Nicholas George Littlemore (born 6 May 1978) is an Australian musician, record producer, singer, songwriter and tour manager. As a musician, he is the frontman of the electronic project

Pnau Pnau, stylised as PNAU, is an Australian Electronic dance music, dance music trio originating from Sydney, Australia, Sydney. The trio, a duo before 2016, consists of the musicians Nick Littlemore (vocals, production), Peter Mayes (guitar, produ ...

, an ex-member of the art-rock band

Teenager Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated wi ...

and one part of the electro pop-duo Empire of the Sun. As a record producer, he has worked with

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

, Lover Lover,

Groove Armada Groove Armada are an English electronic music duo, composed of Andy Cato and Tom Findlay. They achieved chart success with their singles " At the River", " I See You Baby" and " Superstylin'". The duo have released nine studio albums, four of ...

and Mika. From late 2009, Littlemore had worked with the

Cirque Du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; ) is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, Montreal, Saint-Michel, Montreal, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Jun ...

as a composer and musical director for the touring arena show '' Zarkana'', which debuted on 29 June 2011. His older brother Sam La More is also a musician and record producer. In 2019, he and Peter Mayes launched the label Lab78.

Biography

Littlemore was born on 6 May 1978 in Sydney and was raised in

Wahroonga Wahroonga is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 18 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of Ku-ring-gai Council and Hornsby Shire. ...

with his older brothers, James (later a music video director) and

Sam Littlemore Sam Littlemore (born 2 February 1975), also known as Sam La More, is an Australian record producer, songwriter and recording artist working in Sydney and Los Angeles. Littlemore, a member of dance music trio Pnau, is best known for the internat ...

(born February 1975, later a musician and producer). In 2011 Littlemore recalled, " parents didn't push us but led us towards creative endeavours. Early on, my brothers and I were naturally interested in that. In school holidays we were doing pottery classes or life drawing. I wasn't very sporty". Their cousin, Xanthe Littlemore, is a singer-songwriter and has toured with Paul Kelly. When Littlemore was 10 years old, he met future bandmate Peter Mayes and the pair were making music together at the age of 13 or 14. Littlemore attended

Barker College Barker College is an independent Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, primary and secondary Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding school, located in Hornsby, New ...

in Hornsby and finished secondary education in 1996. He attended the College of Fine Arts at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

studying film, sound and performance. Littlemore and Mayes formed

in the mid-1990s, initially as an acid house and trance band, while still at secondary school. The group have issued four studio albums, ''

Sambanova ''Sambanova'' is the debut album by Australian dance music duo Pnau, released in July 1999 on the independent Peking Duck label. However, the album was pulled from record stores due to uncleared samples; Warner Music Australasia re-released it in ...

'' (July 1999), '' Again'' (October 2003), ''

'' (January 2007) and ''

Soft Universe ''Soft Universe'' is the fourth studio album by Australian electronic act Pnau. The album was released in July 2011 by Etcetc and peaked at number 13 on the ARIA Charts; becoming the act's highest charting album to date. The album featured a new ...

'' (July 2011). ''Sambanova'', ''Pnau'' and ''Soft Universe'' have each peaked into the

ARIA Albums Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

Top 40.

Pnau Sir Stewart Bovell Park January 2012

While still a member of Pnau, Littlemore has also been involved in side-projects. In 2001 he joined his brother Sam in the group L'More and issued a single, "Takin' Hold". Sam subsequently performed as Sam La More, in April 2003 "Takin' Hold" was released in the United Kingdom. In 2004 Littlemore formed

as an art rock band in Sydney and asked Pip Brown (aka Ladyhawke) to join on guitar. Brown had relocated to Australia after the disbandment of her New Zealand hard rock group, Two Lane Blacktop. Teenager issued ''Thirteen'' and the related single "Bound and Gagged" in 2006. Littlemore's brother James directed the music video for "Bound and Gagged". ''Mess + Noise''s Craig Mathieson described the album as "a pop record, albeit a particularly exotic species that equally suggests creative guile and hints of self-indulgence ... 'Pony' is the closest the album comes to cheap genre holidaying, approximating rock attitude when the organic and desperate growth of 'Bound And Gagged' is so much more impressive". Soon after the album's appearance Brown left to concentrate on her solo career (i.e. Ladyhawke) and she later credited Littlemore: In 2000, Littlemore met Luke Steele of alternate rockers The Sleepy Jackson, the pair subsequently collaborated on songwriting and performing. The Sleepy Jackson's recorded "Tell the Girls That I'm Not Hangin' Out" for their debut album, '' Lovers'' (2003). It had been co-written by Littlemore, Steele and The Sleepy Jackson's Malcolm Clark. The Sleepy Jackson and Pnau both performed "Modern Way", which was written by Littlemore, Mayes and Steele. In 2007 Pnau issued their self-titled album with Steele supplying lead vocals, and co-writing with Littlemore and Mayes, on "Freedom" and "With You Forever". Ladyhawke supplied lead vocals on "Embrace" which was co-written by Brown, Littlemore, Mayes and La More. While working together on ''Pnau'', Littlemore and Steele started writing tracks for a side project, initially called Steelemore, which became the electro pop group Empire of the Sun. Littlemore was living in Sydney and Steele, then in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, however the pair corresponded and continued composing together. Periodically during 2007, Steele would fly to Sydney where tracks were recorded for Empire of the Sun's debut album, '' Walking on a Dream''. Mayes assisted with recording and mixing. To promote ''Pnau'' internationally, Littlemore and Mayes travelled to London. In December 2007

heard Pnau's "Wild Strawberries" – the lead single from the album – while in Sydney for the Australian leg of his Rocket Man Tour. After hearing the whole album John contacted Littlemore to encourage him. Pnau returned to Australia in January 2008 to perform at

Big Day Out The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typi ...

and met John who signed the duo with his United Kingdom-based management. Pnau then relocated to London more permanently, both Littlemore and Mayes worked with John. Littlemore and Mayes established a recording studio in London and worked as record producers. In August 2008, Empire of the Sun issued their debut single, " Walking on a Dream", which peaked at No. 10 on the ARIA Singles Chart. The second single, " We Are the People", followed in September with the parent album released in October. The album reached No. 6 on the ARIA Albums Chart. In February 2009, Littlemore told Linda McGee of Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) that Empire of the Sun planned to tour in August but not as a group "this is not a band project. We're not going to stand up there with guitar, bass, drums and a keyboard player and just play our songs out in a merry Indie kind of way". He described a more theatrical presentation, "I've just finished the first draft of the script and it's going to be more of a play, for want of a better term. So at the moment we've got people working in China building inflatable sets and all kinds of things and we're working with some theatre directors in London". However, from April to September that year, Steele could not contact Littlemore. From September Empire of the Sun, without Littlemore, performed live tours of Australia. Littlemore's bands have won eight

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 ...

, with one in

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 ...

for 'Best Dance Release' for Pnau's ''Sambanova'', and seven in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

for Empire of the Sun's album ''Walking on a Dream'' and the title song. Empire of the Sun – without Littlemore – performed "Walking on a Dream" at the ceremony with Steele collecting the awards on the band's behalf, he quipped "German Shepherd 'sic''Steele gets another award ... Everybody say hi to invisible Nick!". Ladyhawke also won two awards for her solo work. Since 2009 Littlemore has received medication to treat arthritis. From late 2009 Littlemore worked in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada with the

as a composer and musical director for the touring arena show, '' Zarkana'', which debuted on 29 June 2011 in New York. Pnau's fourth album, ''Soft Universe'', was recorded in London. Upon its release Mayes confirmed Littlemore and Steele were working on a second Empire of the Sun album. Littlemore expanded, "We just started writing two or three weeks ago in New York ... Luke and I got into a studio, which was run by blind people – it was great. It's good to be in weird places with Luke, we enjoy that. He has an extraordinary mind – it's sounding so good". As from July 2011, when not touring or performing, he lives in LA. During late 2011 Pnau toured through Australia promoting their album.

Discography

;With Pnau ;with Teenager ;With Empire of the Sun ;With L'More *"Takin' Hold" (2001) ;As Vlossom

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

Production work

Nick Littlemore is credited with the following work for other artists: * David Bridie – ''Hotel Radio'' (18 February 2003) producer, loops, noise, programming *

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'', was re ...

– ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

'' (18 October 2004) programming * Van She – '' Van She'' (27 November 2005) producer, composer *

Darren Emerson Darren Paul Emerson (born 30 April 1971) is an English musician, DJ and producer best known as a former member of the British electronic music group Underworld. Career Early life Emerson began mixing hip hop records at the age of 14, and by ...

– "Bouncer" (2005), "Hard 4 Slow" (2007), ''Au Go Go'' (EP, 8 August 2011) co-producer, co-writer * Lost Valentinos – ''Damn & Damn Again'' (2006) co-producer * Mercy Arms – ''Kept Low'' (EP, 2006) co-producer *

– ''

Black Light A blacklight, also called a UV-A light, Wood's lamp, or ultraviolet light, is a lamp (fixture), lamp that emits long-wave (UV-A) ultraviolet light and very little visible light. One type of lamp has a violet light filter, filter material, eith ...

'' (2010) vocals, composer *

– '' White Light'' (18 October 2010) vocals, composer * WZRD – '' WZRD'' (28 February 2012) sound design * Mika – ''

The Origin of Love ''The Origin of Love'' is the third studio album released by British singer-songwriter Mika. The album was released in France on 17 September 2012, and in the United Kingdom on 8 October 2012, via Casablanca Records and Barclay Records res ...

'' (16 September 2012) songwriting credits, production

Awards and nominations

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the

Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwri ...

(APRA). , - , rowspan="3" ,

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 ...

, , "We Are the People" , , Song of the Year , , , - , Luke Steele, Jonathon Sloan, Nick Littlemore – Empire of the Sun , , Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year , , , - , "Walking on a Dream" , , Dance Work of the Year , , , - , rowspan="2" ,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, rowspan="2" , "Alive" , Song of the Year , , - , Dance Work of the Year , , - , rowspan="2" ,

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

, rowspan="1" , "AEIOU" (with PNAU and Empire of the Sun) , rowspan="2" , Most Performed Dance/Electronic Work , , - , "Changes" , , -

ARIA Music Awards

The

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music 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. ! , - ,

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, Imogen Grist & Nick Littlemore for

featuring Vlossom – "Lucky" , Best Video , , ARIA Award previous winners. , - , rowspan="2" ,

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, rowspan="2" , Luke Steele, Nick Littlemore and Peter Mayes – ''Ask That God'' , Best Engineered Release , , rowspan="2" , , - , Best Produced Release ,

Personal life

Littlemore married his wife, illustrator and fine artist Gigi Rose Gray, in 2014.

References

External links

*
Nick Littlemore
photo at

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Littlemore, Nick 1978 births Living people APRA Award winners Australian electronic musicians Australian expatriates in the United States Australian indie pop musicians Australian indie rock musicians Australian record producers Musicians from Sydney People educated at Barker College University of New South Wales alumni Empire of the Sun (band) members Pnau members Arts managers