Sean Hape (born 7 May 1968), known professionally as Iota (stylised iOTA), is a New Zealand-Australian singer-songwriter and actor. As a musician, he has released six studio albums and was nominated for Best Independent Release for ''The Hip Bone Connection'' (1999) at the

ARIA Music Awards of 2000 The 14th Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as the ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) was held on 24 October 2000 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. Presenters distributed 28 awards with the big winne ...

. He has won four

Helpmann Award The Helpmann Awards are accolades for live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry group Live Performance Australia (LPA) since 2001. The annual awards recognise achievements in the disciplines of musical theatre ...

s: Best Male Actor in a Musical in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

for Hedwig in ''

Hedwig and the Angry Inch Hedwig and the Angry Inch may refer to: * ''Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' (musical), 1998 ** ''Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' (soundtrack), 1999 * ''Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' (film), 2001 {{disambig ...

'' (2006 Australian cast) and Best Cabaret Performer, Best New Australian Work and Best Original Score for his work in ''Smoke and Mirrors'' in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Personal life

iOTA has stated that his parents met in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

;Valerie Lawson, 2007, '"Wear more make-up"', ''Sydney Morning Herald'' (October 6)
(Access date: 5 April 2013.) his father is

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

and his mother English.Annika Priest, 2008, "Frocker even more a shocker", ''Melbourne Leader'' (9 September)
(access 2 April 2013). He grew up in

Pinjarra, Western Australia Pinjarra is a town in the Peel (Western Australia), Peel region of Western Australia along the South Western Highway, from the state capital, Perth and south-east of the coastal city of Mandurah. Its Local Government Areas of Western Australia ...

, where his father worked at an

alumina Aluminium oxide (or aluminium(III) oxide) is a chemical compound of aluminium and oxygen with the chemical formula . It is the most commonly occurring of several aluminium oxides, and specifically identified as aluminium oxide. It is commonly ...

refinery A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value. Types of refineries Different types of refineries ...

.Andrew Taylor, 2007, "Given An Inch, Debutant Takes A Yard"
''

Sun Herald The ''Sun Herald'' is a U.S. newspaper based in Biloxi, Mississippi, that serves readers along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The paper's current executive editor and general manager is Blake Kaplan, and its headquarters is in the city of Gulfpo ...

'' (28 January). Archived by: aluminiumfences.com.au. (Access date: 5 April 2013.) At high school, iOTA took drama and music as electives, so he could "slack off for two hours"; he formed his first band, which was short-lived, at the age of 16. iOTA moved out of home at age 17, into a

caravan Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel *Campervan, a type of vehicle also known as a motor caravan *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop *Caravan (trail ...

and lived for several years on the dole, while playing with a

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band called Loose Goose. He worked as a mechanic's apprentice before his career as an entertainer took off. Loose Goose moved to Sydney, when iOTA was 23. iOTA changed his name by

deed poll A deed poll (plural: deeds poll) is a legal document binding on a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an intention or create an obligation. It is a deed, and not a contract, because it binds only one party. Etymology Th ...

when he was 26. iOTA has cited three reasons for this: wanting to begin a new identity as an entertainer, being openly gay, and being a recovering alcoholic.

Music

iOTA's first album ''The Hip Bone Connection'' was released in 1999 and was nominated for

ARIA Award for Best Independent Release The ARIA Music Award for Best Independent Release, is an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by the Australian Recordin ...

. Following the release of the album, iOTA was labelled as an acoustic/blues/roots musician, a characterization he disagrees with. His second, ''Big Grandfather'', was considered less accessible and more atmospheric, and was not as successful as his first. His third, ''La Caravana'', "is about the nomadic life of a musician". His fourth and most recent is ''Beauty Queen of the Sea'' and uses a full electric band, moving towards rock and away from his previous roots label. In November 2019 it was announced that iOTA would be a participant in

Eurovision – Australia Decides ''Eurovision – Australia Decides'' was an annual song competition organised by Australian public broadcaster Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) and production partner Blink TV. It determined for the Eurovision Song Contest between 2019 and ...

; in an attempt to represent Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. He competed with the song, "Life" and finished 9th.

Acting

As an actor, iOTA has performed on stage in Australia as an angel in

Sydney Dance Company Sydney Dance Company is a contemporary dance company in Australia. They have performed at the Sydney Opera House in Australia, the Joyce Theater in New York, the Shanghai Grand Theatre in China, and the Stanislavsky Theatre in Moscow. His ...

's ''Berlin'', as Frank-N-Furter in ''

The Rocky Horror Show ''The Rocky Horror Show'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to various B movies associated with the Science fiction film, science fiction and Horror film, horror genres from the 193 ...

'', as Hedwig in ''

'', and in the original productions ''Smoke & Mirrors'' and ''B-Girl''. His acting has won him

Helpmann Awards The Helpmann Awards are accolades for live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry group Live Performance Australia (LPA) since 2001. The annual awards recognise achievements in the disciplines of musical theatre ...

for Best Male Actor in a Musical (for ''Hedwig and the Angry Inch'') in 2007, and Best Cabaret Performer (for ''Smoke & Mirrors'') in 2010. He also received Helpmann Awards for Best New Australian Work and Best Original Score for ''Smoke & Mirrors.'' He appeared in George Miller's 2015 film '' Mad Max: Fury Road'' (the fourth in the ''

Mad Max ''Mad Max'' is an Australian media franchise created by George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It centres on a series of post-apocalyptic and dystopian action films. The franchise began in 1979 with '' Mad Max'', and was followed by three sequels: ...

'' series) as the Doof Warrior, a guitarist whose guitar is also a flamethrower. He has said he learned to act by necessity: "In the country, poofters are there to be bashed, or ridiculed. So I put on a mask, and became tough and rowdy: the long hair, the slouching, the spitting, lots of drinking piss." iOTA can be seen in Baz Luhrmann's 2013 film ''

The Great Gatsby ''The Great Gatsby'' () is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with Jay Gatsby, a mysterious mi ...

'' as Trimalcio the orchestra leader. He is one of two singers for the character of Walter Walrus on the animated

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series ''

Beat Bugs ''Beat Bugs'' is an CGI animated children's television series, created by Josh Wakely, and produced for Netflix by Grace: A Storytelling Company and Thunderbird Entertainment since 2016. The series is centred around five young anthropomorphi ...

'', along with

Daniel Johns Daniel Paul Johns (born 22 April 1979) is an Australian musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as the Lead vocalist, frontman, guitarist, and main songwriter of the Rock music, rock band Silverchair. Johns is also one half of The Dissociat ...

Discography

Albums

Live albums

EPs

Singles

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

are a set of annual ceremonies presented by

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...

(ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the

music of Australia The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions o ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, ''The Hip Bone Connection'' , Best Independent Release , ,

Helpmann Awards

The

is an awards show, celebrating live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry group ''Live Performance Australia'' since 2001. Note: 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. ! , - ,

, Iota - ''Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' , Best Male Actor in a Musical , , , - ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, Iota - ''Richard O'Brien's Rocky Horror Show'' , Best Male Actor in a Musical , , , - , rowspan="3",

, Iota - ''Smoke & Mirrors'' , Best Cabaret Performer , , rowspan="3", , - , Iota - ''Smoke & Mirrors'' , Best New Australian Work , , - , Iota - ''Smoke & Mirrors'' , Best Original Score , , -

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iota 1968 births Living people Australian male songwriters Australian male musical theatre actors Helpmann Award winners Australian gay actors Australian gay musicians Gay singers Gay songwriters Australian LGBTQ singers Australian LGBTQ songwriters People from Pinjarra, Western Australia Musicians from Western Australia Australian people of English descent Australian people of Māori descent New Zealand people of Māori descent New Zealand people of English descent 21st-century Australian male actors Male actors from Western Australia Australian male film actors 20th-century Australian LGBTQ people 21st-century Australian LGBTQ people