Jonathan Owen Bree is a singer-songwriter and producer from New Zealand, best known for his work as a solo artist, as well as co-founding the
indie pop
Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and su ...
group
The Brunettes, in 1998 and
Lil' Chief Records
Lil' Chief Records is a New Zealand–based indie pop record label formed in 2002 in music, 2002. Operating from the Auckland suburb of Mt. Eden, it was founded on releases by The Tokey Tones and The Brunettes. The label's roster now includes a ...
, in 2002. He frequently collaborates with label-mates as a musician, engineer, and record producer.
Early life
Jonathan Bree was born in New Zealand. Mark Lyons, frontman of
indie pop
Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and su ...
band
The Nudie Suits, was both Bree's cousin and a mentor in Bree's formative years.
When Bree was ten, Lyons introduced him to
Modern Lovers
The Modern Lovers were an American rock band led by Jonathan Richman in the 1970s and 1980s. The original band existed from 1970 to 1974 but their recordings were not released until 1976 or later. It featured Richman and bassist Ernie Brooks w ...
, with Bree becoming a long-term fan.
At 12 years old, Bree first played live (and recorded) as the drummer in Lyons' band, The Plaster Saints.
Music career
The Brunettes were formed in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...
in 1998 by Bree and Heather Mansfield. According to Bree, "My cousin had recorded her band Yoko and I thought she had a great natural voice, no silly effected delivery. I was looking for a girl to sing on some duets I had written so I tracked down her number."
The band independently released its first recording ''
Mars Loves Venus EP
''Mars Loves Venus EP'' is the debut release by the Brunettes. It was self-released in 1998, on lathe-cut clear vinyl manufactured by King Records in Geraldine, New Zealand. Only 30 copies are believed to be in existence, and the EP is highly soug ...
'' in 1998.
In 2002, Bree founded
Lil' Chief Records
Lil' Chief Records is a New Zealand–based indie pop record label formed in 2002 in music, 2002. Operating from the Auckland suburb of Mt. Eden, it was founded on releases by The Tokey Tones and The Brunettes. The label's roster now includes a ...
with fellow indie pop musician Scott Mannion of
The Tokey Tones
The Tokey Tones are a band led by Scott Mannion, formerly of Auckland indie pop bands Polaar and Plasticene. The Tokey Tones are primarily a studio-based band, the other long-time key member being Li Ming Hu, who is more widely known for her role ...
. The two men had met that year in Marbecks Record Store in Auckland, where Bree was working at the time.
The Brunettes' album ''
Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks
''Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks'' is the first full-length album released by twee pop group the Brunettes
The Brunettes were an indie pop or twee pop group from New Zealand formed in 1998 to 2009. The band consists of core members Jonathan ...
'' released in 2002
was the debut release for the label.
The album received a glowing review from
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...
,
as did the label's second release, The Brunettes' 2003 ''
The Boyracer EP
''The Boyracer e.p.'' is the second EP by The Brunettes
The Brunettes were an indie pop or twee pop group from New Zealand formed in 1998 to 2009. The band consists of core members Jonathan Bree and Heather Mansfield, with additional contribu ...
''. Bree produced both albums.
The next two albums on the label were released simultaneously in 2003 by The Tokey Tones, and Bree guested on some of the tracks.
Bree went on to release several more albums on Lil' Chief with The Brunettes. Their second album ''
Mars Loves Venus
''Mars Loves Venus'' is the second full-length album by The Brunettes
The Brunettes were an indie pop or twee pop group from New Zealand formed in 1998 to 2009. The band consists of core members Jonathan Bree and Heather Mansfield, with ad ...
'' was released in June 2004
followed by 2005's EP ''
When Ice Met Cream
''When Ice Met Cream'' is an EP released by The Brunettes
The Brunettes were an indie pop or twee pop group from New Zealand formed in 1998 to 2009. The band consists of core members Jonathan Bree and Heather Mansfield, with additional contri ...
''. In 2004,
Ryan McPhun
The Ruby Suns are an indie pop group from New Zealand. They formed in 2004 when Californian Ryan McPhun moved to Auckland and started playing in several bands such as The Brunettes, The Tokey Tones, and The Reduction Agents.
Biography
The Rub ...
started playing in band, who opened for
The Shins
The Shins is an American indie rock band formed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1996. The band is the project of singer-songwriter James Mercer, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The band's c ...
2005 tour of North America. They have also opened for
Rilo Kiley
Rilo Kiley ( ) was an American indie rock band based in Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1998, the band consisted of Jenny Lewis, Blake Sennett, Pierre de Reeder, and Dave Rock.
The group released their debut album '' Take-Offs and Landings ...
,
The Postal Service
The Postal Service are an American indie pop supergroup from Seattle, Washington, consisting of singer Ben Gibbard, producer Jimmy Tamborello, and Jenny Lewis on background vocals.
The band released their only album, '' Give Up'', in 2003 on S ...
,
Broken Social Scene
Broken Social Scene is a Canadian indie rock band, a musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, formed by Kevin Drew (vocals, guitar) and Brendan Canning (vocals, bass) in 1999. Alongside Drew and Canning, the othe ...
,
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (sometimes abbreviated to CYHSY) is the musical project of American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Alec Ounsworth, active since the early 2000s in and out of Philadelphia.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have re ...
,
and
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
and played at the 2006
Big Day Out
The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typically in January of ea ...
festivals in New Zealand and Australia.
The Brunettes' album ''
Structure & Cosmetics'' was released in July 2007 in New Zealand and August in the US, on
Sub Pop
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are oft ...
. Their UK profile was lifted after their track "BABY" was featured in a UK campaign in December 2007, and the release of their music video.
In 2008, The Brunettes covered
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith has remained the only constant member. The band's ...
's "Lovesong" for
American Laundromat Records
American Laundromat Records is an independent record label founded in 2004 by Joe Spadaro.
ALR specializes in almost annual indie rock compilation albums, which have included tracks by OK Go, The Dresden Dolls, and The Watson Twins. Compilation ...
tribute compilation ''Just Like Heaven – a tribute to The Cure''.
In 2009, The Brunettes released the ''Red Rollerskates EP'' on Lil' Chief, shortly followed by ''Paper Dolls''. In 2010, their song "Red Rollerskates" was included in soundtrack of the
2K Sports
2K is an American video game publisher based in Novato, California. 2K was founded under Take-Two Interactive in January 2005 through the 2K Games and 2K Sports labels, following Take-Two Interactive's acquisition of Visual Concepts that sa ...
video game ''
NBA 2K11
''NBA 2K11'' is a 2010 basketball simulation video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports. It was released in October 2010 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, and Nintendo ...
''. "Brunettes Against Bubblegum Youth" was featured on an extended advertisement for ''
Hollyoaks
''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on sister channel E4 a da ...
'' in the UK.
His first work post-Brunettes was as a co-producer on the
Princess Chelsea album, ''Lil' Golden Book''. He also supplied vocals for the song, "
The Cigarette Duet" and directed the accompanying music video, which subsequently went viral – reaching nearly 40 million views in the years that followed.
Bree's first work as a solo artist came in 2013 with the release of ''The Primrose Path''. His next album, ''A Little Night Music'', followed in 2015. Yet his big breakthrough came in the lead-up to his third album, when the song "" became a sensation on YouTube – drawing viewers with its odd depiction of a 1960s-style band whose faces were covered in spandex masks. It soon surpassed 1 million views and is currently at 22.7M views as of August 2021.
Discography
Brunettes albums
*1998: ''
Mars Loves Venus EP
''Mars Loves Venus EP'' is the debut release by the Brunettes. It was self-released in 1998, on lathe-cut clear vinyl manufactured by King Records in Geraldine, New Zealand. Only 30 copies are believed to be in existence, and the EP is highly soug ...
''
*2002: ''
Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks
''Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks'' is the first full-length album released by twee pop group the Brunettes
The Brunettes were an indie pop or twee pop group from New Zealand formed in 1998 to 2009. The band consists of core members Jonathan ...
''
*2003: ''
The Boyracer e.p.''
*2004: ''
Mars Loves Venus
''Mars Loves Venus'' is the second full-length album by The Brunettes
The Brunettes were an indie pop or twee pop group from New Zealand formed in 1998 to 2009. The band consists of core members Jonathan Bree and Heather Mansfield, with ad ...
''
*2005: ''
When Ice Met Cream
''When Ice Met Cream'' is an EP released by The Brunettes
The Brunettes were an indie pop or twee pop group from New Zealand formed in 1998 to 2009. The band consists of core members Jonathan Bree and Heather Mansfield, with additional contri ...
'' E.P.
*2007: ''
Structure & Cosmetics''
*2009: ''Paper Dolls''
*2009: ''The Red Rollerskates E.P.''
*2011: ''Mars Loves Venus (vinyl)''
Compilations
* 2009: "Lovesong" by
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith has remained the only constant member. The band's ...
on ''Just Like Heaven – a tribute to The Cure''
* 2016: "Last Night's Love" by
The Reduction Agents
The Reduction Agents are a New Zealand band fronted by James Milne, who also records under the name Lawrence Arabia. In 2006 the band released their debut album ''The Dance Reduction Agents''. In the same year, Milne released his debut solo albu ...
on ''Waiting For Your Love'' – a tribute to The Reduction Agents
Solo releases
* 2013: ''The Primrose Path''
* 2015: ''A Little Night Music''
* 2018: ''Sleepwalking''
* 2020: ''After the Curtains Close''
Collaborations
* 2011: co-producer on ''Lil Golden Book'' by Princess Chelsea
* 2015: co-producer on ''Great Cybernetic Depression'' by Princess Chelsea
Upcoming
*''Pre-Code Hollywood'', solo album to be released 2023-04-14
See also
*
Lil' Chief Records
Lil' Chief Records is a New Zealand–based indie pop record label formed in 2002 in music, 2002. Operating from the Auckland suburb of Mt. Eden, it was founded on releases by The Tokey Tones and The Brunettes. The label's roster now includes a ...
*
The Brunettes
*
Princess Chelsea
*
Zentai
A ''zentai'' suit () is a skin-tight garment that covers the entire body. The word is a portmanteau of ''zenshin taitsu'' ( ja, 全身タイツ, , full-body tights). ''Zentai'' is most commonly made using nylon/spandex blends.
Use
The costum ...
Mask
References
External links
Lil' Chief RecordsA conversation with Jonathan Breeby Adam McKibbin (February 2010)
Feature: The Brunettes – Coming Clean About Cosmeticsby ''NZ Musician'' (August 2007)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bree, Jonathan
Living people
New Zealand musicians
Lil' Chief Records artists
1977 births