Hen Hoose is a songwriting collective and music production house based in Glasgow founded by Tamara Schlesinger. It unites a rich and diverse array of wonderfully talented and award-winning female and non-binary artists, writers and producers collaborating on the creation of exciting new music across multiple genres. The Hen Hoose writers have had syncs on Hollywood films, Netflix shows, global TV adverts and have written for theatre productions, along with having highly successful careers as artists. Recent syncs include The Cycling World Championships TVC, the ScotGov Vaccine advert campaign, the Caorunn Gin TVC and The A List. Hen Hoose are in the throws of round 2 of their Creative Scotland funded project which includes writers from beyond Scotland this time, thanks to additional funding from the John Lennon Foundation. This last year has seen a huge growth in Hen Hoose, who have curated Festival line ups and expanded their collective members.
The SAY Award nominated Hen Hoose album 'Equaliser' written remotely during lockdown, is out now.
CURRENT WRITERS
Amandah Wilkinson
Amandah Wilkinson is an Indonesian-Australian producer/singer/songwriter based between Scotland and Denmark. She is an ARIA Award winning + SAY award nominated artist who's bands Operator Please & Bossy Love have both toured internationally and released albums to critical acclaim. Wilkinson has compiled an impressive catalogue of songs that showcases her vast experience and myriad musical styles and has already seen her work with some of the biggest names in pop. Amandah has spent the majority of this year releasing new music under her solo project AMUNDA and is continuing to co-write and mentor up and coming artists internationally.
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The Anchoress
Music Producers Guild nominated producer and songwriter The Anchoress (aka Catherine Anne Davies) second album, The Art of Losing, is a collection of songs that Caitlin Moran hailed as “the inadvertent, beautiful, and truthful soundtrack to this moment." Reaching a top 10 position in the UK physical album charts, #1 spot on iTunes and a second nomination for the Welsh Music Prize, The Art of Losing was named album of the year by The Sunday Times, The Line of Best Fit, Mail on Sunday, Prog, and The Sun, and hailed as “one of my favourite records of the year” by Sir Elton John.
BISHI
BISHI is an artist, composer and producer born in London of Bengali heritage. She has independently released three albums and several EPs to critical acclaim. Featuring revolutionary use of her trademark electric sitar and four-octave vocal range, new album ‘Let My Country Awake’ focuses on dual identities, anti-racism, and a call to find empathy in a divided world.
BISHI is celebrated for the use of ground breaking technology in her live performances, from interactive bodysuits to live coded and mixed reality environments.
Amandah Wilkinson
Pop Rap R&B Electro
The Anchoress
Dreampop, Alternative Indie Ambient Folk
BISHI
Electronic Alternative Experimental
Cariss Crosbie
Multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Cariss Crosbie’s powerful voice, highly attuned ear for harmonies and skill as a pianist have made her an extremely versatile and sought-after musician as both a front-woman and band member on the Scottish music scene.
Cariss is especially proud of her song-writing and live/recording session work with vocal trio Little Acres who have shared a stage with acts such as Kathryn Joseph, Tom McGuire and the Brassholes, Kitti, Fat-Suit, Start to End, Kris Drever, Siobhan Miller and Lewis Capaldi, and more.
Cariss Crosbie
Pop Indie-Pop Folk
Carla J Easton
Carla J. Easton is an award nominated singer-songwriter, releasing 4 critically acclaimed albums, writing for Belle & Sebastian and BMX Bandits. Championed by BBC6 Music, she has performed at festivals across the UK and internationally, touring the UK with Camera Obscura, The Vaselines and Aidan Moffat.
In 2018, she released the SAY Award Shortlisted 'Impossible Stuff’, produced by Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire/British Sea Power/Leonard Cohen) which featured singles that achieved Record of the Day, Guardian Track of the Week and BBC Scotland Single of the Week.
Carla J Easton
Pop Indie-Pop Rock Indie-Rock
Djana Gabrielle
2019 Celtic Connections Danny Kyle Stage Winner, and one of the “most note-worthy performances” at the 2019 Kintyre Songwriters' Festival, Djana Gabrielle is a French-Cameroonian singer-songwriter. Earning a "New & Notable" feature on the American music platform Noisetrade in 2018, she now focuses her work on songwriting and theatre projects, playing shows and gearing up for her next release, hoping to introduce her soulful, soothing and melodious sound to new audiences in Scotland and beyond.
Djana Gabrielle
Folk Pop Indie Blues
Elisabeth
Elektra
An artist, songwriter and producer. Elisabeth has an eclectic pastel pop image to complement her music and enjoys experimenting with different costumes and personas.
Emma Pollock
A SAY nominated singer-songwriter, musician and founding member of The Delgados. She is also one of the founders of the independent record label Chemikal Underground.
Inge Thomson
A songwriter and producer whose work often concerns the environment and her place in it, Inge creates large scale multi media shows using natural sounds and complex audio techniques. Inge has been creating music for over 20 years as a composer, producer, lyricist, multi-instrumentalist and performer. Although best known as a long term collaborator with The Karine Polwart Trio, in her own right Inge produces content for radio and film soundtrack, performs and records in solo capacity and in cross-disciplinary collaborations including projects with scientists, visual artists, animators, theatre makers and textile artists.
Elisabeth Elektra
Electropop Synthpop
Emma Pollock
Indie-Rock Folk
Inge Thomson
Folk Alternative
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Jayda
An up and coming rapper, songwriter and producer. Jayda’s songwriting style is honest and they put an essence of who they are in what they make, almost like a signature that no one can forge.
Jill O’Sullivan
Jill O'Sullivan is a Glasgow-based multi-instrumentalist/singer/songwriter who writes and performs across popular music, theatre and dance. Since releasing three critically-acclaimed albums with her band Sparrow and the Workshop, O'Sullivan has worked with a multitude of musicians and performed at festivals throughout the UK and Europe. She has been a guest DJ on BBC Radio Scotland's Roddy Hart Show and recently released an album under the name Jill Lorean. She also works alongside community-led organisations throughout Scotland to teach and mentor young and aspiring musicians.
K4CIE
SAMA Award winner K4CIE is a DJ & producer that has been shaping the Glasgow music scene with 'Peach'; events platform in Scotland. K4CIE's selections quickly grabbed slots at well-known events, store launches, tour supports, festivals and had guest appearances on national radio stations around the UK. Recently K4CIE launched her own music studio in Glasgow; 644 Studios with the first single of 2021 'BabySky Hook' landing Track of the Week on BBC Radio 1Xtra.
Xo FKA Jayda
Rap Hip Hop R&B
Jill O’Sullivan
Post Rock Punk Rock
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Karine Polwart
BBC Radio 2 Folk Singer Of The Year 2018, Karine Polwart is a multi-award winning Scottish songwriter and musician, as well as theatre-maker, storyteller, spoken-word performer and author. Her songs combine folk influences and myth with themes as diverse as Donald Trump’s corporate megalomania, Charles Darwin’s family life and the complexities of modern parenthood. She sings traditional songs too and writes to commission for film, theatre, animation and thematic collaborative projects. Karine is seven-times winner at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, including three times for Best
Original Song.
Kathryn Williams
Kathryn Williams is a Liverpool born, Mercury Music Prize nominated singer songwriter with 16 albums under her belt. Before her last release, Night Drives (which entered the official folk album charts straight to number 2), the label OLI celebrated her career this far with a box set anthology strewn with her art. .
She hosts her own popular podcast “before the light goes out” which was put in the top ten best music podcasts by the Guardian.
Kathryn tutors at Arvon, Moniack Mhor, the writing squad and writes songs with many diverse artists around the world including Paul Weller,
Ed Harcourt, Beth Neillson CHAPMAN, Michele Stodart.
Kiana
Kalantar-Hormozi
Kiana is an artist, filmmaker and activist based in Glasgow, trying to change the world, one beat at a time. Named one of 30under30 most inspirational women in Scotland 2017 and MDUK Campaigner of the Year 2018, Kiana debuted their singing-songwriting career in July '22 with Sirens which has been played on independent radio stations, blogs and BBC Scotland’s The Afternoon Show. Kiana is currently working on material for a 5-track EP.
Karine Polwart
Folk Indie
Kathryn Williams
Folk
Kiana Kalantar-Hormozi
Alt Cinematic
Lucy Parnell
Lucy Parnell is a musician, composer and producer who, having recorded and toured extensively over the last fifteen years with a variety of artists at an international level, now creates delicate, hypnotic and beguiling songs and soundscapes from the quiet solitude of their studio in the hills of Scotland.
Lucy Parnell
Indie Contemporary Classical Ambient
Nightwave
Nightwave is a Glasgow based DJ, producer, vocalist and label boss whose records explore a vast array of influences grounded in Detroit techno, electro, acid, Chicago house and old rave nostalgia. Releases on Hotflush, Ministry Of Sound, Unknown To The Unknown, DABJ, Fool's Gold, Balkan Vinyl, Fabric etc received wide-spread support from leading press and radio outlets. No stranger to working with singers and rappers (Rye Rye, Ashnikko, TT the Artist, Chippy Nonstop...), she has lent her unique sound to Franz Ferdinand, Django Django, Wayward, D Double E and many more. In 2019 Nightwave also earned her first feature film soundtrack credit for Rachel Maclean's 'Make Me Up.'
PAIX
Gillian Katungi is an interdisciplinary artist (session musician, performer, poet, visual artist) and director based in Glasgow. She creates under the moniker Paix, which means peace. Her latest work includes; a number of short films, four collaborative records incl. co-writing and performing three tracks on the critically acclaimed album 'With Love, From Glasgow' with Producer Rebecca Vasmant - which made the Top 10 on the UK and International Jazz Charts, . Recent gigs include; We Out Here Festival, XJazz Berlin Festival, Stereo, Glasgow Jazz Festival, True North Festival, Edinburgh Jazz Festival.
Nightwave
Electronic Hip Hop Dance
PAIX
Jazz Soul Cinematic
Pippa Murphy
Pippa Murphy is an award-winning composer and sound designer known for combining orchestras, singers and instrumentalists with ambient soundscapes and electronic music to create bespoke sound palettes. She works with writers, film-makers and choreographers as well as Folk, Jazz and Classical musicians and has recorded sounds from around the world. Pippa is known for a unique cross-disciplinary approach to storytelling and creative collaboration. Pippa’s works are multi-layered and multi-sensory, dramatic and expressive. She is particularly interested in vocal techniques, phonemes and ‘found’ sound.
Rachel Aggs
Rachel Aggs is a multi instrumentalist and songwriter based in Glasgow. A specialist in euphoric post-punk, Aggs has achieved international acclaim with projects Trash Kit, Shopping and Sacred Paws. Creating zines and co-ordinating workshops that encourage women, non-binary people, and people of colour to form bands, Aggs has galvanised the DIY scene in the UK. Aggs' solo album on Lost Map records, part of their Visitations residency in 2019, and self released //Tape 1// in 2020 showcase their signature hybrid post-punk/highlife inspirations stripped down to new minimal extremes. Pulsating, electronic beats, coolly-recited lyrical mantras and spindly guitar lines abound in this life affirming music that speaks directly to your heart.
Rachael Sermanni
Rachel Sermanni is a Scottish based singer/ songwriter that makes the mundane moments mystical: shock-positive pregnancy tests in train-station toilets, coffee machine breakages, cold river swims, the regret of not saying ‘I love You', the moon & how it pulls, bare feet on wood floors, the soft glow of a house plant, ‘what even is consciousness?’, strange dreams lingering in quiet mornings… She brims with dreamy indie-folk pop that speaks of the struggle and desire to Flow, to love, to live, to feel. Sometimes, her songs speak of the rare moments of quiet-still, found in the midst of this struggle & desire.
Rachel is a Jellyfish. Surrendering to the currents of the big sea.
Pippa Murphy
Folk Indie Electro Classical
Rachel Aggs
Indie Pop Rock
Rachel Sermanni
Folk Indie
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Sarah Hayes
Sarah Hayes is a singer, flautist and keyboard player from Northumberland. Based in Glasgow since 2005, Sarah performs, writes and records with Admiral Fallow, Rachel Newton Band, Field Music and more. Sarah released her debut album Woven, a studio re-imagining of her Celtic Connections New Voices commission, in 2015. Working with Field Music's Peter Brewis under the name You Tell Me, their self-titled record was released in 2019 on Memphis Industries to widespread acclaim. Sarah is currently developing a collaborative show with performance-maker Ellie Dubois and is one of three composers writing for new chamber ensemble, Senary.
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Shears
SHEARS writes, records, and produces electronic music at home in Leith, Edinburgh.
Her debut EP ‘When You’re Around’ was released in 2020, after a run of live shows, including a sold-out hometown headline. The EP featured on various end-of-year lists, including BBC Radio 1’s Introducing Hot List. 2021’s ‘Mind in Decline’ EP showcased SHEARS’ first solo production work, gaining single and album features on BBC Radio and press coverage throughout Europe.
Susan Bear
Queer musician & producer Susan Bear (FKA Good Dog) – is a much respected and sought-after stalwart of the Scottish music scene and a lynchpin of Lost Map Records. Whether as bassist and keyboardist, producer, songwriter, sound-designer, or something in between, Suse has variously worked with Lost Map artists including Tuff Love, Pictish Trail and Martha Ffion, as well as The Pastels, Malcolm Middleton, Poster Paints, Karine Polwart, Amandah Wilkinson (Bossy Love) and created music and sound for a variety of visual media projects.
Sarah Hayes
Folk Indie Pop Cinematic
Shears
Electro Pop Indie Alt-pop
Susan Bear
Indie Rock Pop Electro Cinematic
Tracyanne Campbell
Tracyanne Campbell is a singer and musician and one of the founding members of indie band Camera Obscura who helped shape the Scottish music scene in the 2000s with album's such as 2001's Biggest Bluest HiFi and 2009's My Maudlin Career. Most recently she has worked on the project Tracyanne & Danny alongside English musician Danny Coughlan, their self-titled album was released on Merge Records in 2018.
Tracyanne Campbell
Indie Pop Indie Rock
Tanya Mellotte is a composer, songwriter, vocalist and producer from Scotland, currently based in Belfast. Tanya has scored a string of short films, including HOMEBIRD (Winner - Best Debut Irish Short Fiction, Galway Film Fleadh 2022). Tanya worked with David Holmes for his UNLOVED music project, co-writing some tracks on their debut album ‘Guilty of Love’. Several of these songs appear in the BAFTA & EMMY winning TV drama KILLING EVE. HEAVENLY RECORDINGS released the Killing Eve soundtracks in 2019. In 2020 Tanya was one of the first recipients of the PRS Foundation HITMAKER AWARD, which supports producers and songwriters working behind the scenes.
Tanya Mellotte
Tanya Mellotte
Indie Alt Dream Pop
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Tamara Schlesinger
As director of Tantrum Records, solo artist MALKA and former lead singer/songwriter of 6 Day Riot, Tamara Schlesinger has written and released 8 albums in 16 years. She has enjoyed chart success, extensively toured the UK and North America, played at numerous festivals such as Glastonbury and Bestival and has achieved acclaim from major press. Her music has amassed a vast amount of play on national radio and she regularly syncs her music to TV shows (Skins, Awkward, Finding Carter) and Hollywood films and trailers (Scream 4, 127 Hours).
Tamara Schlesinger
Alt-Pop Indie Electro Dance Cinematic
ALUMNI & COLLECTIVE MEMBERS
Beldina
Odenyo
A music and theatre master otherwise known as Heir of the Cursed. Beldina's performances at Celtic Connections Festival won her the Danny Kyle award. She was also the Musical Director for a production of Lone Wolves at the Edinburgh Fringe
Beldina Odenyo
Alternative Indie
Rachael
Swinton
A multi-instrumentalist, composer, and member of the band Cloth. Their debut album was shortlisted for the SAY Awards 2020 and they have appeared on the soundtrack for BBC Three/Hulu’s Normal People.