Baillie. Their debut

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

, ''Hollidates'', appeared in November 2014. After Bossy Love achieved a residency at the Bongo Club,

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Wilkinson relocated to Glasgow. The duo released a single, "Want Some", in March 2016. In August 2017 they performed at the

Belladrum Festival The Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival is an annual music and arts festival, held on the Belladrum Estate in Kiltarlity, Scotland. The festival was founded in 2004. In 2022 it attracted 20,000 attendees. Background information The festival is ...

. Bossy Love issued their debut album, ''Me + U'', on 31 October 2019 via Double-A Side Records. Max Sefton of '' The Skinny'' observed, " t'sthe work of a talented duo but it's surely a record that will win them many more friends and admirers." ''Me + U'' was short-listed for the 2020

Scottish Album of the Year Award The Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award is an award given annually for an outstanding album produced by a Scottish artist. The award was launched in 2012 by thScottish Music Industry Association(SMIA) in partnership with Creative Scotland. The ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, Amandah 1980s births Living people Australian rock musicians Australian women songwriters Australian women guitarists New Zealand emigrants to Australia Musicians from the Gold Coast, Queensland Australian people of English descent Australian people of Indonesian descent Year of birth missing (living people)