Zoe Scott

Zoe Scott is a new artist to watch. Her song "Hard Habit" is one that can be enjoyed by all!

Gorgeous and mystical, ferocious and fragile: with her new CD, Woman on Top, singer/songwriter Zoe Scott projects a vibrant spectrum of dazzling energy. Lacerating riffs, thunderous drumming, anthemic choruses and razor sharp hooks -- Zoe knew exactly what these songs needed to come alive.

High in the leafy enclave of L.A.’s Laurel Canyon, in a rainbow hued bungalow dubbed “The Happy House,” Zoe Scott creates unabashedly autobiographical songs. Channeling words from the ether, Zoe can create instantaneous lyrics. Other lines she culls from unsent email messages to recipients who will never read her words.

Zoe, who had always written poetry and sung, found inspiration in the Mojave Desert. She and her sister lived first in a tent, then in a cave, and eventually in a shack. With recording gear powered by a gasoline generator, they began recording Zoe’s song demos.

Deeply transformed by the lyrics of Jim Morrison, Zoe next took up residence in a Ford Econoline van down the street from the late singer’s house in Laurel Canyon. “We felt like the spirit of Jim would protect and provide,” she recalls. “We were so passionate and so young. We were here to make rock and roll music like our favorite artists. I don’t remember feeling broke. We’d go to the Mondrian Hotel and get in because we were kind of cute. We’d swim to get clean, have coffee at the Chateau Marmont, and go back to our van.”



Ultimately, Woman on Top unveils an upbeat rock and roll manifesto of empowerment, liberation and authenticity. “Each of these songs signifies a little victory in my own personal development,” Zoe concludes. “Whatever my passion is for, I’m not going to let anything stop me. That’s a woman on top. These days I’m aware of my own compromises and emotions. Being aware, being on top of them, is powerful.” With Woman on Top, Zoe Scott assumes the position.

You can stream "Hard Habit" Here: http://bit.ly/zoeshh - Blogher.com

Zoe Scott releases Woman on Top + stream "Hard Habit"

Posted on August 11, 2010 by bandweblogs
Gorgeous and mystical, ferocious and fragile: with her new CD, Woman on Top, singer/songwriter Zoe Scott projects a vibrant spectrum of dazzling energy.



Lacerating riffs, thunderous drumming, anthemic choruses and razor sharp hooks - Zoe knew exactly what these songs needed to come alive.

Buy CDs, MP3s, more:

Zoe Scott on Amazon.com

Zoe Scott on Amazon.co.uk

A storied cast, including The Wax Team (Rihanna, Nora Jones) and Aussie producers Wizards of Oz, worked with her to create tracks that were sharpened by master mixers Jim Scott (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Mike Shipley (Aerosmith, Shania Twain).

Stream "Hard Habit" (out now!)

High in the leafy enclave of L.A.'s Laurel Canyon, in a rainbow hued bungalow dubbed "The Happy House," Zoe Scott creates unabashedly autobiographical songs. Channeling words from the ether, Zoe can create instantaneous lyrics. Other lines she culls from unsent email messages to recipients who will never read her words.

Zoe lives life on her on terms. "I see places as canvases," she says. "It's what I react to." There have been many locales: Born in London to artist parents and trained in the theater, she moved to a palace in Rome on the Piazza Venezia. Acting in horror films, she decided that this was not her destiny. "I figured I'd end up the lover, and have to take my clothes off a lot. I didn't think my parents would like that."

Returning to London, she and her sister Victoria - the major co-conspirator in this saga - inhabited a farmhouse in Tuscany before traveling to the mountains of Spain. "We were dancing under the moon, listening to The Doors, reading Joseph Campbell. We decided to follow our bliss and move to the west coast of California."

Zoe, who had always written poetry and sung, found inspiration in the Mojave Desert. She and her sister lived first in a tent, then in a cave, and eventually in a shack. With recording gear powered by a gasoline generator, they began recording Zoe’s song demos.

Deeply transformed by the lyrics of Jim Morrison, Zoe next took up residence in a Ford Econoline van down the street from the late singer's house in Laurel Canyon. "We felt like the spirit of Jim would protect and provide," she recalls. "We were so passionate and so young. We were here to make rock and roll music like our favorite artists. I don't remember feeling broke. We'd go to the Mondrian Hotel and get in because we were kind of cute. We'd swim to get clean, have coffee at the Chateau Marmont, and go back to our van."

Her recorded debut matched ethereal poetics to instinctive pop/rock sensibilities. "I write scenes as a visual artist, but I happen to be a songwriter. I'm more of a primitive. I didn't go to school for music," she says. Beautiful to Be Alive, (with guests John Rzeznik from Goo Goo Dolls and drummer extradinaire Kenny Arnoff) she describes as "earthy and laid back."

With the release of her debut, Zoe contributed to Females on Fire 3, a compilation CD to showcase dynamic women artists from around the world. She subsequently performed the appropriately titled "Goddess" for the collective's CD release event.

A version of the classic rock track "Venus," the soundtrack for a Gillette Venus Razors television commercial, featured Zoe's lead vocals for the nationally aired spot.

Throughout Woman on Top, Zoe's themes are embracing rather than strident. "True love is nourishing," she observes. "anything else takes away our birthright. Life should be freedom and joy to live, and to do this, woman have to cross borders: sexual, physical and emotional. We live in a world where young girls are still sold into prostitution. If I can write 'A Woman on Top,' I'm doing my job. Women have to have fun with being on top. Whenever I come into a situation with a man where I'm going to be put underneath, I think how far have we come? I have a rebellious streak - that's the rocker, so I'm going to write a song about it. You'll see how underneath I am."

Ultimately, Woman on Top unveils an upbeat rock and roll manifesto of empowerment, liberation and authenticity. "Each of these songs signifies a little victory in my own personal development," Zoe concludes. "Whatever my passion is for, I'm not going to let anything stop me. That's a woman on top. These days I'm aware of my own compromises and emotions. Being aware, being on top of them, is powerful."

With Woman on Top, Zoe Scott assumes the position. - Bandweblogs

She’s a world-traveled British rocker invading America, but she arrives fully influenced by the American rock that came before. Zoe Scott’s new single “Hard Habit” hits airwaves today, with an album soon to follow – and she gives Beatweek the early scoop on what we can expect, along with why her album is called Woman On Top.

You’ve had such an interesting background. You’ve lived everywhere.

Yeah, I have. I love travel. I quite enjoy being an outsider, actually, because I think it gives you space to kind of grow into who you want to become. I love Italy. I lived there for four years. I speak fluent Italian. Love the States. Love American people. Love the enthusiasm and the creativity of this country. And this has kind of become my home. But I have. I’ve spent time in New York. I’ve spent time in Spain. Obviously Los Angeles. So I’m a bit of a nomad. I feel really free when I’m traveling it’s really inspiring.

And yet listening to your music, it seems to be pretty heavily influenced by American rock.

Yeah, it is. That’s my passion. Love American rock, especially I love the sixties stuff. I love all the rock that came out of the west coast in the sixties. I really got into music cause I was really into The Doors and really into Jim [Morrison] and his poetry and his whole thing. That was my vision and my dream to come out west and make music. I now live in Laurel Canyon, where all that music came out of in the sixties, and I find it really inspiring. Being British, we’re into history. So even if The Doors aren’t living in the canyon now, I still feel the spirit of everything that happened there.

You started in music when you were very young, then at some point there was maybe a rebellious stage where it was like “I’m going to go be an actress.” Were you trying to get away from the music when you went to the acting?

I actually think going back to the music was more of the rebellious streak. I grew up in England, and it seemed like more of the right thing for a middle class British girl to do, to go and be an actress. And then I realized that it wasn’t really what I wanted to do. So I think really, going back to the music was more of “Hey, I’m just gonna do what my soul wants to do.” I worked in Europe as an actress and I worked in Italy, and I worked in England, and I think people thought I was crazy when I said I was going to the west coast of America to make my kind of music (laughs). It was a big adventure. My sister and I lived in a cave out west when we first got there. And I remember my mum, my poor mum who’s wonderful, she flew out west and we showed her our cave and she was crying, and she said “Well, whatever makes you happy.” So I think that was pretty rebellious.

Some of your songs like “Eight Lovers and a One Night Stand” and “Hard Habit” are obviously about relationships, but then you’ve taken it a step further by blogging about your dating life.

Relationships are a big part of who we are, right? And also because I’m such a fish out of water here in America. Well, not a total fish out of water, but I grew up dating in Europe, and the dating scene in Europe is very different, maybe not all over America but in LA. So I find it so amusing, LA, in terms of dating, that’s why I feel like writing about it in terms of blogs.

I’ve been more single over the past, let’s say, three years than I was in the past. But there were some love stories of the heart while I was writing this record. I guess as a writer, whatever comes up for you, your life is like a canvas. And while you’re making that passage of writing a record, whoever or whatever comes in your aim of fire (laughs). I write about my life, the people around me. A lot of my songs are born out of passionate emails. I’ll write letters.

I had a brief fling when I was first writing the record. The guy actually moved to Italy, and we were sending a lot of emails. Some of my songs came out of the emails that I wrote to him.

I’ve actually found that’s quite a good technique. If I have a feeling about somebody, I’ll write a letter, a passionate letter. I won’t necessarily send it, but then I’ll start parsing it out and putting it on guitar chords.

It’s fun music.

Yeah, it’s supposed to be fun. It’s supposed to be sexy and fun. It’s called Woman On Top, and even that’s supposed to be fun. You can take it literally. I heard Katy Perry’s song “I kissed a girl and I liked it” and I thought well I don’t really want to go around kissing girls right now. What do I want to be? I think I want to be on top. So let’s write Woman On Top. But I think it’s also pretty significant where we’re at as women. Women have done it all at this point. They’ve had careers. They’ve raised kids. They’ve done just about everything, swum the channel. I kind of think it’s time to have fun being a woman. It’s a great thing being a woman.

“Hard Habit” is your new single.The song “Hard Habit” is basically about addiction to a certain type of bad boy.
- Beatweek Magazine

Audio file. - Popyoularity.com

Zoe Scott finds inspiration wherever she goes. Her new album, “Woman On Top,” is the result of that very inspiration which she gained from Laurel Canyon all the way to Mojave Desert. Scott recently stopped by to talk about her musical journey to making “Woman On Top.”

Q – Thanks Zoe, for doing this.

A – You’re welcome.

Q – I read in your bio that you were a film student. How did you go from film to music?

A - That was quite a journey which involved a 5 month vision quest on the mountains of Spain with my sister, where I decided to follow my bliss and that was to make music. We immigrated together to California where I lived in a cave and wrote my first album. I lived in a van at the bottom of Laurel Canyon till I got a small record deal with Zeus Records. I began making demos and this led to my first album. It was quite a process and only someone who was completely crazy for it could stick it out.

Q – How would you describe your music for those who have yet to discover you?

A - I call it Woman Rock. Stonesy electric guitars with lots of female emotion. It's sexy, it's sultry, it's raucous, and it’s fun. It's very life affirming. My voice sounds a bit like Sheryl Crow but my sense of humor is a bit more Katy Perry.

Q – You’re well traveled in terms of finding inspiration for your music. Of all the places you’ve been which area served as the best inspiration for you to write?

A - Laurel Canyon here in California has held my attention and creativity for the last 5 yrs. It's so rich in the history of rock and roll; there are so many other creative people who live here and I feel it's a great back drop for my creativity. But the desert is always very inspiring to me. I often go out to the Mojave Desert to write. A lot of my songs are about relationships so wherever I find a muse is a good place for me to write and create.



Q – Tell me about the new album “Woman On Top.”

A - I did a lot of soul searching to write the album. I was newly single when I first started writing it so I was putting my raw emotions into my songs. It was like therapy for me. A lot of lonely nights were spent crafting songs. Then I bumped into publisher Suzan Koc who was running something called the "Songwriter's Rendezvous" in LA. So then the process became less lonely as once a week I was hanging out with a bunch of song-writers. She drilled me to be more and more honest. She also introduced me to The Wizardz's of Oz and Wax LTD who became my producers and I knocked out a lot of the songs with them in two weeks. It was a fun process working on the album with both teams. Although I was pushing myself to places I hadn't been before as an artist so I got bronchitis twice during the making of it!

Q – What’s your favorite song on the album and why?

A - My single "Hard Habit" because it was written about the hottest guy I've ever met and I loved obsessing over him while I was writing the song.

Q – How have you grown as a musician from when you first began this journey into music?

A - A million miles, if you heard my first basic demos, you wouldn't believe it was the same woman. You've got to love the process, it's a long journey. I've developed everything from my ideas, to my melody writing, to my voice. I started working on electronica with monotone poetry; now I'm making Rock/Pop with strong hooks, melodies and meaningful lyrics.

Q – What do you want fans to take away from this album?

A - I want them to take away the idea that life is fun, exciting, and empowering. I want them to know sometimes they've got to be rebels and own their own feelings in order to liberate themselves. I want to inspire people to basically go out there and live their dreams.

BYLINE:

Jason Tanamor is the Editor of Zoiks! Online. He is also the author of the novels, "Hello Lesbian!" and "Anonymous." Email Jason at jason@zoiksonline.com.


Read more: http://www.zoiksonline.com/2010/10/zoe-scott-has-voice-of-sheryl-crow-and.html#ixzz15mTqFLbh - Zoik's Online

Zoë Scott, a British singer/songwriter who currently lives in Los Angeles, visited Texas recently for two days.

Armed with a just-released single and an upcoming album, Scott went looking for some love. She played live at a radio station in Austin, and she travelled to the Valley to sit down with Festiva.

We talked to Scott about her new music, her writing process and whether she’ll come back to the Lone Star State any time soon.

“I’m going where the love is,” Scott said. “If they love me in Texas, I’d love to come back.”



ON HER NEW SINGLE: It’s called “Hard Habit” because it refers to dating someone you know you shouldn’t. Scott was exchanging e-mails with an Italian man after they’d had a romantic tryst. She told him he was a hard habit to break, and the song was born. “Most women have had a love story with someone they shouldn’t.”



ON FEMALE EMPOWERMENT: Girl power is one of the main themes in Scott’s music. It’s not quite gung-ho feminism. It’s more light-hearted than that. Scott was inspired during the recording of her album when she heard Katy Perry’s hit “I Kissed a Girl.” She liked the tongue-in-cheek fun of that song, and she tried to bring it to her new album.

It shows in her song titles, which include “Eight Lovers (and a One Night Stand),” “Woman on Top,” and “You Don’t Want a Girl Like Me.”

“Women have arrived,” Scott said. “We’ve done everything from careers to families.”



ON COMING TO THE UNITED STATES: Scott first came to Los Angeles with $200 and her dreams of making music. In the earlier years, she lived in a few odd places, including a van and a cave in the Mojave Desert.

These days, she lives in the city’s Laurel Canyon neighborhood, and her musical dreams are much closer to fruition.

“I came to the States with a dream,” Scott said. “I wanted to make rock and roll music.”

Zack Quaintance covers features and entertainment for Festiva. You can reach him at (956) 683-4447.
- The Monitor

'excellent. a new star is born.'
Reviewer: Musicians Guide
An excellent record by Zoe Scott. This London girl's much talked about debut wholly lives up to its expectations! She is a singer-songwriter with a fresh voice and psychedelic grooves that revive that great tradition of rock'n roll where songs move your heart, your conscience and your feet! Zoe is poised to be the break-through artist of 2006!

- Muscians Guide

www.bopcity.com/handson/zoe081704 - Hands On PR

NEUFUTUR: The Zine with 100% of your daily fibre !
Zoe Scott –
Beautiful To Be Alive / 2006 Zeus /12 Tracks /www.zoescott.com/Reviewed 21 March 2007
Very few individuals would be able to get a member of the Goo Goo Dolls to be on their disc, but Zoe Scott is talented enough to have John Rzeznik (the lead singer of the band) accompany eir on this disc. The style of music that Scott creates on "Beautiful To Be Alive" is a brand of rock-influenced pop, in much of the same vein as artists like Kelly Clarkson and an updated Joan Osbourne. Regardless, a track like "Caves of Possibility" will get masses of followers to Scott's cause, even before the guitar solo shreds everything up.The slower style of "Beautiful To Be Alive" allows for listeners to hear that Scott is no one trick pony; the slinkier sound of this track is sufficiently different for individuals that might like more pop-focused tracks to appreciate Scott's effort during this track. The guitar is again the focal part of the instrumentation on the track, recalling the instrumentation of Meredith Brook's seminal "Bitch". "Planet Love" blends the early nineties with the British invasion in regards to the arrangements present, while Scott's vocals themselves take up a harder sound than during previous tracks. The song has a catchy chorus and should mark Scott's next foray into radio fame. The guitars may not be the most cutting-edge and innovative that they have been on the disc, but they are perfectly serviceable and work well in context. For a better idea for how the guitars sound, locate the episode of Mr. Show that has the parody of the Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack; the two styles are very similar. The time signatures used during this track are impressive, as Scott pretty much goes quiet before the track kicks back in.Each subsequent track on "Beautiful To Be Alive" provides listeners with a different way to understand Scott. There are two things that are maintained throughout the entirety of the disc, and those are the tendency to maintain a full guitar sound to each of the tracks on the disc, as well as providing simple vocal melodies that will get stuck into anyone that is listening in's mind. Scott's time at the top of the pop genre has not came yet, but the efforts put forth on "Beautiful To Be Alive" are solid enough to provide a foundation where ey can realize this in a short while, hopefully after the release of eir next full length album.
Top Tracks: Planet Love, Caves of Possibility
- James Mc Quiston

An excellent record by Zoe Scott. This London girl's much talked about debut
wholly lives up to its expectations! She is a singer-songwriter with a fresh voice
and psychedelic grooves that revive that great tradition of rock'n roll where
songs move your heart, your conscience and your feet! Zoe is poised to be the
break-through artist of 2006! - Musician's Guide

"I am ecstatic about last night's Females On Fire compilation CD 3 album launch ...
so I'm writing a review on it, first hand.

The event has renewed my faith in the Los Angeles music scene, which I felt had
been dying a slow death since 911. Ever since that time, I felt the L.A clubs were
losing audiences, and the artists and bands in this town, losing faith in their
ability to put on a good show, with less and less people supporting live music and
opting for home video game/internet blogging instead (something I'm doing right
now.. blogging J).

Last night, 9 female artists and 3 spoken word artists, plus their musicians (a
total of 27 artists) rocked the house at THE MINT, on Pico Blvd in Los Angeles. It
was truly a stellar night. Firstly, we SOLD out dinner seats in advance and only
an hour into the show, the room was at capacity. A full house! (130 people,
standing room only)

This is completely and utterly due to the diligence and team effort of the artists
involved. Everyone made it a success because they all brought people – their fans
and friends… who came to support the whole night. In L.A, it can be really hard to
draw a crowd, but with combined efforts of all the girls, we DID IT!

Secondly, the artists were not only talented, more on that later, but very
professional from beginning to end. They all came on time (early) and were ready,
willing and able to ensure the schedule stayed on time (we even ran a little
early!), that they didn't hog the stage, that they used the VIP lounge, they were
courteous to all, including the Mint and their sound policies outside, and were
just all a great COMMUNITY and TEAM together, supporting each other. All the
artists stayed till the very end, and that's a feat in of itself as we started at
7pm and went till midnight.

Thirdly, People didn't want to leave. We passed the midnight hour and the crowd
begged for more.
Fourthly, artists travelled from far and wide for this. In particular, Lori and
Steve of Hide From Cleo from Michigan and Claire Wyndham, all the way from
Australia!

The night was in aid of the launch of the new compilation CD (details at end), and
in aid of CARE.org (CARE believe that the status of women in the developing world
is the key to fighting and ending global poverty. With education, skills and basic
resources, they can become catalysts for change. Women can help build a better
world for all. Check out their website at www.care.org). Warrior Girl Music is
donating $1 of every CD sale to CARE.org and part of the proceeds from last
night's door is also going to their charity.

...Zoe Scott, her sister Victoria and their band ignited the stage
for the last segment at 11pm. We were running early… how amazing! Zoe is from
London and she has this great British retro pop sound that delivers strong with
her cool voice. Perfect time slot for this band, as Zoe melted all the men, and
I'm sure some women, in the room in her little black mini. They were great... - Gilli Moon