About

“You find yourself waiting in line, if only to pass the time. Are you lonely, Adeline?” This line from the key track of Noush Skaugen’s debut full-length album, ‘Lost and Found’, is just one instance of the album reaching out and connecting with its audience. The raw emotion and style that the album exudes is unique, and shows how effortlessly Noush’s presence and intriguing style bring a welcome breath of fresh air.

Interesting enough, it was while sitting in a café in Bali, Indonesia, that Skaugen’s fate was sealed, “After living out of my back-pack and in youth hostels for months across Asia, I remember hearing a Tracy Chapman song come on the radio….. and right there it became clear to me that I wanted to reach people with my music….”

This in turn, allowed her to choose not to pursue a career in law after obtaining her degree from Warwick University.

Raised just south of London in the UK , her time spent in France and now the States has undeniably added a special flavor to Noush’s sound. Classically trained on flute, piano and saxophone Noush played in jazz, wind, rock and funk bands as well as the renowned London Barbican Orchestra. This British artist born in Stockholm to a Swedish mother and a Persian father, was constantly around music. Her relatives on her father’s side would all play three of four instruments by ear. On reminiscing Noush says, “My Dad would play his accordion till the wee hours in the morning and family gatherings consisted of a jam session!”

Competitive by nature, and with nothing to lose after her mother passed away from breast cancer, Noush moved from London to New York with nothing but a suitcase and guitar in hand, and has become the force to be reckoned with in the independent music scene. A burgeoning talent described as a Stevie Nicks blended with a female Mick Jagger, Noush had momentum starting to build in 2006 when she took the podcasting and myspace world by storm. The British singer/songwriter’s releases Skid and Gone quickly went into steady podcast rotation. Gone entered the international PodPlay Top 10 at #9 in its first week amongst Panic at the Disco and Alice Cooper.

Skaugen had an incredible run in 2007, touring and promoting her Debut EP ‘Palomino’.

She was all over National College Radio which resulted in CMJ Chart Success, was on regular rotation on National AAA and Satellite Radio, was featured and gave a live in-studio performance at LA’s Top 40 station KIIS FM, and gained National and International Press Coverage. The year was topped off with Skaugen performing at the two most coveted independent award shows; The 17th Annual Los Angeles Music Awards, which have a long standing tradition of picking artists that go on to become huge commercial successes and often grammy winners too, where she won Alternative Pop Artist of the Year, and The Hollywood Fame Awards where she was awarded National Independent EP of the Year.

The album ‘Lost and Found’ is Skaugen’s story, and each song is a different chapter from her life. She knows that everyone’s life is their “own personal roller coaster”, and in sharing hers, she hopes to reach out and help others through whatever issues they may be dealing with in their lives.

The record has a variety of strong upbeat songs and some more reflective songs, “just as we as humans go through many emotions, the record is like a person and her different sides and emotions. But each song has a reason for being on the record and can stand on its own”. She says, “I want to help bring Rock & Roll back -when great music was made starting with a story and raw emotion. So I started writing for the album, from my life, my experiences, good and bad, and what I needed to pour out of me to stay sane.”

The driving inspiration behind the new album is Noush’s mother. She hopes to connect with her listeners through the common bond that everyone can relate to losing someone close to them, whether that be a relationship break-up, or someone that has passed on.

“I started to question everything and search for a place I can call home”. Noush felt like she needed to go to a ‘Lost and Found’, like we have for our belongings, but one for people. Someone once said to her there is a crossroads in Mississippi, USA, where you can go and sell your soul to the devil. That gave Noush the idea of ‘The crossroads of Lost and Found’ - a place where anyone who is lost in this life, can go to find themselves, and not be alone.

Noush decided to get out of her element in LA, and record the album in a totally new location. This turned out to be Nashville, Music City, where little did she know, the underground rock scene was thriving. There she met with an amazingly talented guitar player and producer, Ilya Toshinsky, who understood her vision for the record, and from there ‘Lost and Found’ was born. Incredible musicians were found to play on the record, whose credentials are ridiculous. “All the songs were tracked in just a few takes, that’s how good these guys are”, She says, “I would go into the studio and sing the songs live with the whole band”.

Skaugen was inspired to record this way from recordings of bands from the 70’s and 80’s, how Rock n’ Roll was made back in the day –“ I wanted to capture the magic of the moment.” The whole album was tracked between the two greatest studios in Nashville; one being ‘The Castle’, which Al Capone used to own and keep as a half-way house for his men. It is made of stone gave a certain taste to the sound of the instruments and vocals. The other studio was ‘Blackbird’, home to many brilliant artists, including Jack White of The White Stripes.

Skaugen’s influences come from a diverse list of classic songwriters— including Tracy Chapman, Joni Mitchell, The Rolling Stones and U2 among others. She says, “I want them to feel like they have been understood; like they are not alone in this world. I want their entire being to tingle from being alive.”

The song that defines the whole album for Noush is ‘Adeline’, which she wrote one afternoon feeling lost and heart-broken. She remembers, “You know the feeling when you are so lonely you would go stand in the line for the movies, just so you could be a around people - it wasn’t like I was writing a song, it was more like I needed to express what was going on inside my heart and my head, and there it fell onto the paper. This world has us on auto-pilot and numbed our senses. I hope people will feel something when they listen to this record, whether it’s a tear, a smile or just a memory, that’s how we know we are alive.”

This sure-fire hit will be thrilling audiences with its rich, emotional style and lyrical substance. There is little doubt that the audiences, and venues, will be getting larger very quickly.

One thing that all reviews had in common: Noush Skaugen is unique - there is no one else out there quite like her.

A portion of the proceeds of the album are going to breast cancer research, in the hopes we do find a cure.