Emmi (Australian singer)

Early life

Emily Green was born in Devon, the middle child of an older brother and a younger sister. The daughter of a pilot, she travelled extensively as a very young child, living in far flung places such as Papua New Guinea and Alice Springs. Moving school nine times before settling in Perth, Australia, Emmi got used to feeling like the outsider and began to focus on her love of dancing, and left home at the age of 16 to study dance full time in Sydney.

Career

Green began her musical career after being signed to a music publisher in Australia, writing songs for Neil Davidge of Massive Attack and Little Nikki.

Green's debut single 'My Kinda Swag' premiered on The Guardian in May 2015, who described it as "delicate torch song... [with a] metronomic electronic pulse.” as well as a ”cracking debut" and the "highlight of 2015 so far". Tobi Oke of Complex (magazine) also described 'My Kinda Swag' as a "stunning debut single". In July 2015, Emmi's second single 'Sleep On It' was premiered by The 405.

American singer Taylor Swift included Emmi's single 'Sleep On It' in her handwritten playlist 'New Songs That Will Make Your Life More Awesome’, alongside Alessia Cara, Hailee Steinfeld and M.I.A. Buzzfeed's Kyle Davis later named 'Sleep On It' as one of "The 30 Most Criminally Underrated Pop Songs Of 2015".

In October 2015, Emmi released third single '60 Minutes’, on Billboard.

'My Kinda Swag’ was selected by BBC Radio 1 as their BBC Introducing Track of The Week for January 25, 2016.

Emmi's voice also features on two 2015 dance singles - 'Our Youth' by Sonny Alven and 'Blind' by Feder.

'Blind' remained in the official French charts for 26 weeks, peaking at number 5. 'Our Youth' featured in the Norwegian charts for 7 weeks, peaking at number 11 and featured in a Pepsi Max commercial, 'Dancing In The Rain'. 'Our Youth' has been nominated for a Spellemannprisen (often referred to as the Norwegian Grammy Awards).

In May 2016, Emmi performed at festivals including The Great Escape Festival and BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend, before premiering her fourth single 'You Said You Loved Me' through Clash Magazine. The track was described as "a heartbreaking/liberation new tune" and "infectious" by Josep Vinaixa of Ultimate Music.

In October 2016, it was revealed on Pottermore that Emmi would feature on the official soundtrack for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, singing 'Blind Pig', written by the screenwriter and Harry Potter author J. K Rowling. Emmi was chosen by the director David Yates himself, who described Emmi as a "wonderful wonderful artist". The BBC picked up on the story on the 15th November 2016 with the headline "Unsigned singer Emmi wins big break in Fantastic Beasts film" where it was revealed that Emmi didn't realise it was David Yates that had made contact, and initially replied with, "I'm on holiday with my parents and we're about to eat pizza, can we put this off?" 'Blind Pig' has been shortlisted for the Best Original Song 2017 Academy Award

In November 2016, Emmi had a featured Brand New Artist Spotlight on MTV and went on to win MTV Brand New For 2016 in Australia and New Zealand, notching up 60,000 votes to clinch the prize and raising $10,000 for the Perth charity Telethon in the process.

Her single "Couldn't Care Less" was premiered on November 11, 2016 by Live Nation’s 'OnestoWatch'

Artistry

Green cites classical music, jazz and Shirley Temple movies as her influences.