Lily Frost

Lily Frost
Background information
Origin	Toronto, Canada
Genres	Pop / Cabaret / Western Swing
Years active	1989-present
Labels	Aporia Records
Associated acts	The Colorifics, Lindsey Davis and the Sheiks
Website	www.lilyfrost.com

Lily Frost born Lindsey Frost Davis, is a Canadian independent singer-songwriter from Toronto, Canada. Bilingual in French and English. She is a cross genre, multi disciplinary singer/songwriter/performer and recording artist. She also designs jewelry, teaches yoga and vocals and is a mother of 2.

Born in Toronto, studied Jazz at Concordia University in Montreal and honed her craft in Vancouver as the lead singer of the lounge band The Colorifics and then signing as a solo artist to Nettwerk Records. She then moved back to Toronto where she has released 6 records with Aporia/Outside and 1 with Marquis/EMI.

Career

Lily started writing at age 14. She started putting melodies to a poetry at 19 years of age. She left her music degree after 2 years to hit the road and has been working as a singer songwriter, performer and recording artist ever since.

Lily Moved to Vancouver with a bunch of Quebec garage rockers in 1993 against parents wishes and busked on the street with a swingabilly band called The Colorifics. Eventually they moved up into playing art galleries, parties and concert halls building a groundswell and a considerable West Coast following over the next 4 years. Soon The Colorifics were packing West Coast clubs from Vancouver to Hollywood.

This was during the grunge rebellion called the cocktail nation or lounge movement which The Colorifics were known to spearhead.

Upon return to Toronto, Lily met and married political refugee from Chile, Jose Miguel Contreras of by Divine Right Divine Right (Feist, Brendan Canning, Broken Social Scene) in 2003. They went on together to write, record, produce, engineer and perform her next 5 records.

Lily Frost went solo in 2000 and signed to Nettwerk/Vancouver then Aporia/Toronto.

Frost's fourth album, Cine-Magique, was released in 2006. It was produced by her husband, José Miguel Contreras, in Toronto.^[1]

Her seventh studio recording is Do What You Love, released October 2, 2012. ^[2]

Frost co-wrote the theme song entitled "All I Ever Wanted to Be" for the CBC show Being Erica.

She is working on a book called The Subterreanean Jungle Book about the underground westen swing legend Ray Condo who passed away in 2004. She dedicated an album to Ray called “Lily Swings.” It compiles songs from Billie Holidays’ repertoire and puts them to an upbeat western swing backdrop. Rays band ‘The Swinging Dukes’ back her up for this live recording.

Viridian Torch is an uncompromising album dedicated to the wilderness of Georgian Bay Lake Huron where Lily spent the summers of her youth. This is a remarkably haunting folk noir record with a string section and harpsichord. It is a musical representation of the nature and all its changing faces and the relationship she shares with it.

Loved in Quebec and France Lily sings in French and English. She in an ambitious artist who is in a special niche of her own combining cabaret with film noir, witiness and quirk all in one.

Past bands

Lindsey Davis and the Sheiks (1989-2002- Montreal)- performed 1920's covers of Bessie smith/ ma Rainey and Cab Calloway. With members from the Gruesomes; Bobby Beaton and John Davis combining jazz with garage rock to make an early lounge band.

The Colorifics-(1993-1997-Vancouver)-named by Photographer Lincoln Clarkes the band started as a swing/ rockabilly busking band. Bernie Boulanger from the Rattled Roosters was the lead writer and guitarist. Soon the band moved off the streets into galleries, clubs and eventually packing clubs from Vancouver to Hollywood. Shared the stage with the Squirrel Nut Zippers , The Pink Martinis and The Friends of Dean Martinez.

Shared stages

The Dandy Warhols, Madeleine Peyroux, The Cowboy Junkies, Cold Play, Neko Case, Hawksley Workman, Kinnie Starr, By Divine Right, Reverend Horton Heat, Rufus Wainwright

Television

Her song "Enchantment" was featured on a third season episode of Grey's Anatomy. The song was also featured in a 2007 commercial for The Bay department stores, and in the third episode of the CBC show Being Erica.

Her song "Who Am I" was featured in the season 7 episode of Stargate SG-1, "Fragile Balance", as well as the season 4 episode of Charmed, "Hell Hath No Fury". It also featured on the OST of Crazy/Beautiful (2001) starring Kirsten Dunst.

Her song "Two of Us" was featured in a 2007 Chevy Cobalt commercial.

Her song "Where is Love" has been featured in the television show 15!Love several times.

Her song "You've Shaken Every Part of Me" was featured on an episode of MTV's The City.

Influences

Music: Astrid Gilberto, Serge Gainsbourg, Leonard Cohen, Billie Holiday, The Beatles, Wanda Jackson, Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood, Lhasha De Sela, Carla Bruni, Ennio Morricone, Pink Floyd, Julie Cruise, and Elvis Presley.

Models and Actresses: Stars and pin up models models from the 50's and 60's in Europe and Hollywood; Marilyn Monroe, Marlena Deitrich, Jean Moreau and Brigitte Bardot

Films and Scores: Pedro Almodovar, Wim Wenders, Wes Anderson David Lynch, Jim Jarmush, Hal Ashby, Alfred Hitchcock,Quentin Tarantino and Woody Allen.

Poetry: Arthur Rimbaud, Pablo Neruda, EE Cummings, Paul Verlaine

Authors: Simone de Beauvoir and Aniis Nin.

Others: Lily is interested by nostalgia, antiques, telegrams, photography, philospohy, ESP, destiny, intuition, tantra, sociology theology and relationships. Her songwriting delves into these subjects.

Discography

Albums

• Girlie Door (as The Colorifics)
• Guilty Pleasures (as The Colorifics)
• Living City (as The Colorifics) (1996)
• Cosmicomic Country (2000)
• Lunamarium (2001)
• Situation (2004)
• Cine-Magique (2006)
• Lily Swings (2008)
• Viridian Torch (2010)
• Do What You Love (2012)

EPs

• Flights of Fancy (2007)

Tours

Canada, USA, France, UK, Egypt

Notes