Kim Bingham
Kim Bingham is a Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, vocalist, and composer also known as Mudgirl and The Kim Band; she is also known for collaborations with Nelly Furtado, Bran Van 3000 and David Usher.
Kim Bingham | |
|---|---|
 Bingham at the Montreal Jazz Festival 2008 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Origin | Montreal, Quebec |
| Genres | pop, rock, alt rock, third wave ska, film scores |
| Occupation(s) | Vocalist, musician, songwriter |
| Instruments | Guitar, vocals |
| Years active | 1990s–present |
| Labels | Mudgirl Music Group |
| Associated acts | Me Mom and Morgentaler, Mudgirl, The Kim Band, Kamikaze Pilot, David Usher, Nelly Furtado, Bran Van 3000 |
| Website | KimBingham.com |
Music career
Me Mom and Morgentaler
Bingham began her career in music as a member of the Montreal, Quebec third-wave ska band Me Mom and Morgentaler formed in 1990. The band became known for elaborate live performances, spectacles of vaudevillian-styled performance art. With the band, Bingham recorded three works: "Clown Heaven and Hell" EP (1991), "Shiva Space Machine" (1993) and Live "We Are Revolting: Live & Obscure 1990–1994 (1994).
1994–99: Mudgirl
In 1994, Bingham left Me Mom and Morgentaler and moved to Vancouver where she formed the solo project Mudgirl. Her moniker Mudgirl was chosen based on "the title of a short story she wrote about a waif made of mud" intended for children. She stated, "Mudgirl is an extension of myself where I get to be cartoony and a bit surreal." In 1996, Bingham released her debut five-song EP "First Book" which included three radio hits "This Day", "Adjusted" and "Contact". She also produced a handful of popular videos featured on MuchMusic,[1] and performed on some dates in the U.S., including a July 1996 performance with Mudgirl at Lilith Fair.[2]
1999–06: The Kim Band
After five years as Mudgirl, Bingham decided to change the name of her collective to "The Kim Band". Under this moniker, she released the album "Girlology" (2001) produced by Steven Drake (The Odds, The Tragically Hip). The album featured the radio singles "What A Drag", "Valentine's Day" and "Quel Dommage", her French version of "What A Drag" that reached No.1 on French-Canadian radio charts.
Collaborations with David Usher, Nelly Furtado and Bran Van 3000. 2000–03: Touring, bands
From 2001 until 2003, Bingham worked with Canadian singer David Usher as a guitarist and backing vocalist. "Black Black Heart" is a song written by Usher and Jeff Pearce and for which the operatic female vocal is provided by Bingham, while the chorus samples The Flower Duet (Sous le dôme épais), a duet for sopranos from Léo Delibes' opera Lakmé, as a hook. "Black Black Heart" won two MuchMusic Video Awards for Best Post-Production and Best Pop Video in 2002.
In 2003 and early 2004, Bingham toured Europe and the U.S. with pop singer Nelly Furtado as a guitarist and backing vocalist in Furtado's band. Bingham collaborated, also, with Bran Van 3000 and is featured on the albums "Rosé" and "The Garden". Bingham also toured in Canada as part of Bran Van 3000, including a concert as the main act at the Montreal Jazz Festival in 2008.
Les Invincibles 2005–2009
From 2005 to 2009, Bingham composed the soundtrack for the TV trilogy Les Invincibles with three seasons on the original Canadian TV production (broadcast on Radio Canada) and two seasons on the reprised European versions, a Franco-Belgian-German production (broadcast on Arte). In 2007, Bingham's original music for the Canadian series was nominated as Best Original Score at the Prix Gémeaux television award; Bingham won the Best Theme Song award with the theme song "The Heroes Take", shared with co-writer and show creator Jean-Francois Rivard. Also in 2007, at the request of fans of the Canadian TV show, Bingham performed and produced the soundtrack album "Les Invincibles" with the support of Warner Music Canada.
UP! and single releases 2010–2020
Bingham's next work, the full-length album “UP!", was recorded in Los Angeles with co-producer John Kastner (Doughboys, All Systems Go) and with members of super bands such as Queens Of the Stone Age, Jellyfish, Blind Melon and Masters of Reality over the summer of 2010. The album was released in May 2012 under Bingham's longstanding indie label Mudgirl Music Group, with distribution by Distribution Select across Canada.
The stop-motion animation video for the album single "Up!" won the Best Video award at the 2013 edition of the Independent Music Awards USA. The French version of the song "UP!" and the sole French single on the album, a song called "Party Girl", were once again radio hits for Bingham in French-speaking parts of Canada. In January 2019, the song "Bel Ami" from Bingham's album "UP!" was chosen as the theme song for the US TV series "Good Trouble". In summer 2019, Bingham released her first single performed in both English and Italian, the upbeat pop song "Beppe Green".
Style
According to The Spokesman-Review, Bingham "plays a musical style modeled after the eclectic pop of The The."[3]
Awards
| Year | Award | Nominated work | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Prix Gémeaux | Les Invincibles | Best Original Score | Nominated |
| "The Heroes Take" | Best Theme Song[5] | Won | ||
| 2013 | Independent Music Awards | "Up!" | Best Short Form Video[6] | Won |
Discography
With Me Mom and Morgentaler
- Albums
- 1991: Clown Heaven and Hell EP
- 1993: Shiva Space Machine
- 1994: We Are Revolting: Live & Obscure 1990-1994 (live)
Albums
| Year | Album title | Release details |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | First Book EP by Mudgirl |
|
| 2001 | Girlology by The Kim Band |
|
| 2007 | Les Invincibles (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by Kim Bingham |
|
| Intermede by Kim Bingham |
| |
| 2012 | Up! by Kim Bingham |
|
Singles
| Year | Title | Album | Certifications |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | "This Day" | First Book EP | |
| "Adjusted" | |||
| "Contact" | |||
| 2001 | "What a Drag!" | Girlology | No. 1 in Montreal[7] |
| "Valentine’s Day" | |||
| "Girlology" | |||
| 2003 | "Cœur de sable" | French single | Top 40 in Quebec |
| 2007 | "The Heroes Take" | Les Invincibles | Prix Gémeaux: Best Theme Song |
| 2008 | "Ticket pour l'amour" | French single | |
| 2012 | "Party Girl" | Promo single | |
| "Up!" | Up! | ||
TV scores
- 2005–09: Les Invincibles (Canada) – composer
- 2008–10: Les Invincibles (France-Germany) – composer
- 2019: Song "Bel Ami" used as theme music for Good Trouble (US) – composer
Guest appearances
| Year | Single name | Primary artist(s) | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | "Our Generation" (add. vocals by Bingham) | Marcy Playground | Shapeshifter |
| 2001 | "Black Black Heart" (ft. Kim Bingham) | David Usher | Morning Orbit |
| 2008 | Various tracks | Bran Van 3000 | Rosé |
References
- "Girlology". CDBaby. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
- Jennings, Nicholas (28 July 1995). "Front and Centre Stage". NicholasJennings.com. Archived from the original on 25 July 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
- Benedetti, Winda (4 July 1997). "Women Take The Stage Lilith Fair Organizers Got Tires Of Industry Attitudes About Women, So They Set About Creating One Of Year's Hottest Music Tours". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
- "Up!". Kim Bingham Bandcamp. 27 August 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
- "Rocker Kim Bingham headlines legendary Cleopatra's for Sin City Halloween concert". Montreal Gazette. 24 October 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
- 2013 Independent Music Awards Winners Announced
- Bell, Mike (30 November 2004). "Where there's smoke, there's The Kim Band". Canoe.ca. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
