Isobel was nothing special or even unusual as a young girl. Most of her youth she often remembers as hazily uneventful. She was born and raised in a small suburb somewhere just outside of Melbourne, Australia where she lived until she was seventeen years old - a handful of years before she first picked up a guitar and began trying to 'figure music out'. There was just nothing better to do with her time, and she had always loved to sing. Sure, her parents thought she was pretty good - but nobody really expected her to ever make a living out of it. More and more Australians were traveling to America to set up acting careers for themselves. Isobel never had any delusions about money or fame, but when she released her first album after lending her voice to a friend's single that became a massive, Grammy-winning hit song she didn't have to continue waiting tables and calling home to beg for money to front her rent in the States. She was just twenty-three and living somewhere in California when 'Somebody I Used to Know' became an international hit song, and the year that followed was an obvious whirlwind. Having written her part of the song on a whim, she did not expect anything to come out of it - she was just doing what she usually did, which was having fun. At the same time, she had been seriously working on her own debut album for a number of years and after a stint of live performances became steadily more popular on Youtube - she had a pretty, but not overtly successful freshman record. Still, most people referred to her as the girl from 'that one song' or better yet only kept up with her first major single which was titled 'Settle Down'', a track she had written and produced herself but no longer felt very personally attached to like much of her debut.
Naturally, frustration grew. She was offered many collaborations, many opportunities some would only dream of, and yet she chose mostly to quietly work on her second release. Perhaps, a little too quietly. She was very selective about who she decided to work with on her next album, and as a follow up to 'Vows' (2011) she finally released 'The Golden Echo' in the summer of 2014. Her first single was met with a round of heavy confusion, but much of the rest of her album returned to her soulful roots. Not much had ever been talked about in the media about her personal life, and aside from grazing the inside of Nylon magazine and various other style and music publications - she mostly lived a quiet life. Still, a great deal of people from her hometown remain very proud of her success although she rarely gets a chance to visit. She was meant to tour all of Australia earlier in 2014, but the tour had to be cancelled due to some conflicts with the other artists involved. Currently, she is mid-way through her United States tour promoting her second album and is heavily involved with many other interests involving music - including producing a musical score for a short film production, and perhaps getting a little bit too interested in drinking. At 26 years old, she is often regarded as warm and personable but a bit mysterious and hard to fully relate to outside of her emotional music. She loves to D.J. in New York, which is probably her favorite city - and spends obscene amounts of time shopping and putting together outfits for her performances and appearances. Otherwise, she isn't too flashy and is mostly a private artist who perhaps has not yet found her proper place in the music world. Any dreams she had once recalled about escaping her once uneventful life have come true, so there isn't much she wants out of life except to continue to create and surprise.
Another dream of hers is to produce for other artists, and to write for others. Isobel would love to help find a voice for people who wish to pursue the arts but aren't taken seriously by their families, her big time goal would be something of a foundation - but she has nowhere near the amount of time or finances for something of the sort. Also close to her heart is the fact that she considers herself an avid feminist, takes an immense amount of pride in being a woman and it is also perhaps ironically the only negative attention grabbing aspect of her short career-span. Her outspoken nature on certain political issues mostly involving women have been questioned a few times or looked at as a little 'extreme'. As a child who grew up very close to her mother and female cousins (later adding a little sister into the mix), she also had the luxury of having a father who was very much a feminist as well and parents who supported the notion of equality since a young age. In a time when magazines are using polls to question whether or not 'feminist' is an overused word, and in a time where there is much debate as to what exactly 'feminism' even means... she is just trying to perpetuate support for other women, and to make sure that everyone understands how important equality is. After her United States tour, she has plans to aid a charity that aims to stop sex trafficking of young women and girls.
full name isobel rae stonan
birth date & age june 18th, 26
occupation musician
orientation kinsey 3
hometown melbourne, australia
current residence los angeles, california
family meili stonan (mother), ken stonan (father), and bianca lynn stonan (17, sister).
discography
the golden echo (2014) teen heat, 90s music, carolina, goldmine, miracle, rescue him, madhouse, everlovin' ya, as you are, love in high places, nobody but you, waltz me to the grave, vanity fair, slum love, sugar lies, the magic hour
✗ Professionally her name is Isobel Stonan, but a lot of outlets have taken a liking to just refering to her as 'Isobel' which is not necessarily her correct professioanl name. She doesn't really mind being referred to as either, though she thinks it's a little too 'Madonna' to just be going by her first name.
✗ All of her songs have been written by her, though she has collaborated with fellow song writers on a few tracks. Isobel takes great pride in putting her own words to music, and she plays the guitar as well as the piano - albeit she is not very skilled at the piano and prefers to leave the guitar playing to someone else. She has a touring band and a recording band, both are mostly comprised of the same team. She has only one other native Australian in her band, the rest being comprised of mostly American L.A. transplants she became close with and jammed with over the years.
✗ She is half chinese through her mother, though it is a surprisingly little known fact. Her parents met in Australia and raised her there, and her mother was very young when she came over to Australia. She has one younger sister, but sometimes feels more like an only child due to the age gap. Whenever she actually gets to visit home, it's mostly spent with her mother and sister straight away - although she also has a fond relationship with her father who annoyingly insists on bragging about all of her accomplishments to anyone who will listen.
✗ Her education ended at 16, she left high school 'early' (as she prefers to say - ahem, she dropped out really) because it just wasn't for her. Her parents, especially her mother were pretty intensely disappointed with this choice initially but her determination soon began to show more and more. Primarily, this might be a reason she sort of accidentally avoids Australia - not really having many memorable friendships from her school days as she was more of an outcast that anything and also the fact that it is lightyears away from pretty much any other place she usually occupies. As such, her accent has faded quite a bit but she still reminds everyone where she's from every chance she gets and makes a point of showing off old pictures of her in school uniform on her slightly erratic and embarrassing instagram account.
✗ Instagram is pretty much her main obsession. It can be a little much at times, but she's always posting her tour outfits, bottles of wine she's in the process of consuming, embarrassing photos of her friends and spur of the moment rants that have sometimes been met with questioning remarks by fans and foes alike. She tried blogging but didn't have the attention span. Most of her photos are shot through the lens of her iPhone, so it's nothing fancy but be warned: ending up on her account, it's most likely not very flattering! And there is almost always constant speculation about her posts these days, which is why when she tweets (which is more rare) she has a bit of fun being even more cryptic - if possible.
✗ Isobel absolutely adores making music videos and being on the sets, although it is at times exhausting. A major reason that some of her first album's songs became known was because of her music videos, which were directed with a major passion and intensity to accompany her songwriting.
✗ Personality wise, she could be described first as guarded and on edge. Once the surface is broken, she can be bubbly, a fun drinker, a little bit touchy-feely and definitely very analytical. About everything. She is the rambling sort at any dinner party after a couple drinks, and always has a remark on something. Whenever drinking is involved, she'll usually have a cigarette in hand but has tried relentlessly to knock the habit.
