Six mixed maestros (Part 3): Emiliana Torrini / Maya Jupiter

5 Emiliana Torrini

Emiliana Torrini grew up in Kópavogur, Iceland. Her mother is Icelandic, while her Italian father owns and operates a well-known restaurant in Iceland. At the age of seven, she joined a choir as a soprano before attending opera school at fifteen. In 1994, she became well known in Iceland after winning a singing competition with a cover of gloria gaynor’s ‘I Will Survive’. Her vacuumcleaner. I got into other music rather late because we didn’t have any records. Well, except lots of classical, my mum’s greatest Love Songs compilation from the TV, and Leonard Cohen whom I love. Then we got MTV. We were the first people in our town to have it and I would stay up all night to record from the late night alternative shows, making tapes to take to school to brag about my musical findings.” Emiliana recorded some jazz and blues songs for her father’s 50th birthday, which then became an album that sold 15,000 copies in Iceland and remained at number one for many months. She gained international fame with 1999’s super-successful Love In The Time Of Science, following up with 2005’s Fisherman’s Woman and last year’s Me & armini, her boldest and brightest collection yet.

TORRINI.COM | MYSPACE.COM/EMIlIANATORRINI

6 Maya Jupiter

After falling in love with hip hop in high school, Mexican-born, australia-raised Maya Jupiter passionately pursued a multifaceted career in music. To date, she has rocked crowds alongside Black Eyed Peas, Prince and Common, collaborated with 11-piece Latin / jazz / hip hop band Son Veneno, starred in TV soaps (as a Latin dance instructor) and presented hip hop shows on National TV and radio. however, she’s most proud of co-teaching “hip hop For The Ladies”, a 12-week hip hop course aimed at underprivileged inner city girls. “I’ve always thought of myself as having three nationalities,” says Maya. “My mother was born and raised in Turkey, my father born and raised in Mexico, and I was born in Mexico, raised in australia. a bit of a global citizen is how I look at it. growing up in Sydney, I was surrounded by people from all different backgrounds; it was typical to be from another land. Musically, my style of hip hop has always carried the influence of traditional rhythms and instruments – it’s my way of saying who I am and where I come from. I love to rap in Spanish and have my brother-in-law (Victor Valdes) play Latin american harp live over beats, or dance Salsa in the middle of a rap. It’s about honouring the traditions of the past and celebrating the future.” In 2007, Maya released an album with fellow aussies MC Trey and DJ Nick Toth (as Foreign heights). The single ‘get yours (remix)’ was nominated for an aria in the Best Urban release category. She is currently working on a new solo album – Today – with Quetzal Flores, Martha gonzalez and aloe Blacc.

MAYAJUPITER.COM | MYSPACE.COM/MAYAJUPITER