Russian-born American Regina Spektor is an eclectic singer/songwriter who grew out of the “anti-folk†scene centred around New York's East Village. Her songs have been used in numerous adverts and TV shows.
Spektor was born in Cold War-era Moscow in 1980, to a musical family (her mother was professor of music at a Russian college). They emigrated to New York (via Austria and Italy) in 1989 where Spektor continued her piano practice at various music schools, eventually graduating from Purchase College in 2001.
She has released five albums so far, although claims to have written around 700 songs.
“Begin To Hopeâ€, released in June 2006, spawned the hit single “Fidelity†and has sold more than 400,000 copies in the US.
"I don't have an overall sound, I tend to think of each song as its own little world, so one song can be a complete punk song, while another could be a chamber ensemble with strings. It's more fun that way because I never have to do the same thing over and over again.""I try to write songs the way a short story writer writes stories"
"I always thought, 'Why can't I write a song from the point of view of a man or a criminal or an old woman?'
"We had to sell the piano because we weren't allowed to bring anything foreign-made out of Russia, it was considered Soviet property. I was so sad."
"I noticed that some kids would always try to hike next to me and ask me to sing particular songs that I had made up."
"So I started trying to remember them. By the end of the trip, all these kids were telling me that I had to write songs!"
