Mishka

All Music Guide:

Like his older sister, singer/songwriter Heather Nova (born Heather Frith), pop-reggae singer Mishka grew up at sea, traveling from island to island in the West Indies on his Canadian parents' sailboat, where he received most of his education and listened to whatever music he could. When his parents returned to Canada, he completed school and returned to the Caribbean, eventually becoming a competitive windsurfer and representing Bermuda at international meets. In the meantime, he had also taken up songwriting, and he chanced to meet and impress Creation Records head Alan McGee with his vocal ability in late 1996; with prodding from Nova, Mishka was signed to a record contract the following year. His eponymous debut album, a mix of pop, reggae, soul, and singer/songwriter folk-rock, was released in 1999.

Wikipedia:

Mishka (born Alexander Mishka Frith, 1974) is an internationally known reggae artist from Bermuda. He released his first self-titled album Mishka in 1999 and had a hit single in the UK with "Give You All The Love". He is currently signed to Matthew McConaughey's record label, j.k. livin, and is touring in support of his latest album, Talk About. He is also the face of ECO-Neill, surf-clothing company O'Neill's new eco-friendly apparel line.

Biography [edit]

Mishka Frith had a unique childhood and extraordinary upbringing. Born to a Bermudian father and Nova Scotian mother, he grew up on his family's boat, sailing from island to island in the Caribbean. Mishka and his sisters (one of whom is also a music artist, Heather Nova, the other television news reporter and model Susannah Frith) were home schooled until their high school years. His uncle, Michael K. Frith, worked for The Jim Henson Company, and was a creator of Miss Piggy, and of the television shows Fraggle Rock and Between the Lions. His son, Mishka's first-cousin, is folk singer Jonathan Frith. In addition to developing his skills as a musician, Mishka also spent countless hours honing his windsurfing talents. He represented Bermuda in 1991 and 1992 in the windsurfing world championships, before concentrating primarily on his music career.

Mishka was signed to Alan McGee's Creation Records in the UK in 1997. In 1999, Mishka released his first single, "Give You All The Love" which was an immediate success charting in the Top 40 in the UK and Top 10 in Japan. Mishka released his self-titled debut album Mishka (including Heather Nova on backing vocals) later that year which received much critical acclaim in both the UK and Japan.

Mishka's second album One Tree was produced by Swedish producer Martin Terefe (KT Tunstall, James Morrison) in 2005. On his third album, Above the Bones, Mishka worked with long time Sly and Robbie guitarist, Daryl Thompson, who played for many years with Peter Tosh and Black Uhuru. It was at this time that Mishka met actor Matthew McConaughey. The two shared a deeply rooted appreciation for reggae music and it was a natural fit for McConaughey to sign Mishka to his j.k. livin record label. In February 2009, Above the Bones debuted at number one on the Billboard Reggae Charts, and Mishka was named 2009's Best New Artist in the singer/songwriter category by iTunes.

Mishka released his album, Talk About, on 30 March 2010. It again debuted at number one on the iTunes Reggae Chart and includes the song "Homegrown" that features Willie Nelson. Talk About also features "Stars Will Be Shining" and "Give Them Love", produced by Butch Walker (Pete Yorn, P!nk, Fall Out Boy).

Mishka began actively touring in support of Talk About in the spring of 2010. At the same time, Mishka and surf-clothing giant, O'Neill, entered into a relationship. O'Neill, the original California surf, snow and lifestyle brand, manufactures westsuits, drysuits, sports clothing and accessories and is currently developing an eco-friendly apparel line, "ECO-Neill", which Mishka will have a hand in designing.

In 2012 Mishka released his EP album "Ocean Is My Potion" on Mailboat Records, featuring his long-time friend and legendary musician Jimmy Buffett and cover album artwork by surf genre fine artist Jay Alders.