Miranda Chartrand (born 3 May 1990) and Adam Nichols (born 10 September 1991) are a musical duo. They met and began working together through 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 ...

series ''

Chartjackers ''Chartjackers'' is a British documentary series, produced by Hat Trick Productions and commissioned by BBC Switch. It documents the lives of four teenage Video blogging, video bloggers over the course of ten weeks, as they attempt to write, rec ...

'', which was challenging the

online community An online community, also called an internet community or web community, is a community whose members engage in computer-mediated communication primarily via the Internet. Members of the community usually share common interests. For many, on ...

to write, record and release a pop song through

crowdsourcing Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digit ...

in ten weeks. After initially auditioning through separate YouTube videos, Chartrand and Nichols then successfully auditioned in person to provide vocals on the single. They recorded the song, entitled "

I've Got Nothing "I've Got Nothing" is a song released by the participants of the BBC Two documentary series ''Chartjackers'' and is credited as such. The track was produced by university student Marc Dowding and its music video was filmed by YouTube user Charl ...

", at the

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay * Newport (Vietnam), a United States Army and Army of t ...

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

on 7 October 2009. The single was given a worldwide release on 9 November through the iTunes Store, and went on to peak at number 36 on the UK Singles Chart.

Lives and career

1990–2008: Early lives

Chartrand was born on 3 May 1990, and was raised in

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

, Ontario. She studied at the John F. Ross Collegiate Vocational Institute, where she played on the open girls'

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

team until 2009. At the age of 16, Chartrand registered the channel ''mydogmaddie'' on the video-sharing website YouTube on 25 June 2006. She worked as a camp counselor at

Camp Manitou Camp Manitou is a summer camp, year-round outdoor recreation facility, and non-profit Charitable organization (Canada), charitable organization located in Headingley, Manitoba, Canada, just outside Winnipeg. It is operated by the True North Youth ...

in 2009 and 2010 and has also worked in Toronto. In 2009, Chartrand moved to

Stroud, Gloucestershire Stroud is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District. The town's population was 13,500 in 2021. Sited below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills, at ...

, to work as an

au pair An au pair (; : au pairs) is a person working for, and living as part of, a homestay, host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family’s responsibility for child care as well as some homemaking, housework, and receive a monetary ...

. Nichols was born on 10 September 1991. Originally from

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, he went to

Mayflower High School Mayflower High School, founded in 1965, and named after the ''Mayflower'' ship, is a coeducational, secondary school located in Billericay, Essex in the East of England in the United Kingdom. The school has a mixed intake of pupils aged 11–18 ...

and then studied music at the

Brighton Institute of Modern Music BIMM University (BIMM) is a private university specialising in music, film, performing arts and creative technology. The university is principally based in the United Kingdom with other centres in Ireland and Germany. It is organised into five ...

. Nichols registered the YouTube account ''FireYourEngine'' on 11 April 2009, at the age of 17. He has built up a fan base of 2,000 subscribers and still uploads original songs on a regular basis.

2009–present: ''Chartjackers'' and beyond

''Chartjackers'' is a cross-platform documentary series that was broadcast on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

during 2009. It documented an attempt to write, record and release a number one single through

and was looking for vocalists to sing on their forthcoming single, "

". Chartrand and Nichols each submitted a video audition on their respective ''mydogmaddie'' and ''FireYourEngine'' YouTube channels. They were each chosen as one of ten finalists, and were offered the chance to audition in person in

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

. Their respective auditions were successful, and they were selected to duet on the official release. Chartrand and Nichols recorded "I've Got Nothing" on 7 October 2009 at the

. They also featured prominently in the single's official music video, which was shown nationwide on music channels such as

4Music 4Music was a British music television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. Launched on 15 August 2008, the original incarnation, replacing The Hits television channel, showed a mix of music and entertainment pr ...

and

Viva Viva may refer to: Companies and organisations * Viva (network operator), a Dominican mobile network operator * Viva Energy, an Australian petroleum company * Viva Entertainment, a Philippine media company * Viva Films, a Philippine film company ...

. On 4 November, Chartrand and Nichols performed "I've Got Nothing" at a gig at 93 Feet East in London, which was headlined by former pop star

Chesney Hawkes Chesney Lee Hawkes (born 22 September 1971) is an English singer and occasional actor. He started his career at the age of 19 when he appeared in the film '' Buddy's Song'', which featured his best-known single " The One and Only", which topped ...

. "I've Got Nothing" was officially released worldwide exclusively through the iTunes Store at midnight on 9 November 2009 by independent record label Swinging Mantis – the single peaked at number 36 on the UK Singles Chart. Chartrand quit her job as an au pair to become more involved with the ''Chartjackers'' project, then moved to London shortly afterwards, where she and Nichols briefly lived together. Later that year, Chartrand and Nichols covered "

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

" by

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...

, which Chartrand described as being "one of erall time favourite songs". Chartrand currently resides in Toronto, Ontario.

Discography

Singles

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chartrand, Miranda and Nichols, Adam Canadian musical duos Chartjackers Canadian rugby union coaches Canadian female rugby union players Franco-Ontarian people Sportspeople from Guelph Canadian Internet celebrities Musicians from Guelph Musicians from Essex British video bloggers Women video bloggers Living people British women bloggers Year of birth missing (living people)