Jem Griffiths
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Jemma Gwynne Griffiths (born 18 May 1975), known by her stage name Jem, is a Welsh singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in
Penarth Penarth ( , ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, approximately south of Cardiff city centre on the west shore of the Severn Estuary at the southern end of Cardiff Bay. Penarth is a Seaside resort#Brit ...
, Glamorgan, she began songwriting at an early age. After graduating from university in 1996, she worked as a DJ as well as co-founder of
record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...
Marine Parade Marine Parade is a planning area and residential estate located on the eastern fringe of the Central Region of Singapore. Straddling the tip of the southeastern coast of Pulau Ujong, Marine Parade serves as a buffer between the Central and ...
in
Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
. On 24 March 2004, she released her debut
studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
'' Finally Woken'' through
ATO Records ATO Records (or According to Our Records) is an American independent record label based in New York City. The label was established in 2000 by Dave Matthews and manager Coran Capshaw. ATO's roster includes My Morning Jacket, Brittany Howard, ...
. Featuring the singles "
They In Modern English, ''they'' is a third-person pronoun relating to a grammatical subject. Morphology In Standard Modern English, ''they'' has five distinct word forms: * ''they'': the nominative (subjective) form * ''them'': the accus ...
", " Just a Ride" and "Wish I", the album saw the most success in the United Kingdom, where it was certified Platinum. Jem followed up her debut with her second album, '' Down to Earth'', released on 18 September 2008. Her third album, '' Beachwood Canyon'', was released in 2016.


Early life and education

Jemma Griffiths was born in Penarth, Wales, a small town near
Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
on 18 May 1975. Jem originally found her passion for singing and songwriting whilst attending Stanwell School. During her early school years she explored her musical interests with the family piano, penning her first song at the age of thirteen. Jem has three siblings, older sister Chloe, eldest sister Georgia, who provided vocals for the Welsh indie/
punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
band Weapons of Mass Belief alongside brother Justin, who also goes by the name Yestyn, of Glass Pear. In 1993, Jem moved to Brighton to study
Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...
at the
University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...
. Both during her studies and after graduating in 1996, Jem spent time as a club and festival promoter and also began working as a DJ in Brighton's club scene under the name Jem, inspired by the animated series ''
Jem and the Holograms ''Jem and The Holograms'', also known as simply ''Jem'', is an American animated musical television series that ran from 1985 to 1988. The series is about record company owner Jerrica Benton, her singer alter-ego Jem, and the adventures of her ...
''.


Career


1999–2006: ''It All Starts Here...'' and ''Finally Woken''

In early 1998, alongside
Adam Freeland Adam Freeland (born 7 August 1973) is an English record producer and DJ. He is also the owner and creative director of the record label Marine Parade, which has released material by artists including Evil Nine, ILS, Alex Metric and Jape. ...
, she co-founded and helped run the specialist
breakbeat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that uses drum breaks, often sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as Florida breaks, hip-hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat ...
/
hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
record label
Marine Parade Marine Parade is a planning area and residential estate located on the eastern fringe of the Central Region of Singapore. Straddling the tip of the southeastern coast of Pulau Ujong, Marine Parade serves as a buffer between the Central and ...
. However, after spending two years acting as
agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuran ...
and promoter for other aspiring musicians, she soon felt that she had neglected her own musical career. In November 1999, she left Brighton and returned to Wales, where she assembled a mobile recording studio and focused on developing her own individual songwriting and music production skills, completing a collection of four
demos Demos may refer to: Computing * DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system * DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR * Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems * Plural for Demo (computer programming ...
that acted as the basis of her break into the
music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...
. In 2000, Jem moved to London where she met
Sugababes The Sugababes are an English girl group composed of Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan, and Siobhán Donaghy. The lineup changed three times before returning to the original lineup in 2011. Formed in 1998 by Ron Tom, the manager of All Saints, ...
manager Sarah Stennett, with whom she began a professional relationship. Stennett introduced her to other writers and producers. She had a writing session with electronic producer
Guy Sigsworth Allan Arthur Guy Sigsworth (born May 1960) is an English record producer and songwriter. He has worked with many artists, including Seal, Björk, Goldie, Madonna, Britney Spears, Kate Havnevik, Imogen Heap, Bebel Gilberto, Mozez, David Sylvian ...
, during which the song " Nothing Fails" was created; the song was eventually picked up by
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
for her 2003 studio album, ''
American Life ''American Life'' is the ninth studio album by American singer Madonna. It was released on April 21, 2003, by Maverick and Warner Bros. Records. The album, produced by the singer and Mirwais Ahmadzaï, features references to many parts of Am ...
''. In 2001, Jem travelled to
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
,
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, teaming up with hip hop producer Ge-Ology and co-producer Yoad Nevo. In March 2002, Jem stopped by
independent radio Independent radio indicates a radio station that are run in a manner,different from usual from the countries it broadcasts in. Conversely, in places such as the United States, where commercial broadcasters are the norm, independent radio is some ...
station
KCRW KCRW (89.9 FM broadcasting, FM) is an NPR member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programming ...
to leave a demo of her song "Finally Woken" in Nic Harcourt's mailbox. Harcourt began playing it on his show ''
Morning Becomes Eclectic ''Morning Becomes Eclectic'' (MBE) is an American three-hour adult album alternative radio program first aired in 1977 and broadcast live every weekday from KCRW in Santa Monica, California. The show's name is a play on the Eugene O'Neill t ...
''. This attracted the attention of Bruce Flohr, an A&R rep for
RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...
and newly established
ATO Records ATO Records (or According to Our Records) is an American independent record label based in New York City. The label was established in 2000 by Dave Matthews and manager Coran Capshaw. ATO's roster includes My Morning Jacket, Brittany Howard, ...
, who offered her a recording contract. She was subsequently signed to the label and Jem relocated to Los Angeles. On 13 October 2003, in preparation for the release of her full-length album, Jem released the EP ''It All Starts Here...'', consisting of five tracks. Her full-length studio album '' Finally Woken'' was released in the United States on 24 March 2004. In the United Kingdom, "
They In Modern English, ''they'' is a third-person pronoun relating to a grammatical subject. Morphology In Standard Modern English, ''they'' has five distinct word forms: * ''they'': the nominative (subjective) form * ''them'': the accus ...
" was released as her
lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...
on 13 March 2005. This was followed by " Just a Ride" in June and "Wish I" in September, which was used as the
theme tune Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...
to UK reality television programme ''
Celebrity Love Island ''Love Island'' (originally ''Celebrity Love Island'') is a British reality television programme that was aired on ITV in 2005 and 2006. In the show, twelve single celebrities spend five weeks on an island in Fiji. The final couple remaining wi ...
''. ''Finally Awoken'' spent 32 weeks on the
UK Album Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Offici ...
and peaked at number 6. Jem licensed every song on her album to be broadcast on American television programs, films and
advertisements Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of interest to consumers. It is typically us ...
as a method of promotion. Television program ''
The O.C. ''The O.C. '' is an American teen drama television series created by Josh Schwartz that originally aired on Fox in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007, with a total of four seasons consisting of 92 episodes. The serie ...
'' was the first to use Jem's music in several of their episodes, eventually inviting her to guest-star on the show. She performed a
cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
of
Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
's 1970 song " Maybe I'm Amazed" in the first season finale. Since then, every song from the album has appeared in various television programs, such as '' Six Feet Under'', ''
Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American mystery comedy-drama television series created by Marc Cherry, and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a tota ...
'', ''
Without a Trace ''Without a Trace'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Hank Steinberg that aired on CBS from September 26, 2002, to May 19, 2009 with the total of seven seasons and 160 episodes. The series focuses the cases of ...
'' and ''
Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...
''.


2007–2009: ''Down to Earth''

In 2006, Jem decided to cease touring and to spend a year focusing on writing new material and developing her second studio album. She parted from Yoad Nevo and met with four different producers across the United States. Over the next few years she worked with Jeff Bass in Detroit as well as meeting with Lester Mendez in Los Angeles. Producers Mike Bradford and
Greg Kurstin Gregory Allen Kurstin (born May 14, 1969) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2017 and 2018, and contributed to five songs that pe ...
also collaborated with Jem. During the production of her album, Jem wrote and lent her vocals to the song "Once in Every Lifetime" which appeared on the ''
Eragon ''Eragon'' is the first book in ''The Inheritance Cycle'' by American fantasy writer Christopher Paolini. Paolini, born in 1983, began writing the novel after graduating from home school at the age of fifteen. After writing the first draft for ...
'' movie soundtrack. Jem's second studio album, '' Down to Earth'' was released in the United States, Canada, and Japan on 18 September 2008 with the European releases varying by each country between January and March 2009. The album peaked at 48 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and 64 on the UK Albums Chart The lead single of the album " It's Amazing" originally appeared on the ''
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 ...
'' for the 2008 movie ''
Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO, based on Sex and the City (newspaper column), the newspaper column and 1996 book by Candace Bushnell. It premiered in th ...
''. Released 3 June 2008, the song failed to chart in the United States or the United Kingdom. Her following single releases off the album included: "Crazy" in August 2008, "And So I Pray" in May 2009, and "I Want You To..." in October 2009, however, they did not grant as much commercial success as her debut album. On 4 December 2009, Jem released the single "Until the Morning Comes", which was a collaboration with her brother, Glass Pear.


2010–2016: Other projects and ''Beachwood Canyon''

In 2011, Jem contributed to the record '' Ten Years On: A Collection of Songs in Remembrance of September 11th 2001''. In 2012, Jem returned to producing her third album. In November, she recorded tracks at the Grand Master Studios, in Hollywood, and originally anticipated a release in early 2013. Outside of music, she also announced that she had spent several years writing a screenplay. After numerous delays, in January 2016, Jem published the first photoshoots for the ''Beachwood Canyon'' album on her Facebook page and announced the official release of the album for spring 2016. The first single "Beachwood Canyon" was released on 1 July. On 5 August 2016, the album was released digitally worldwide.


Musical style

Jem's musical style is varied and encompasses genres such as
trip hop Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...
,
electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...
,
pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...
and new wave, with critics often associating her with other female musicians
Dido Dido ( ; , ), also known as Elissa ( , ), was the legendary founder and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage (located in Tunisia), in 814 BC. In most accounts, she was the queen of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre (located ...
and
Beth Orton Elizabeth Caroline Orton (born 14 December 1970) is an English musician known for her "folktronica" sound, which mixes elements of folk and electronica. She was initially recognised for her collaborations with William Orbit, Andrew Weatherall ...
.


Personal life

In September 2009, Jem married American musician and songwriter Joseph George in
Montecito, California Montecito (archaic use of Spanish for woodland or countryside) is an unincorporated town in Santa Barbara County, California, United States.McCormack, Don (1999). ''McCormack's Guides Santa Barbara and Ventura 2000''. Mccormacks Guides. p. 58. ...
. They had originally met in 2005, on the set of filming the music video for "Wish I", where George acted the role of Jem's love interest. They both currently reside in Los Angeles.


Discography


Studio albums


EPs

*''It All Starts Here...'' (13 October 2003, US only release)


Singles


Music videos


Various


Song usage


Notes


References


External links

*
Jem biography from BBC Walesinterview with Glass PearGlass Pear profile on unkfestivalguides
{{Authority control 1975 births 21st-century Welsh women singers Alumni of the University of Sussex ATO Records artists British trip hop musicians Living people Singers from Cardiff People educated at Howell's School, Llandaff People educated at Stanwell School People from Penarth Welsh singer-songwriters Sony BMG artists Welsh electronic musicians Welsh women in electronic music