Emika

Ema Jolly[1] (born 8 January 1986), better known by her stage name Emika, is an English electronic musician of Czech origin (her mother is from Příbram[2]) currently residing in Berlin.[3] Her self-titled debut album was released in October 2011 via Ninja Tune[4] and received generally positive reviews.[5]

For other uses, see Emika (disambiguation).

Emika
Emika in 2011
Background information
Birth name	Ema Jolly
Born	(1986-01-08) 8 January 1986 Milton Keynes, England
Genres	Dubstep trip hop experimental electronica techno synth-pop Piano solo Contemporary classical music
Occupation(s)	Producer Composer
Years active	2009–present
Labels	Emika Records Improvisations X Inspirations Ninja Tune Ostgut Ton Tectonic Aus
Website	www.emikarecords.com

Biography

Emika, a classically trained musician who studied classical piano and composition,[6] grew up in Milton Keynes, England. She started to make music at school (using an old sequencer program she found on a computer stashed in a cupboard)[7] and waitressed to save up for her first Apple Mac and copy of Logic Studio.[8] Emika received her Music Technology degree in Bath, then procured an internship at the offices of the London label Ninja Tune, where she worked for a month.[9] As Bristol music scene was making a transition from drum and bass to dubstep, she went to the first parties organised by Pinch.[8]

Speaking of the reasons that made her leave Bristol, Emika explained: "I was very ill, physically, I've had to have some operations which weren't very successful and led to more, and had a long period quite surviving from morphine, really... I was in bed for many weeks. And afterwards in Bristol I became 'the ill girl'... It was very difficult for me to recover and stay in that city". In 2006,[10] she took advantage of a free flight to anywhere in Europe granted by her bank, as she got her account upgraded, flew to Berlin on her own and decided to stay there.[7]

In Berlin Emika started working as a sound designer for Native Instruments, all the while honing her own ("uniquely haunting", according to AllMusic) musical style with her laptop, picking up ideas from the dance scene at the Berghain and Panoramabar clubs. Fünf, the compilation album of music crafted from field recordings made inside these clubs by Emika (who contributed her own track "Cooling Room" to the compilation), was released by Ostgut Ton, as part of the celebration of the label's five-year anniversary.[11] Her job at the Native Instruments had an important role in her artistic development, too. "I am focused on the world of sound and the power of the human voice, the instant connections it makes with listeners, in music. In general I feel there is a lack of vocabulary in the field of electronic music", Emika later explained.[8]

"Drop the Other" and debut album (2010)

Ninja Tune appreciated Emika's new, dark, downtempo dubstep direction and in January 2010, released "Drop the Other" as her debut single, which has also found its way into the label's 20th anniversary box set. Since 2009, Emika has appeared on tracks with the likes of Pinch, Kryptic Minds, Paul Frick and MyMy.[12] Her second single "Double Edge" came out in May 2010[13] to be followed by "Count Backwards" (April 2011)[14] and "Pretend/Professional Loving", the latter came out in September 2011, and was remixed by Brandt Brauer Frick, Kyle Hall and DJ Rashad.[15]

On 3 October (11 October, in US), 2011, her debut album Emika came out (all four singles included), described as the mix of "bewitching, atmospheric melodies and glitchy electronic beats"[9] and getting good reviews.[5] Emika's music has been described as being influenced by various genres like early dubstep, electronica and classical,[16] critics compared her to PJ Harvey, The xx, Zola Jesus and Beth Gibbons.[5]

On 18 October 2011 Emika embarked upon her first American tour, supporting Amon Tobin on his ISAM tour and she has continued to play live shows all over the world throughout 2012 in countries such as Austria, Czech Republic, France, Ireland, Norway, Switzerland, Russia and Turkey.[17] She performed a live set in Berlin for music streaming website Boiler Room in 2012.[18]

Despite her self-described "nerdy,"[19] studio-based background, Emika notes a major shift in her recent output evolving from the isolated nature of her self-titled debut LP to a more interactive and freewheeling piece of work in 2013's Dva.

2015 saw her two albums: piano opus Klavirni and electronic studio album DREI. Ibiza Spotlight gave both records their Album Of The Week accolade.[20]

Education

Emika studied Creative Music Technology at Bath Spa University.

Film, advertising and other music use

Her music has been used in adverts by Gucci,[21] McLaren[22][23] and NBC - who used her cover of Chris Isaak's Wicked Game in an episode of The Blacklist,[24] which led to the track reaching No. 1 on iTunes in Canada and No. 2 in the US. She has contributed to film soundtracks, including a trailer for Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, and her music was used at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Her track, "Professional Loving", was sampled by The Weeknd on his track "Professional" on his debut album Kiss Land (2013).

Collaborations

Emika has collaborated with artists and producers such as Tommy Four Seven, Pinch, Nick Hoppner, Paul Frick, (Brandt Brauer Frick), Amon Tobin and Marcel Dettmann (with whom she co-produced a song for his artist album).[25] She has recorded with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and in 2014 she revealed plans to create a full orchestral symphony.[26]

She has been shot by photographers including Bettina Rheims[27] and Madison.[28]

Emika contributed a remix (along with Gazelle Twin) to the Nicholas Sutton soundtrack album Angels Dreams Inches released as a limited 12" vinyl.[29]

Emika Records

Emika launched her own label in 2014, Emika Records, initially as a platform to release her own music. The debut release was a 12" entitled Melancholia Euphoria.[30]

Improvisations X Inspirations

Emika launched a new collaborative label called Improvisations X Inspirations (also abbreviated as ImpXIns).[31]

Solo discography

Albums

• Emika (Ninja Tune, 2011)
• Dva (Ninja Tune, 2013)
• Klavírní (Emika, 2015)
• Drei (Emika, 2015)
• Melanfonie (Emika, 2017)
• Falling in Love with Sadness (Emika, 2018)
• Klavirni Temna (Emika, 2020)
• Chaos Star (Emika, 1 May 2020, download, was available for 24 hours only on Bandcamp)

Mini albums

• Chemical Fever (14 May 2012, Ninja Tune)
• Klavírní EP (download with the album Dva, 10 June 2013, Ninja Tune)
• Drei Remixes (24 July 2015, Emika Records)
• Flashbacks (4 March 2016, Emika Records)
• Forever Never (5 August 2016, Emika Records)
• Melanfonie Momente (28 October 2016, Emika Records)
• DREI Instrumentals & A Capellas (download 22 December 2017, Emika Records)
• Falling In Love With Sadness Remixes (11 October 2019, Emika Records)

Singles

from the album Emika:

• "Drop the Other" (12", 18 January 2010, Ninja Tune)
• "Double Edge" (12", 15 May 2010, Ninja Tune)
• "Count Backwards" (12", 11 April 2011, Ninja Tune)
• "Pretend" / "Professional Loving" (12", 5 September 2011, Ninja Tune)
• "3 Hours" (12", 13 February 2012, Ninja Tune)

from the album Dva:

• "Searching" (download, 15 April 2013, Ninja Tune)
• "Centuries" (download, 1 July 2013, Ninja Tune)

from the album Drei:

• "My Heart Bleeds Melody" (promo only, April 2015)

from the album Falling in Love with Sadness:

• "Eternity (Earth version)" (download 29 March 2019, Emika Records)

others:

• "Melancholia Euphoria" (download 30 November 2014, 12" 1 December 2014, Emika Records)
• "Close" (download 11 June 2018, Emika Records)
• "Sleep in the Day" (download 1 May 2020, Improvisations X Inspirations)[32]

Collaborations

• 2009: Price Tag EP (MyMy & Emika, AUS Music)
• 2010: "2012" (Pinch & Emika, Tectonic)
• 2011: "I Mean" EP (Paul Frick feat. Emika, Doppelschall)
• 2011: "Make You Sleep" (Kryptic Minds vs. Emika, Black Box)
• 2011 : "Pretend" (Brandt Brauer Frick)
• 2016 : "Dreamt In Flesh" (Emika Remix) [29]
• 2017: "Olive tree" by Luke Black (Emika production) [33]
• 2018: “Tell Me What You Remember”, (The Black Dog, featuring Emika, from The Black Dog's “Black Daisy Wheel” album)

References

1. Josiah Hughes. (29 July 2011). "Emika Readies Ninja Tune Debut". exclaim.ca. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
2. Radio Wave (7 June 2013). "Emika: Chlapi se mi bojí říkat o remixy (Interview with Emika)". www.rozhlas.cz. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
3. Killian Fox (2 October 2011). "Emika album review". London: www.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
4. "Ninja Tune artist page". Ninja Tune. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
5. "Emika. Reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
6. Helen S (2011). "Emika interview (video)". Pulse Radio. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
7. Jules Hallam. "Emika interview". Ninja Tunes. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
8. "Emika". ninjatune.net. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
9. "Emika biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
10. Kyle Ellison. "Emika review". drownedinsound.com. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
11. "Fünf". Berghain.de. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
12. "Emika Discog Page". Discogs. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
13. "Double Edge". ninjatune.net. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
14. "Count Backwards". ninjatune.net. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
15. "ninjatune.net". ninjatune.net. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
16. "Resident Advisor feature". Resident Adviser. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
17. "Emika tour dates". ninjatune.net. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
18. Album of the week: Emika 'Klavirni LP' Emika Boiler Room Berlin LIVE Show. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
19. "Features | Escape Velocity | Moments Of Clarity: An Interview With Emika". Thequietus.com. 23 February 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
20. Album of the week: Emika 'Klavirni LP' Ibiza Spotlight. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
21. "Gucci's Bright Diamante collection | Vogue Paris". En.vogue.fr. 16 June 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
22. "McLaren Attempts Speed Record With Emika As The Soundtrack — Shocklee Entertainment Universe ● The Future Frequency". Shocklee.com. 9 December 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
23. "McLaren P1 vs. the Nürburgring-Nordschleife". youtube.com. 13 December 2013.
24. "The 'Blacklist' Playlist: NBC's Dark Drama a Surprise Hit for Music Supervisors". Billboard.com. 11 November 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
25. "Emika on Dettmann: The Interview". Djbroadcast.net. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
26. "Emika Debuts New Record Label". Djmag.com. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
27. "Emika - I used to look at Bettina Rheims photos and..." Facebook.com. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
28. officialmadison (15 March 2013). "Madison - EMIKA - DVA coming soon promo teaser. Shot and". Madebymadison.com. Archived from the original on 4 July 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
29. "Nick Sutton - Angels Dreams Inches (Vinyl)". Discogs.com. 14 November 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
30. "Emika - Melancholia Euphoria (Vinyl)". Discogs.com. 30 November 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
32. "tweet Improvisations X Inspirations". twitter.com. 1 May 2020.
33. "Luke Black predstavlja video spot za novi singl Olive Tree (VIDEO)". Espreso.rs. 19 December 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2020.

External links

• Official page on Bandcamp