Venessa Nolan is a 35 year-old South African singer/songwriter born and raised in Cape Town. She started playing the piano at age six and composed her first song at age seven. In 1990, Venessa achieved grade eight in the UNISA syllabus of classical music and went on to continue her musical education with three years of jazz studies at the University of Cape Town. It was while attending UCT Venessa discovered her gift for composing music with a more popular sound. She then rounded out her music education with achieving grade eight in the ALMSA syllabus of contemporary music.
Venessa began her professional music career in 1994 when she was asked to play keyboards and provide backing vocals for one of South Africa’s most popular and successful producers of musical stage presentations, Mike McCully. During her time with McCully Productions, Venessa performed to sold-out audiences all around South Africa, including two year-long engagements in Cape Town. Highlights of the McCullly years include Sixty Something and Sixty Something Else. When South African star Duck Chowles broke away from McCully Productions, Venessa followed. For the first time in her music career, she took on production responsibilities in addition to her usual musical duties. The resulting 1997 production, Roll over Beethoven, was a sold-out smash success which also enjoyed a year-long engagement in Cape Town.
While performing Roll over Beethoven in 1998, Venessa was scouted by South African indie label Silver Tulip. This chance encounter lead to session work where Venessa played piano or sang for such South African notables as Sony BMG artist Louise Carver. Her time at Silver Tulip allowed Venessa to build a solid reputation as a top session musician and this extraordinary work environment provided an avenue for Venessa to explore recording her original compositions.
Venessa’s freshman solo efforts culminated in the critically acclaimed CD Burn, which SA Rock Digest named fifth best South African rock album of 2001. The recording process began in 2000 with one of South Africa’s most respected and successful record producers, Theo Crous. This collaboration resulted in a three song demo. The single With You charted on the Ericsson Hi5 phone-in show on Cape Town’s popular 5FM shortly thereafter. Inspired by this success, Venessa went on to complete Burn by adding another seven introspective compositions produced by famed South African producer Jürgen von Wechmar. Upon Burn’s release, the singles Fragile, Emptiness High, and Glorious Gem also made it atop SA Rock Digest Charts.
After a limited and well-received tour in support of Burn, Venessa had the opportunity to partner in an upstart ringtone business with her brother Jürgen Kuhnel. They were able to turn the business into a successful venture with Venessa taking the helm as artist and Jürgen seeing to the business details. Landing a contract with iTouch Global afforded Venessa and Jürgen the opportunity to establish MixedUpMusic, a truly independent music studio and record label.
The year 2007 has been a year of unprecedented and exciting progress as Venessa’s voice and keyboards have graced South African TV commercials and This Life, her long-awaited sophomore solo effort, is now ready for release on her own MixedUpMusic label. Co-written and produced with Jürgen Kuhnel, and mastered by the legendary Simon Heyworth, This Life is an electro-acoustic set best described as acoustic instrumentation subtly merged with electronic beats and programmed rhythms. Venessa’s exceptional piano and vocal arrangements in This Life demonstrate her distinctive musicianship, as well as her innate ability to write songs that are welcomed in the mind long after they’ve stopped playing. This Life is honest and real, just like Venessa. Her kind nature, hard work, and ethical outlook on life have been the cornerstones of Venessa’s success, and her message could not be clearer:
"Make This Life an Honest Life"
