Justine Elinor Frischmann (born 16 September 1969) is an English artist and retired musician. After forming Suede, she co-founded the

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...

band

Elastica Elastica were an English rock band formed in London in 1992 by guitarist/singer Justine Frischmann and drummer Justin Welch after their departure from Suede. The band was stylistically influenced by punk rock, post-punk and new wave musi ...

before retiring from the music industry and pursuing a career as an artist.

Early years

Frischmann was born on 16 September 1969 in

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, the daughter of Wilem Frischmann, a Hungarian

Holocaust survivor Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, its collaborators before and during World War II ...

who is the former chairman of the Pell Frischmann company of consulting engineers, and a Russian mother. Her parents are both

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. She grew up in Twickenham, Greater London, and attended St Paul's Girls School, before studying at the Bartlett School of Architecture at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

from 1989 to 1993.

Career

Music

Frischmann began writing and studying music at age 11. She was a founding member of the band Suede with Brett Anderson, whom she met at UCL in 1988. She left the band in October 1991. In the 2018 documentary ''The Insatiable Ones'', Anderson cites her as a highly significant influence on the band's first album. Frischmann later founded and fronted her own band,

. In 1994, Elastica were voted Best New Band by NME readers at the Brit awards. They were signed to Deceptive Records in the UK, and later with

Geffen Records Geffen Records (formerly The David Geffen Company from 1980 to 1992 and Geffen Records Inc. from 1993 to 2004) is an American record label, founded in late 1980 by David Geffen. Originally a music subsidiary of the company known as Geffen Pi ...

in Europe and the US. Their first album, ''

'', released in 1995, became the fastest-selling debut album in UK history. In 1995, Elastica were nominated for the

Mercury Music Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual Music award, music prize awarded for the best album released by a musical act from the Music of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom or Music of Ireland, Ireland. It was cre ...

for ''Elastica''. The album went on to sell over a million copies worldwide. In 2001 the band announced an amicable breakup, citing, in part, burnout from a grueling touring schedule. Frischmann spent the next few years developing artist M.I.A., whom she discovered. M.I.A. was Frischmann's friend and flatmate. Frischmann co-wrote and produced M.I.A.'s demos for her first album, '' Arular'', most notably its 2003 single " Galang". In 2017,

Rough Trade Records Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis, who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. It is currently run by co-managing directors Travis and Jeannette Lee and ...

released a remastered version of ''Elastica''. In 2019, Rough Trade released a limited edition Elastica BBC sessions album on UK Record Store Day.

Television

In 2003, Frischmann co-presented a series called '' Dreamspaces'' for the

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

about

modern architecture Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural movement and style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco and later postmodern movements. Modern architectur ...

. In 2004, she presented '' The South Bank Show'' and was a judge for the RIBA Stirling Prize for Architecture.

Art

In 2005, Frischmann moved to

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

, to enroll in a masters program in

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...

Naropa University Naropa University is a private university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1974 by Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa, it is named after the 11th-century Indian Buddhist sage Naropa, an abbot of Nalanda. The university ...

, a small,

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

-inspired liberal arts college, and "become a nobody". In 2012 her work was shortlisted for the UK's Marmite Prize for painting, and she has been included in The Amsterdam List of 1000 Living Painters. In a 2016 interview regarding her art career, Frischmann stated, "I don't really have any desire to make music, to be honest." Frischmann has said, "The themes and ideas I am working with are in direct relation to an ongoing personal narrative; the big questions are reflected in the choices I make in my art ... ncludingmy ever-evolving relationship with my spiritual faith. I think my approach and aesthetics reveal internal struggles and speak to my family origins and history."

Personal life

Frischmann dated her Suede bandmate Brett Anderson at the time they co-founded the group. She then dated Blur lead singer

Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (, ; born 23 March 1968) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman, main vocalist, and lyricist of the rock band Blur (band), Blur and the co-creator and primary musical con ...

from 1991 until the couple broke up in 1998, which served as inspiration for Blur's 1999 singles " No Distance Left to Run" and " Tender". In 2008, she married Ian Faloona, a professor of meteorology at

UC Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

. They live in the North Bay of the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

References

External links

Extensive interview with The ObserverIndie Rock Chicks of the 90s
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frischmann, Justine Living people 1969 births People from Twickenham English people of Hungarian-Jewish descent English people of Russian-Jewish descent 20th-century English women musicians 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers Jewish punk rock musicians Musicians from the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Singers from the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Alumni of University College London Suede (band) members Elastica members English women guitarists English rock guitarists English women rock singers Jewish English musicians Britpop musicians Jewish rock musicians