Imogen Heap

Writing, recording and owning your own music is a noble aspiration. But as Heap discovered, record labels do have their uses and summoning together vital funds was proving a tad problematic. “I traipsed my way round every bank but I couldn’t get a loan,” she says. “I had £10,000 on my credit card and I couldn’t pay my bills” but just before despair could stick in its claws, Heap’s luck changed. Clocking a “For Sale” sign outside her block of flats was, she says, like a little light bulb going on: “I couldn’t help wondering just how much I could sell my flat to myself for.”

From that moment on, it seemed as though Fate was smiling on Heap. The artist set about re-mortgaging her flat and thanks to a sympathetic surveyor (“I couldn’t believe it,” says Heap, “but he turned out to be a Frou Frou fan!”) she got exactly the valuation she needed. The value of her humble flat had grown by a hundred grand, and with money to burn, Heap kick-started her year-long mission on her 26 th birthday, December 9, 2003 . “I had all my new gear delivered as a birthday present to myself,” remembers Heap, “then I booked my mastering for December 7 a year later. That was my deadline – I was going to make sure I had my new album done in time to celebrate on my next birthday!"

With the album done and dusted, Heap can’t help but revel in her serendipity. “Ever since I decided to do this on my own, great things have come my way,” she says sitting back in her fluffy studio chair. Not withstanding her star-struck surveyor, other factors have also seemingly conspired in her favour. Last year, Scrubs-star Zach Braff personally selected the Frou Frou track ‘Let Go’ for the soundtrack to his critically acclaimed indie-hit and directorial debut, ‘Garden State’, helping fuel the Imogen Heap fire. Musical directors across a variety of television outlets have clamoured for her tracks; in addition to ‘The OC’, ‘CSI’ and ‘Six Feet Under’ have also featured her music and LA’s influential KCRW station is already spot-playing album tracks. For a couple of months before release "Speak For Yourself" has been floating in and around the music business and a few household names have been in touch with Heap since hearing ‘Speak For Yourself”, hoping to book her for knob-twiddling duties. “I thought I might like to get into producing other artists records one day but it seems one day is already here and I’m really enjoying it”.