Jade MacRae
| Jade MacRae | |
|---|---|
 Jade MacRae in 2009 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jade Aurora MacRae |
| Born | June 4, 1979 |
| Origin | Sydney[1] |
| Genres | Soul |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 2002-present |
| Labels | Sony BMG/Workstation Records |
| Associated acts |
Mahalia Barnes Phrase |
Jade Aurora MacRae (born June 4, 1979) is an Australian soul singer and the daughter of two professional New Zealand musicians who live in the United Kingdom (UK). Her debut single "You Make Me Weak" debuted in the top 50 places of the Australian singles charts in November 2004, while her follow-up single "So Hot Right Now" debuted in the top 20 places of the Australian singles charts in February 2005.
MacRae's self-titled debut album was nominated for Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), MTV Australia, Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Urban Music awards in 2005 and 2006. The singer's second studio album Get Me Home was released in October 2008. In 2012, following her marriage to Australian hip hop artist Phrase, MacRae continued her musical career under the new moniker of "Dune".[2]
Biography
Early years
Born into a musical family—MacRae's mother is respected session vocalist Joy Yates and her pianist father is Dave MacRae[3]—MacRae's musical education began at a young age as she grew up in the Northern Beaches area of Sydney, Australia. The singer commenced learning the piano at the age of three years and the violin at the age of eight. After finishing her Australian Higher School Certificate at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (during her time as a Conservatorium student, MacRae engaged in musical projects with members of The Sleepy Jackson and Pnau[4]), MacRae began singing in a number of Sydney's entertainment venues. As well as singing in a band with Mahalia Barnes, daughter of popular Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes, she supported Renée Geyer and Jackie Orszaczky.
Through her association with Mahalia Barnes, MacRae attained further work as a backup singer with Jimmy Barnes in the period prior to the commencement of her solo career in 2004.[2] In addition to her work with Jimmy Barnes, MacRae commenced session work as a singer with Australian electronic acts such as Disco Montego, Endorphin and Pnau. German dance producer Ian Pooley recruited her to sing on the track "Heaven", together with Danni'elle Gaha, and the song achieved the top position on the German dance charts.[5]
Jade MacRae
During her time as Barnes' backup singer, MacRae signed a record contract with Michael Hegarty of Workstation Records. Producers, such as Warryn Campbell and White Chocolate, were recruited from Los Angeles, United States (U.S.) to undertake work on the album, while a selection of Australian producers, including Israel, Jarrad Rogers and the Elite Fleet, produced the first single "You Make Me Weak". MacRae wrote or co-wrote each of the album's songs and signed with Roadshow Music, an offshoot of Sony Music Australia, following the completion of recording. "You Make Me Weak" reached the top 50 of the Australian singles charts in early November 2004, while the successive single "So Hot Right Now" (featuring Israel) debuted in the top 20 in February 2005.
MacRae released her debut self-titled album in September 2005 and, in addition to the first two singles, it contained the third single release "Superstar" (featuring 6 Pound)—a fourth song "Up And Do Your Thing" was also released as a promotional/radio single. Also in 2005, MacRae performed the Australian national anthem "Advance Australia Fair" at the World Cup qualifying match, between Australia and Uruguay, at Sydney's Stadium Australia venue.
MacRae's debut album later garnered two ARIA Award nominations in 2006—"Best Urban Album" and "Best Female Artist".[6] In 2006, MacRae performed the Australian national anthem at the 2006 NRL (National Rugby League) Grand Final.
In 2007, MacRae performed an hour-long set prior to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC)'s third and fourth Asian Cup quarter final matches in Sydney, Australia. The 2007 Asian Cup was the first time that Australia participated in the competition.[7]
Get Me Home
After several delays, MacRae's second album Get Me Home was released in October 2008, together with the singles "I Wanna Be In Love" and "In The Basement". However, the album failed to enter any music charts and the lack of popular attention impacted upon the singer's confidence. The singer had written all of the songs on the album and in 2012 MacRae revealed that she was "a bit shell-shocked after that didn’t work out. It was a hard thing to recover from."[2]
In November 2009, Phrase revealed on his Twitter profile that MacRae was rehearsing with musicians for new recorded material.
Dune
Following the release of the MacRae's second album, the singer assumed a new musical pseudonym and presented herself as "Dune". In a September 2012 interview, MacRae explained, “The music I’m making now is definitely more alternative than what I’ve done before, so I thought it needed its own name, its own identity and personality”.[2] MacRae's debut release under the Dune name, the song "Shoestring", was released globally in July 2012,[8] together with a music video (MacRae co-directed the music video).[9]
An EP entitled Oh Innocence was then released on 14 March 2013[10] and MacRae had revealed earlier in the year that all of the Dune recordings were self-funded, self-produced and self-released. MacRae's live band for the Dune project consists of a bassist and drummer, Luke Hodgson and Leigh Fisher (both from the band Gypsy and the Cat), and the group was invited to play at the 2013 Great Escape Festival that is held annually in Brighton, UK.[4] In an early 2013 interview with the Time Out media group, MacRae provided an insight into the response that she had received from fans of her previous work under the "Jade MacRae" title:
I think some people are quite disappointed in the new direction – some people on the urban scene can be quite staunch ... It’s amazing how short people’s memories are though. A lot of the people that I’ve dealt with in media have no recollection of me ... There’s no culture these days in the mainstream really – the idea of discovering an artist, getting all their albums and getting obsessed with them is dying out. It still exists to some extent in indie bands and left-of-centre music.[4]
Collaborations
Several of MacRae's compositions have been recorded by other artists, such as "Gonna Take Some Time" (Jimmy and Mahalia Barnes), "Ride My Tempo" (by Ida Corr) and "Glamorous" (by Belgian pop star Natalia).
In mid-2007, MacRae toured Australia as part of the Broad show and performed alongside Deborah Conway, New Buffalo, Anne McCue and Abbe May.[11] MacRae then collaborated on the song "Life" in late 2009 with the duo "Space Invadas" (Katalyst and Steve Spacek).
In 2012, MacRae contributed vocals to the soundtrack of the Australian film The Sapphires (alongside Jessica Mauboy and Lou Bennett, Juanita Tippens and Darren Percival),[12] in addition to the fourth album of Australian artist Kevin Mitchell (recording under his "Bob Evans" pseudonym), Familiar Stranger.[13]
Other media
MacRae signed on to participate in the Australian celebrity television singing show, It Takes Two in 2006 and was partnered with Australian cricket player Michael Bevan—the pair was eliminated on 2 July 2006. MacRae returned to It Takes Two in May 2007 and was partnered with Home and Away's Bobby Morley on that occasion (Morley appeared in the music video for MacRae's song "In The Basement" later that year[14]). Morley and MacRae were eliminated on the episode that aired on 12 June 2007. In 2008, MacRae returned to the television show for a third time and was partnered with actor Paul O'Brien—the pair were eliminated in the eighth week of the season.
MacRae briefly acted in the co-host role for Sydney's Edge 96.1 radio station, and has also appeared several times on the Australian musical comedy/quiz shows Spicks And Specks and RocKwiz.
Personal life
MacRae began dating hip hop artist, Phrase, in 2008 and, as of August 2011, the pair is a married couple[15] who are based in Melbourne, Australia.[16]
Discography
Albums
- Jade MacRae (2005) #61 AUS; #10 AUS Urban
- Get Me Home (2008)
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS | AUS Urban | |||
| 2002 | "Heaven" (w/ Ian Pooley) | |
|
- |
| 2004 | "You Make Me Weak" | |
|
Jade MacRae |
| 2005 | "So Hot Right Now" | |
| |
| "Superstar" | |
| ||
| 2006 | "Up and Do Your Thing" | |||
| "Love You Good" | |
|
- | |
| 2007 | "In the Basement" | |
|
Get Me Home |
| 2008 | "I Wanna Be In Love" | |
| |
| 2009 | "Life" (w/ Space Invadas) | |
|
- |
Awards and nominations
| Award | Category | About | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | ||||
| APRA Music Awards | Urban Work of the Year | "In the Basement" | Won[17] | |
| 2007 | ||||
| APRA Music Awards | Most Performed Urban Work | "Superstar" | Nominated | |
| Urban Music Awards 2007 | Best Female Artist | Herself | Won | |
| 2006 | ||||
| APRA Music Awards | Most Performed Urban Work | "You Make Me Weak" | Nominated | |
| ARIA Awards 2006 | Best Urban Release | Jade MacRae | Nominated | |
| ARIA Awards 2006 | Best Female Artist | Herself | Nominated | |
| MTV Australia Video Music Awards 2006 | Best R&B Video | "So Hot Right Now" | Nominated | |
| POPrepublic.tv IT List Awards 2006 | Australian Female | Herself | Won | |
| Urban Music Awards 2006 | Best R&B Album | Jade MacRae | Won | |
| Urban Music Awards 2006 | Best Female Artist | Herself | Won | |
| 2005 | ||||
| ARIA Awards 2005 | Best Urban Release | "So Hot Right Now" | Nominated | |
| POPrepublic.tv IT List Awards 2005 | Australian Female | Herself | Nominated | |
References
- ↑ "So hot right now". The Sydney Morning Herald. 4 August 2007.
- 1 2 3 4 David (1 September 2012). "Interview Feature: Jade Macrae reinvents herself as Dune". Feed Limmy. Feed Limmy. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- ↑ Browne, Sally (5 August 2007). "Broadly talented". The Sunday Mail (Qld).
- 1 2 3 Jenny Valentish (21 February 2013). "Dune: Oh Innocence launch tour". Time Out Melbourne. Time Out Group Ltd. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- ↑ "Jade Mac-Rae". Girl.com.au. Girl.com.au & Femail.com.au. 1997–2014. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- ↑ "Winners By Year". ARIA Awards – United By Music. AUSTRALIAN RECORDING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION. 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- ↑ Ben Willing (5 July 2007). "Asian Cup preview". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- ↑ "DUNE releases DEBUT single SHOESTRING". AAA Backstage. AAA Backstage. 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- ↑ ThisIsDune (5 July 2012). "Dune - Shoestring (OFFICIAL VIDEO)" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- ↑ "Oh Innocence Dune". iTunes Preview. Apple, Inc. 14 March 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- ↑ Kane Adrian (19 August 2007). "Broad 2007". Australian Stage. Australian Stage Online. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- ↑ Andrew Tijs (10 July 2012). "The Sapphires’ Soundtrack Songs Announced". noise11. noise11. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- ↑ Simon Collins (15 March 2013). "The perfect stranger". The West Australian. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- ↑ singerboy94 (1 February 2008). "Jade Macrae-In The Basement" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- ↑ Christie Eliezer (11 November 2010). "Industrial Strength: November 11". The Music Network. Peer Group Media. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- ↑ Nils Hay (22 August 2011). "Phrase Trusting In Babylon". The Brag. The Brag. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- ↑ "2008 Winners - APRA Music Awards". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 28 April 2010.
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External links
- Jade MacRae on Facebook
- Jade MacRae discography at Discogs
- Jade MacRae at the Internet Movie Database
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