WHEN AN AD CHANGES YOUR LIFE

Ladies and Gentleman, may I present you: Gin Wigmore, a voice that will bring you back in time and that you’ll surely never forget.

Advertisements are usually undesirable for the majority of people. When the favourite TV show is interrupted by one, our fingers can’t help but frantically go on changing the channels, looking for a distraction that doesn’t involve prices.

Rarely, however, a phenomenon happens: a commercial publicity has something so interesting that it grabs your attention and you even wish it lasted longer. This was the case with Heineken's 2012 commercial featuring Daniel Craig as James Bond and our Artist of The Week: Gin Wigmore.

The ad was so great and the music so catchy that I remember spending hours and hours online, looking for the QUEEN that owned that marvellous voice. If you ever came across the same situation, you know what I’m talking about. If you also wanted to know who was the singer from the video above, you’re welcome.

After days of insistence, it finally paid off and I got to know who the mysterious yet stylish singer was, let’s learn more about her.

Virginia Claire Wigmore, Virginia for her mother and others when she’s in trouble (as she tells in an interview) and Gin for the rest of the world, was born on 6 June 1986 in Auckland, New Zealand.

She grew up with two siblings (a brother named Olly and a sister named Lucy, who is a professional actress). Her parents used to throw dinner parties in which her mother usually sat at the piano and invited Gin to sing with her.

When Gin was 17, her father died of cancer. The event caused her such a pain that she stopped singing, songwriting and playing music completely. She went on an exchange program in Argentina, to be an assistant teacher of a school run by nuns. She didn’t enjoy the experience that much, so she left the position and started working at a nearby bi-lingual kindergarten.

On her return to New Zealand, she wrote “Hallelujah” in honour her father’s memory. She showed it to her sister that loved it and decided to enter it in the International Songwriting Competition in 2004. Wigmore was the youngest and only unsigned artist to ever win the Grand Prize of the competition.

Her first released studio work was an EP called (literally) Extended Play, that peaked number 10 on the New Zealand charts and obtained a Platinum certificate.

Gin Wigmore in 2010

(Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29701609@N08/4946992509 | Credits to Ignite New Zealand)

The following success was her debut long-play, called Holy Smoke, released in 2009. Containing great tracks such as “Hey Ho”, “Too Late For Lovers” and “Golden Ship”. The album is her most certified work to date, being 4 times Platinum.

Gravel & Wine is, personally, my favourite album of hers. Here, we can perceive a maturity in her sound, more vocal techniques and control, and lyrics so well-written, that they leave you wishing you were the one that wrote them instead. Deserve to be highlighted: “Man Like That”, “Black Sheep” (which was featured in many ads, TV series and films), “Kill of The Night” and “If Only”.

2015 brought with it Blood to Bone, an album more personal, where we can see some of Gin’s life being told. A combination of rock and electronic beats with deep soulful lyrics. “New Rush”, “Black Parade” and “24” are ones not to miss on this one.

Her raspy, bluesy and distinct voice, her cool rock-star style and her other musical influences such as pop, country and alternative rock, make her a star in the making and very unique.

She has already won 6 New Zealand Awards in the categories: Highest Selling Single (2009 – for her participation in the song “Brother” of Smashproof), Best Pop Album, Vodafone Album Of The Year, Breakthrough Artist of The Year, Highest Selling Album – Holy Smoke (the last four in 2010), Best Female Solo Artist (2015).

Virginia plays the piano and guitar and has already been co-producer on one of her albums, Blood to Bone. There, she also stretched her voice into falsetto and did all the backing vocals.

Other facts about her:

In September 2004, she married Jason Butler (lead singer of the band Letlive – great band, awesome stuff, by the way) in Hawaii.
Her upcoming album, to be released in March 2018 carries her son’s name “Ivory”, the baby boy and younger Butler of the family was born in September last year.
In 2016, ex-president Barack Obama, from the United States of America, included Gin’s music “Man Like That” on his “Songs for the Daytime” playlist, and she loved it, commenting at the time on Twitter “As a musician and a recently inducted American resident, I'd like to say thanks to my mate @BarackObama for this."

Gin’s latest project is named #GirlGang, it is releasing and will continue to, for about 10 months, new songs by the singer. These songs will be released in collaboration with other 5 artists, from different areas, that will create art inspired by a Gin’s song. All profits will go to charities FCKH8.com and Gentle Barn.

She told NZ Herald more about it: "Each woman will use one of the songs to create a piece of their own art, which we'll release on social media and film. I've been talking to female artists in the US, UK and New Zealand about coming on board and am excited about creating a collaborative work that allows women to fight against a society that so often pits us against each other and tears us down."

To learn more about Girl Gang, Gin’s upcoming work and tour dates, follow her social media and more, head to her official website.