Tiff Lacey

Tiff Lacey
Birth name	Tiffany Lacey
Origin	London, England
Genres	Trance, House, Chillout, Indie, Pop
Occupation(s)	Singer, Songwriter, Writer, Artist
Years active	2002–present
Associated acts	ATB, Headstrong, Redd Square
Website	www.tifflacey.me.uk

Tiffany 'Tiff' Lacey /ˈleɪsi/ is an English singer, songwriter, author and painter. She is the vocalist behind a multitude of Electronic dance music singles. Best known for her international hits with German producer André Tanneberger aka ATB and for her work with British producer Don Jackson aka Headstrong, Matt Darey and Cosmic Gate. Sometimes referred to as the "Lady of Trance", Tiff Lacey is the performer with the highest number of officially released collaborations within the EDM genres so far, mostly due to her vocal flexibility, prolific songwriting skills and her being an independent artist.

Singing career

Early work

Tiff Lacey started singing when she was 16 years old. A few years later, she began working as a backing singer to the band "Falling Man". They recorded an album and gigged regularly until they eventually disbanded. Then she started fronting a blues/rock band touring locally in the South East. However, she felt the need to develop her songwriting capabilities in her own right, so she left the band, but yet teamed up with one of its members. They recorded several songs and had interest from both Virgin and EMI. But unfortunately they broke up soon after, because they were not able to capitalize upon the record company's interest. Deciding to change direction, Tiff Lacey joined "Frankenstein’s Baby", an indie/folk band. They recorded various songs, gained large fan base and were reviewed numerous times in musical press around the country. Playing regularly at the legendary "Mean Fiddler", Tiff Lacey felt that the other members were not as driven as her in seeking chart success, so she left, to reflect on the direction her career should eventually take.

Career in EDM

Then her breakthrough in the club scene happened. After sending a demo, she was chosen among many by English DJ Paul Oakenfold to record the vocals for his track "Hypnotised", which was included on his 2002 album "Bunkka", and with the single release the next year it became an international club and radio hit, reaching #17 on the Finland Singles Chart and #41 on Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart in the United States, among others. It was then followed by another dance music collaboration, the single "In Your Hands" with Chris Dececio aka Redd Square, which resulted successful as well. In 2003 Lacey performed live with The Thrillseekers and also provided vocals for their well-known single "Affinity". Her fame was established in 2004 when she was included on four tracks from ATB's album No Silence, including "Marrakech" (which was featured on the soundtrack of Renny Harlin's movie "Mindhunters" and reached #2 in Hungary, #14 in Finland, #38 in Germany and #50 in Austria) and "Ecstasy" (which featured in the Keenen Ivory Wayans comedy film White Chicks and charted at #1 in Bulgaria, #2 in Hungary, #43 in Germany and #62 in Austria). Both tracks became historical hits over the years and are still requested for sets and podcasts from fans. Lacey would later work with ATB again for the albums Seven Years: 1998-2005 (2005) and Future Memories (2009). In 2005 she recorded vocals for Filo & Peri's techno hit "Dance With A Devil", which was remixed by Serge Devant and DJ Shog. That year saw her teaming up with Headstrong (aka Don Jackson). They recorded numerous tracks together which were released throughout the years. The hits among them are "Close Your Eyes" (2005) (which was Jackson's breakthrough hit), "Show Me The Love" (2006), "The Truth" and "Symphony Of Soul" (2007). Lacey got in touch with Jackson thanks to another longtime collaborator and popular name in the EDM industry - Matt Darey (who contributed a remix for "Close Your Eyes"), with whom she recorded the successful track "Always" in 2006, which was followed by "Sum Of All Fears" (2007) and "Into The Blue" (2010). Further success in 2005 was her first collaboration with Lost Witness, called "Home", which received big support from A-List DJs and was later voted Future Favorite on Armin van Buuren's A State of Trance #322 show. She later worked again with Lost Witness on the singles "Love Again" and "Coming Down".

In 2006 Lacey collaborated for the first time with Cosmic Gate. Their first track, called "Should've Known", was included on the duo's album Earth Mover and was also released as a single with remixes from Wippenberg, Jonas Steur and DJ Delicious. Wippenberg wanted Lacey for the track "Promisedland" the next year, which was remixed by Nic Chagall.

In 2007 Tiff Lacey teamed up with Russian DJ Bobina for the track "Where Did You Go", which was included on his album "Again". The track was remixed by another popular name, Dutch DJ Sander van Dien aka First State. The remix received massive airplay, which led to a collaboration between van Dien and Lacey called "Where Do We Go", included on his album "Time Frame". 2007 also marked the singer's first collaboration with Tom Cloud - the track "Secretly", which was released on the A State Of Trance label to great reviews.

In 2008 she recorded two tracks with the trance duo Matt Abbott and Chris Chambers a.k.a. Abbott & Chambers titled "Where Are You" and "Strange Liaison". The tracks were released with remixes by Nitrous Oxide, Cressida, Carl B, Dennis Sheperd, David & Carr, Onova, Allan O' Marshall and Karl G. These tunes established her fame in the Uplifting trance genre, after being included mainly on Progressive trance and Dance before that. The same year she also did "Don't Be Afraid" with Michael Badal and "The Sweetest Sound" with Nick Murray, both of which are considered trademark tracks of hers. Overall in 2008 (only) Tiff Lacey was included on more than 30 original releases.

Her collaboration track with Tenishia called "Burning From The Inside" won the award Best Dance Production 2008 at the Malta Music Awards.^[1]

She recorded a vocal electronic album with Huw Williams in 2007 and it was released in 2008 under their alias name Rubikon and titled "Wonderland". The album featured 11 original recordings. Three of them, "Thing Called Love", "Why Keep On" and "Telephone" were released as singles with remixes by Morgan Page and Hakan Ludvigson, amongst others.

Even though she's mainly considered a Trance singer, however, Tiff Lacey is often wanted for house music collaborations as well. Some of her highlights in this genre include: "Clockworks" with Amex, Natlife and Purepath (2008), "Dreaming" with DJ Zya (2009), "Sweet 17" with Tash (2009), "Beds" with Chus Liberata (2010), "As We Ride" with The Henchmen (2011).

Tiff Lacey's first solo single (she only had one solo song included on Ibiza compilation before that) - a piano ballad called "Show Me The Way" was released on 14 December 2009, with remix package provided by Ivan Spell and Gabriel Lukosz.

In January 2010 "I Know" with George Acosta was released. The remix of the tune by Beat Service was played on A State Of Trance and featured on numerous other podcasts.^[2]

In April 2010, Tiff Lacey signed with label Loverush Digital for the release of her solo album. Later in that year she did a special appearance on Matt Darey's Nocturnal radio show where a 1-hour guest vocal set consisting entirely of her hits was played, including comments by herself between each track.^[3]

2011 – 2013: "¡Viva!" and further EDM impact

In February 2011, her track with Aly & Fila called "Paradise" was released as a single on Future Sound of Egypt to good reviews, being played on ASOT.^[4]

On 31 January 2011 the singer shared the official video of the first single from her upcoming full-length studio album ¡Viva! called "Take Me Away" on her Facebook page. Later on the same day Mark "Loverush" Schneider announced the single's upcoming release. It was released on 9 March 2011 on iTunes with remixes by Tom Noize, Loverush UK, Darren Flinders and Stereojackers.

On 8 May 2011, Tiff Lacey presented on Facebook an official video to another song from her upcoming album - the ballad "Mother To Daughter". The video was shot in Dorset and in her home. Her daughter also appears in it.

There was an album launch party which took place in London on 12 August 2011. The event included live performances by Lacey and Paul Stevens, and guest DJ sets by Loverush UK, Stuart J and Matt Emulsion.

Her album "¡Viva!" came out on iTunes on 15 August 2011 via Loverush Digital. Among the main record producers in it are George Popa, Matt Bukovski, Nick Murray and Loverush UK!. On the very next day, on 16 August, American DJ/producer Ryan Farish released his album "Upon a Dream" which included 3 collaborations with Tiff Lacey (the title track being one of them). The album received a worldwide success and for Lacey musically it was an experience similar to those she had with ATB.

In January 2012, Lacey's collaboration with Italian DJ Vito De Santis aka Vitodito called "Forbidden Love" was released on Neuroscience Deep. The Domenico Cascarino & Luca Lombardi remix of the track reached #3 on Beatport Chillout Chart.

2012 saw Tiff Lacey having remarkable presence in the House genre, spanning hits such as "Darkest Hours" with Fergus Keogh, "Perfect World" with Pagano (which was a Beatport Progressive House TOP 20 hit), "Dancing Into Day" with The Henchmen & Ivan Project and "Heart In Blazing Light" with Philip Aelis, while remaining true to her Trance fans with releases such as "Sweet Child" with Bartlett Bros and Matt Loki (Beatport Trance #33), "Ugly Truth" with Robert Lyttle (Beatport Trance #45) and "One Day" with Mark Khoen.

In July 2012, her single "Moon In The Dark" with Sean Bay was included in the first official compilation release of popular internet vocal fans and reviewers group Pure Bliss Vocals.^[5] In August she was voted #19 in the Beatsmedia UK's TOP 50 Vocalists of 2012.^[6]

She wrote and sang Alex M.O.R.P.H. & Woody van Eyden's track "I See You", included on M.O.R.P.H.'s album "Prime Mover", and Matt Darey & Aeron Aether's "Into The Blue", included on Darey's album "Blossom and Decay", both released on Armada on 13 July – 3 August 2012, respectively. Lacey also collaborated with Laurent Véronnez (aka Airwave) and their track "Slipping" was included on his album "Bright Lines", released on 29 October 2012.

2013 started out with the track "Is This Love" (Beatport Trance #65), with upcoming producer Edvard Viber, which received support from Pedro Del Mar, Sean Tyas, Giuseppe Ottaviani, Faruk Sabanci and many more. The single was released on Black Hole Recordings' imprint In Trance We Trust, including 4 different mixes by Viber himself, a Maor Levi remix and 3 radio edits. Further singles include "For Your Love" with Emvy (Trackitdown #6), "Feel Me" with Zaxx (Beatport Trance #73, Trackitdown #27) and "Possibility" with Peter Hulsmans. Pedro Del Mar included a dark chillout Lacey song with Maxim Eller called "Wait 4 Her" on his compilation "Playa Del Lounge 4", released 1 July 2013 on Black Hole Recordings. The same was released as a separate single in November on Roger Shah's Shah-Music Digital label.

On 14 June 2013 LAD Publishing & Records released "Push Me Pull Me", which Tiff Lacey wrote with Chocolate Zombie and Mr.Rob. The lyrics of the track are freely based on Charlotte Bronte's bestseller Jane Eyre. The singer watched the 2011 film rendition of the book, directed by Cary Fukunaga, just when she was about to write the lyrics for that track. She felt so inspired by the proposal scene and decided to sing the words "You said you had a feeling about me, as if you had a string under your rib" in the recording studio. The song lyrics, in their entirety, are an imaginary Jane Eyre answer to her love Mr.Rochefort.

On 8 July 2013, "I See You" with Alex M.O.R.P.H. and Woody van Eyden was officially released as a single on Armada Music's imprint A State Of Trance, with the release including a Matt Bukovski remix. The last peaked at #13 on Beatport Trance Top 100 while the original mix made it to #21.

3 December 2013 saw Tiff Lacey's comeback with Ryan Farish, with the release of Farish's album "Destiny", which includes their track "Identical Skin" - Lacey's first official song in the Dubstep genre.

2014: More EDM

Tiff Lacey kicked off 2014 with the release of her second single with Polish producer Paul Dave, called "Barefoot In The Dark", which was released in January on the Polish My Music Group label. In February the album "Inside Me" was released. It includes 9 tracks produced by Greek DJ Vierro with 5 of them featuring lyrics and vocals by Tiff Lacey. One of the tracks, "Honesty", is a duet with fellow singer Cari Golden. In March, "Tears In Rain" with Simon Pitt was released, in a remixed version by ReOrder, on Fraction Records. The single saw Tiff Lacey returning to the uplifting trance genre. It was supported by Armin van Buuren on his A State Of Trance show and peaked at #32 on the Beatport Trance Top 100 chart. Latest singles of the singer include "A Thousand Pieces" with Iranian producer Farhad Mahdavi, "Endless Sleep" with Maltese Clayton Coleiro aka Clay C and "Epiphany" - a collaboration with Koishii & Hush, all released in the month of May.

Currently Tiff Lacey is working on further EDM collaborations.

Other activities

Besides her singing talent, Tiff Lacey is also a writer and a painter. She wrote almost all of her song lyrics. Her themes include various subjects, like fantasy, spirituality, introspection, summer and, in a particular way, motherhood. She always writes a complete lyrics for a song, it's up to the DJs in the EDM cases of whether the whole lyrical content will be included in the final track or not. Lacey's writing style differs from others with the fact that she's using a wider variety of words and a lot of imagination in most of her lyrics and she's expressing her emotions and point of view in a more poetical and figurative way, often including hyperbole. Lacey released her first book, "The Songwriter's Guide to the Galaxy", in July 2014.^[7] She is currently writing a children's book as well.

Tiff Lacey is also a prolific painter and keen photographer and is having an exclusive website, called FaithHope&Love, where her artistic pieces and photographs can be seen.^[8] Since late 2012 Tiff Lacey is also in the works of launching her own record label, named FireFlower Music, where she will be releasing her own experimental music material, as well as upcoming EDM solo singles of hers. The label will also give the opportunity to other artists to find home for their releases.

Books

"The Songwriter's Guide to the Galaxy" (2014), PeaChi Publishing

Discography

Albums:

• ¡Viva! (2011)

Notable collaborations:

Collaborator	Track title and year of release
ATB	"Marrakech" (2004), "Ecstasy" (2004), "Here With Me" (2004), "Humanity" (2005), "My Everything" (2009), "Still Here" (2009), "Missing" (2009)
Headstrong	"Close Your Eyes" (2005), "Show Me The Love" (2006), "The Truth" (2006), "Silver Shadow" (2006) "Symphony of Soul" (2007), "Crimson Sky" (2010), "Love of Fools" (2010)
Ryan Farish	"Little Ray" (2011), "Upon a Dream" (2011), "Fire Inside" (2011), "Identical Skin" (2013)
Matt Darey	"Always" (2006), "Sum of All Fears" (2007), "Into The Blue" (2013)
Matt Bukovski	"Swept Away" (2011), "Speak Your Name" (2011)*, "La Habanera" (2011)*
Lost Witness	"Home" (2005), "Love Again" (2006), "Coming Down" (2007)
Cosmic Gate	"Should've Known" (2006), "Open Your Heart" (2010)
Bobina	"Where Did You Go" (2008)
Tenishia	"Burning from the Inside" (2009)
George Acosta	"I Know" (2010)
Motionchild and Will Holland	"Arctic Kiss" (2010)
Aly & Fila	"Paradise" (2010)
Alex M.O.R.P.H. and Woody van Eyden	"I See You" (2013)
Airwave	"Slipping" (2013)
Zaxx	"Feel Me" (2013)
Simon Pitt	"Tears in Rain" (2014)
Farhad Mahdavi	"A Thousand Pieces" (2014)
Koishii & Hush	"Epiphany" (2014)

Note: * - featured on Tiff Lacey's artist album ¡Viva!

References