Miss Afrika

Soul/Pop/R&B from the United Kingdom. Members: Miss Afrika - Lead Vocals Sondre Sandhaug - Bass Dario Darnell - Drums Are Weisten - Guitar Mike Smith - Keys, Sax Singer songwriter Miss Afrika grew up listening to soul, gospel and R&B as well as Latin and Spanish music. That fact added to her mixed race and culture background has turned her music into an original blend of different genres. Likened to Alicia Keys, Nikka Costa or Erykah Badu she combines an incredible vocal expression, natural command of her piano and a charismatic stage presence. Miss Afrika began her studies in music theory, contemporary dance and classic piano at the age of 13 but she would eventually discover that her real talent was singing so she started her voice training soon after covering different genres like opera, jazz, gospel or pop. By the age of 17 she was singing in different gospel choirs and bands in Madrid. In April 2003 she appeared on the TV show “Ésta es tu oportunidad” and soon after she was offered the opportunity to work as a singer songwriter/producer for Beatfreak Recordings working for acts like Simon & Shaker with whom she co-wrote the no. 1 dance hits “Freshness” and “Make It”. That is when Miss Afrika started gigging as a dance artist with DJ's like DJ Jox. In 2004 she joined Gospel Factory choir as one of the lead vocalists, a neo-gospel band she has been touring Spain with. In 2005 she was awarded a scholarship for studying music and production at LIPA (Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts). Since then she is based in the UK with her band gigging regularly both in the UK and Spain participating in festivals like BoArt 2006 where she shared stage with top musicians like Abraham Laboriel or Patricia Barber. In 2007 one of her songs (“Hold On”) was chosen by Robin Gibbs (the BeeGees) as part of the LIPA Records new talent compilation. Miss Afrika has also worked with Diesler co-writing and performing the song “Passion” (Rhythm Staiton, Dieler, Freestyle Records) and has done backing vocals bands like The Farm. At the moment Miss Afrika is recording her new EP which will be released in 2008.