Jan Hellriegel

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Publicity shot.
Publicity shot.

Jan Hellriegel is a singer/songwriter based in Auckland, New Zealand.

Her first recorded appearances were with her brother Rob Hellriegel's band, Working With Walt, in Dunedin in the mid 1980s, where Jan studied at Otago University. She then formed the all-woman band Cassandra's Ears, before moving back to Auckland where she released two solo albums during the 1990s.

She has worked as a backing musician for many bands such as Straitjacket Fits and The Muttonbirds, notably on the latter's hit single Nature.


Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Early

Jan Hellriegel was born in West Auckland to a family of six (she has three brothers). She famously worked in her father's panel beating shop, though only in the office. Nonetheless, the combination of her birthplace and early employment led to her being branded a “Westie” by the New Zealand media.

Jan took vocal training in speech and singing at St. Mary’s College, Auckland under Sister Mary Leo. She then moved to Dunedin in the 1980s to attend Otago University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts.

While in Dunedin, she joined her brother Rob Hellriegel's band, Working With Walt. She performed backing vocals, piano and guitar on their 1984 7” LP The Prophet and wrote and performed the song “Christina” on the band’s 1985 LP 4 Sides.

In 1988, Jan performed backing vocals on the Leonard Cohen song “So Long Marianne”, performed by Straitjacket Fits.

[edit] Cassandra’s Ears

In the late 1980s Jan formed the band Cassandra's Ears with Dunedin bandmates Flick Rhind (bass), Zan Wright (backing vocals), Vanessa Anich (drums) and Leanne Ibell (guitar). Jan performed vocals, guitar and keyboards.

Their first release was the song “Replacements” for the National Student Radio compilation, Weird Culture Weird Custom. The band played local gigs, wrote more material, and eventually released two LPs, Private Wasteland in 1988 and Your Estimation in 1990.

[edit] Solo career

By 1991, Jan had signed a deal with Warner Records New Zealand to record solo material. Her first album, It’s My Sin, was recorded between December 1991 and January 1992 at Mountain Studios (Tauranga), Airforce Studios (Auckland), Mandrill Studios, Helen Young Studios and Auckland Audio (Auckland). The album was released in 1992, along with singles for the songs “The Way I Feel”, “It’s My Sin” and “No Idea”. There was also a promotional EP for “All the Best Thoughts”, and the songs “Westy Gals” and “Wings of Steel” were released as radio-only singles.

In 1992, Jan also recorded backing vocals for the hit song “Nature” by The Mutton Birds.

In 1995, Jan recorded a television advertisement for Coca-Cola before completing her second album, Tremble, at Sing Sing (Melbourne) and Studios 301 (Sydney) in 1995. The album was released the same year along with singles for the songs “Manic (is a state of mind) ”, “Geraldine” and “Pure Pleasure”. In 1996 Jan was awarded Most Promising Female Vocalist at the New Zealand Music Awards, and Top Female Vocalist and Single of the Year (for Manic) at the Music and Entertainer Awards of New Zealand.

In 1997, Jan recorded a television advertisement for Ford, a cover version of the Gordon Mills song “10 Guitars” for a Television New Zealand documentary of the same name, and the song “Unravelled” for the short film “My Geraldine” by former Cassandra’s Ears band mate Flick Rhind. She also recorded a new single, “Sentimental Fool”, at York Street A&B Studios (Auckland) for release that year.

Jan subsequently parted ways with Warner Records, and her last single, “Melusine”, recorded at Beaver Studios (Auckland) was released by Universal Records in 1998. That year, Jan was nominated for the Fox of the Year award on the Mikey Havoc show.

In 1999, Jan joined the Alan Duff charitable foundation Books in Homes as a celebrity spokesperson. She co-wrote the theme song “Read About It” with Dave Dobbyn and Toi Iti, which was performed by 60,000 children. During that year she played a non-musical acting role on Shortland Street, playing Jackie, an abused wife. Interestingly, at the same time she was in Shortland Street, fellow New Zealand Music identities King Kapisi (credited as "Bill Urale") and Renee Brennan (lead singer of Tadpole) also appeared, in non-guest roles, all in unrelated storylines.

In 2000, Jan recorded a song for the New Zealand television drama Street Legal and in 2001 she became involved in a collaboration with Tom Blaxland called Project Runway. In 2002, she recorded the song “Star Baby” for children’s clothing label Pumpkin Patch.

Since 1998, Jan has recorded several demos for a new album, but no material has been released. She has, however, performed many of these songs live, such as the song “Misadventure”, which was broadcast on the final MTV New Zealand transmission. Warner Records have also expressed interest in releasing a compilation of her songs.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Studio albums

  • 1992 It’s My Sin
  • 1995 Tremble

[edit] Singles

  • 1992 “The Way I Feel” (2 tracks)
  • 1992 “All The Best Thoughts” (6 track promo EP)
  • 1992 “It’s My Sin” (2 tracks)
  • 1993 “No Idea” (3 tracks)
  • 1993 “Westy Gals” (radio release only)
  • 1994 “Wings Of Steel (Radio Edit) ” (radio release only)
  • 1995 “Manic (Is A State Of Mind) ” (2 tracks)
  • 1995 “Geraldine” (2 tracks)
  • 1996 “Pure Pleasure” (2 track and 5 track editions)
  • 1997 “Sentimental Fool” (3 tracks)
  • 1998 “Melusine” (5 tracks)

[edit] Compilations

  • 1992 Fresh Air Compilation No 2 (video compilation featuring “The Way I Feel”)
  • 1993 New Zealand Music Awards (video compilation featuring “The Way I Feel”)
  • 1993 Kiwi Hit Disc 2 (featuring “It’s My Sin”)
  • 1993 Kiwi Hit Disc 3 (featuring “Westy Gals”)
  • 1994 Kiwi Hit Disc 6 (featuring “Wings Of Steel (Radio Edit) ”)
  • 1994 More: Music For Your Mouth (featuring “The Way I Feel”)
  • 1995 The Trip 5 (featuring “Manic (Is A State Of Mind) ”)
  • 1995 NZ On Air (video compilation featuring “Geraldine”)
  • 1995 Kiwi Hit Disc 14 (featuring “Geraldine”)
  • 1995 Kiwi Talk Disc
  • 1996 Clear 1996 Music And Entertainer Awards Of New Zealand (featuring “Manic (Is A State Of Mind) ”)
  • 1997 Kiwi Hit Disc 25 (featuring “Sentimental Fool”)
  • 1998 Kiwi Hit Disc 28 (featuring “Melusine”)
  • 1999 When Love Comes (movie soundtrack featuring “Melusine”)
  • 1999 Algorhythm (featuring “Melusine (Beaver Remix) ”)
  • 2000 Kiwi Hit Disc (Gold Collection) 1990 - 1995 (featuring “The Way I Feel”)

[edit] Other

[edit] Television

Other than interview or performance appearances, Jan Hellriegel has occasionally dabbled in acting.

  • 1997 – Xena character: NemoSyne, Goddess of Memory.
  • 1997 – Television New Zealand documentary “10 Guitars”: herself.
  • 1997 – Television New Zealand August 7 edition of “Assignment”: herself.
  • 1998 – MTV New Zealand “Closedown Show”: herself.
  • 1999 – Xena character: Hestia, Virgin Goddess.
  • 1999 – Shortland Street character: Jackie, an abused wife.
  • 2000 – Street Legal character: unknown.

[edit] External links

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