Judith Holofernes
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox musical artist
Judith Holfelder-Roy (née Holfelder-von der Tann; born 12 November 1976), known by her stage name Judith Holofernes ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}), is a German singer, guitarist, songwriter and author.
She was the lead singer of Wir sind Helden, the German pop rock band that released the song "Guten Tag" in 2002. The band received critical acclaim owing in part to Holofernes' lyrics, which are characterized by their playful use of words and use of social criticism.
After recording four albums that were chart successes in the German-speaking world, Wir sind Helden went on indefinite hiatus in 2012. Since then, Holofernes has recorded two solo albums (Ein leichtes Schwert, 2014; Ich bin das Chaos, 2017) and has published a book of poems (Du bellst vor dem falschen Baum, 2015) and a memoir (Die Träume anderer Leute, 2022).
Early lifeEdit
Holofernes was born in Berlin and moved at the age of six with her mother to the city of Freiburg im Breisgau in the south of Germany.<ref name="BZ">"Judith Holofernes: Jeden Sommer auf der Wiese" (in German). Badische Zeitung. 24 July 2014.</ref> From the age of 14, she busked in the city's pedestrian zone as a singer/guitarist.<ref name="Spiegel Hauser">Hauser, Jan. "Studienabbrecherin Judith Holofernes: Werde du mal Popstar, Kind!" (in German). Spiegel Online. 16 December 2008.</ref> After she received her secondary education at Staudinger Gesamtschule,<ref name="BZ" /> she returned to Berlin to study communication in Social and Economic Contexts at Berlin University of the Arts, but did not complete her studies.<ref name="Spiegel Hauser" /> At the university, she was concerned with anti-consumerism, one of her activities being to set up the German website of Adbusters, a Canadian-based anti-consumerist magazine.<ref>"Zitat des Tages: Judith und die Kokser-Elite" (in German). Spiegel Online. 27 October 2003.</ref>
Music careerEdit
Late nineties: Early endeavoursEdit
Holofernes was able to focus on music after leaving university.<ref name="Spiegel Hauser" /> Towards the end of the nineties, she performed in Berlin clubs as a solo artist and self-released the EP Kamikazefliege (1999),<ref name="laut WSH">"laut.de-Biographie - Wir Sind Helden" (in German). laut.de. Retrieved 3 October 2015.</ref> though only 500 copies were produced.<ref>"Frontfrau Holofernes: "Die Rache des Universums" (2 von 9)" (in German). Spiegel Online. 8 August 2007.</ref> Some of the songs from the EP, such as "Außer dir" and "Aurélie", would be later re-recorded by Wir sind Helden for the band's debut album.<ref>Holtmann, Kevin. "Judith Holofernes - Ein leichtes Schwert" (in German). Plattentests.de. Retrieved 3 October 2015.</ref>
2000–2012: Wir sind HeldenEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} In mid-2000, Holofernes met drummer Pola Roy, keyboardist/guitarist Jean-Michel Tourette and bassist Stefan Nietzky at a pop music workshop in Hamburg. They formed a band together, though Nietzky was later replaced by bassist Mark Tavassol.<ref name="Spiegel Hauser" /><ref>"Wer wir sind - Stefan Nietzky" (in German). Popkurs Hamburg website. Retrieved 3 October 2015.</ref> The band was initially briefly called Helden (which means "Heroes") before being renamed Wir sind Helden (which means "We are heroes").<ref>Murr, Lilo. "Ein Doktor spielt den Bass" (in German). Augsburger Allgemeine. 27 March 2008.</ref> Wir sind Helden's breakthrough came in 2002 without the support of a record label, when the band's song "Guten Tag" was played by radio stations and a self-produced music video for the song received heavy rotation on MTV Germany.<ref>Schmid, Eva Dorothée. "Ihr altes Leben wollen sie nicht zurück" (in German). Berliner Zeitung. 22 November 2003.</ref> The band subsequently signed to Labels<ref>Rüther, Tobias. "Guten Tag, ich bin ein Popstar" (in German). Der Tagesspiegel. 27 May 2003.</ref> and released its debut album Die Reklamation (2003), which was a top 5 hit in Germany and Austria<ref name="swisscharts">"Wir sind Helden" Template:Webarchive (in German). swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 October 2015. Select Charts tab.</ref> and sold over half a million copies in Germany alone.<ref>Template:Cite certification</ref> The band went on to record the albums Von hier an blind (2005), Soundso (2007) and Bring mich nach Hause (2010), all of which reached high positions in the German, Austrian and Swiss charts.<ref name="swisscharts" /> In April 2012, the band announced that it was taking an indefinite break owing to family commitments, the long distances between the band members' home cities, and "signs of wear and tear".<ref>"Was heißt das: „Wir sind erst mal raus“?" (in German). Official Wir sind Helden website. 4 April 2012.</ref>
2012 to present: Post-Wir sind Helden careerEdit
During her break from Wir sind Helden, Holofernes began composing songs informally using Apple software application GarageBand and then later decided to record them in the studio, with herself on guitar, piano and ukulele, Roy on drums, and Jörg Holdinghausen from German band Tele on bass. The songs appear on her solo album Ein leichtes Schwert, which was released in February 2014 and charted at No. 7 in Germany.<ref name="Myrrhe">Myrrhe, Anke. "Judith Holofernes macht's jetzt solo" (in German). Der Tagesspiegel. 19 October 2013.</ref><ref>"Judith Holofernes - Ein leichtes Schwert - Album" (in German). Offizielle Deutsche Charts. GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 3 October 2015.</ref> Holofernes' newest album, Ich bin das Chaos, was released in March 2017.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> For the album, Holofernes collaborated with the Faroese singer-songwriter Teitur Lassen and her husband Pola Roy who produced the album.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2019, Holofernes joined the crowdfunding platform Patreon. She received support by the American artist Amanda Palmer who has been using crowdfunding to finance her work since 2012. On the platform, Holofernes, amongst other things, shares essays and episodes of her podcast Salon Holofernes in which she talks to various artists.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Holofernes' memoir, Die Träume anderer Leute, was published in September 2022. In the book, Holofernes reflects on her experiences with the music industry, focussing primarily on her time as a solo artist since the hiatus of Wir sind Helden.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Her general conclusion is that, while her solo career was enjoyable and to an extent successful, it has been "overshadowed into" a failure by her Wir Sind Helden era.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This is also reflected in the fact that she mostly lives off the copyright of her old songs.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
CollaborationsEdit
Holofernes' voice appears on the song "X" from the album Supporters' Album #1 (2003) by German band Einstürzende Neubauten.<ref>Leckert, Daniel. "Einstürzende Neubauten - Strategien Gegen Architektur IV: 2002-2010" (in German). CDstarts.de. Retrieved 3 October 2015.</ref> She also sang background vocals for two songs by Tele on the band's album Wovon sollen wir leben (2004).<ref>Peters, Harald. "Weichgespült und glattgebügelt" (in German). Die Welt. 7 November 2004.</ref> Further vocal contributions by Holofernes can be heard on the song "Wir rühren uns nicht vom Fleck" (2004) by German band Die Sterne<ref>Henze, Rainer. "Keine Gewalt ist auch keine Lösung." (in German). laut.de. 24 May 2004.</ref> and "Armer Vater" (2006) by German band Olli Schulz und der Hund Marie.<ref>"Olli Schulz Und Der Hund Marie - Timm Thaler und der Pinguin" (in German). Westzeit. 3 November 2006.</ref> Together with Swedish singer Moneybrother, she recorded the song "Magic Moments", which appears on his album Mount Pleasure (2007).<ref>Hohl, Henrik John. "Pop, der keiner ist" (in German). Focus Online. 6 September 2007.</ref> She has also collaborated with German band Die Höchste Eisenbahn, recording and performing the song "Vergangenheit" (2012),<ref>"Höchste Eisenbahn als EP" (in German). Official Judith Holofernes website. 12 September 2012.</ref> and with German singer Maxim, co-writing and recording the song "Meine Soldaten" (2013).<ref>"Maxim, seine Soldaten und ich" (in German). Official Judith Holofernes website. 7 April 2013.</ref>
ArtistryEdit
Stage nameEdit
Holofernes' stage name alludes to the Old Testament account of the beheading of Holofernes by Judith given in the Book of Judith. As a young teenager, Holofernes frequently heard the story of Judith and Holofernes from her uncles and aunts. She later decided in her late teens to use the two names to create her stage name.<ref>Kalitschke, Martin. "Judith Holofernes: Zwischen Bühne und Babybett" (in German). Westfälische Nachrichten. 15 March 2011.</ref> There is no historical evidence for the existence of a General Holofernes.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
LyricsEdit
Holofernes was the lead singer and guitarist of Wir sind Helden,<ref>Kuhn, Andi. "Begrenzte Unmöglichkeiten" (in German). neue musikzeitung. December 2003.</ref> and also the writer of the lyrics for the band's songs.<ref>Finke, Günter. "Selbstbewußte Heldin aus Kalkül" (in German). Die Welt. 27 November 2005.</ref> She conveys her political opinions in many of her lyrics. For example, she criticizes consumerism in the song "Guten Tag",<ref name="taz">Grether, Kerstin. "An dem Produkt ist was kaputt" (in German). taz.de. 20 June 2003.</ref> a performance-oriented society in "Müssen nur wollen",<ref name="taz" /> the music industry in "Zuhälter",<ref>Friedrich, Stefan. "Von Nervosität keine Spur. Warum auch?" (in German). laut.de. 4 April 2005.</ref> and a dog-eat-dog society in "Konkurrenz".<ref>Käfer, Sara. "Kritisch und sehr unterhaltsam: Helden in Perfektion." (in German). laut.de. 25 May 2007.</ref> However, she has stated that politics are only one aspect of Wir sind Helden and that she is primarily a songwriter, writing love songs and songs of a whimsical nature with the same commitment as political songs.<ref>Hagel, André. "Müdigkeit am Vorhandenen - Interview mit Judith Holofernes, Frontfrau von Wir sind Helden" (in German). www.andre-hagel.de. 9 March 2004.</ref> She is known for her playful use of words in the German language<ref name="laut WSH" /> and has been described as a wordsmith in the tradition of German writers Robert Gernhardt and Christian Morgenstern.<ref>Albers, Markus. "Pop ist ein Mädchen aus Deutschland" (in German). Die Welt. 14 March 2004.</ref> Songwriters that have had a major influence on Holofernes include Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello and Rio Reiser.<ref name="amboss">"Guten Tag! - Wir sind Helden (SynthiePunkPop)" (in German). AMBOSS-Mag. Retrieved 11 October 2015.</ref>
Other activitiesEdit
Holofernes maintains her own blog, where she has posted her opinions on topical issues, anecdotes from Kreuzberg (the area of Berlin where she lives), and Tiergedichte (animal poems).<ref name="Myrrhe" /> A collection of her Tiergedichte was published in October 2015 in her first sole-authored book, titled Du bellst vor dem falschen Baum.<ref>"Judith Holofernes" (in German). beck to music. Retrieved 11 October 2015.</ref> Her previous book was Wir sind Helden – Informationen zu Touren und anderen Einzelteilen (2008), a band autobiography written with the other members of Wir sind Helden.<ref>""Wir sind Helden" auf Lesetour" (in German). Der Tagesspiegel. 27 February 2008.</ref>
In July 2011, Holofernes presented Summer of Girls, a season of programmes on French-German television channel arte concerning women in the pop music industry.<ref>Kormbaki, Marina. "Beim „Summer of Girls“ würdigt arte große Künstlerinnen" (in German). Hannoversche Allgemeine. 4 July 2011.</ref>
Public imageEdit
Media appearancesEdit
Following the breakthrough of Wir sind Helden in 2002, the band received much attention from the media, including the quality newspapers, owing in part to Holofernes' sociocritical lyrics in songs such as "Guten Tag" and "Müssen nur wollen".<ref name="taz" /><ref>Thomann, Jörg. "Hymnen der Verweigerung" (in German). Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. 17 July 2003.</ref> Holofernes subsequently became a much sought after personality for interviews<ref>Siehr, Natalie. "Judith Holofernes - Ein leichtes Schwert" (in German). AVIVA-Berlin. 3 March 2014.</ref> and has appeared on German talk shows such as Die Harald Schmidt Show.<ref>Schachinger, Christian. "Helden wie ihr" (in German). derStandard.at. 27 February 2003.</ref> In 2010, she made an appearance on political talk show Maybrit Illner, participating in a discussion titled "Bürgeraufstand 2010 – regiert die Politik am Volk vorbei?" ("Civil uprising 2010 – are the people being ignored by politics?").<ref>"Judith Holofernes bei Maybrit Illner" (in German). B.Z. 16 December 2010.</ref>
ActivismEdit
Holofernes lends her support to the Tibet Initiative, a German organization campaigning for human rights and self-determination in Tibet;<ref>Vorsamer, Barbara. "Wir sind Helden - und der Dalai Lama auch" (in German). Süddeutsche Zeitung. 11 May 2010.</ref><ref>"About us" Template:Webarchive. Tibet Initiative Deutschland e.V. website. Retrieved 13 October 2015.</ref> Attac, a global organization seeking an alternative to neo-liberal globalization;<ref>"“Judith Holofernes ist aufgewacht”" (in German). Zeit Online. 12 April 2011.</ref><ref>"Overview". Attac website. Retrieved 13 October 2015.</ref> and Viva con Agua, a German charity campaigning for clean drinking water worldwide.<ref>"Spielen für Trinkwasserprojekte" (in German). Badische Zeitung. 12 August 2011.</ref><ref>"Water is Life!" Template:Webarchive. Viva con Agua website. Retrieved 13 October 2015.</ref> She is also a supporter of green issues; in 2011, she performed with the other members of Wir sind Helden at an anti-nuclear power demonstration in Berlin following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.<ref>"Utopia - Die grünsten Promis" (in German). utopia.de. Retrieved 13 October 2015.</ref><ref>"Groß-Demonstration gegen Atomkraft in Hamburg" (in German). Hamburger Abendblatt. 22 March 2011.</ref>
Public criticism of the Bild newspaperEdit
In 2011, Holofernes had a public argument with advertising agency Jung von Matt when it asked her if she could participate in an advertising campaign for Bild, Germany's most widely read tabloid, even though she had been critical of Bild in the past. She responded by posting an open letter on the Wir sind Helden website, where she criticized the campaign and Bild.<ref name="Spiegel Bild">"Nein zu Kampagne: Wir sind Helden watschen "Bild" ab" (in German). Spiegel Online. 25 February 2011.</ref> At the end of the letter, she stated: "The Bild newspaper is a dangerous political instrument: it's not only a telescope which strongly magnifies into the abyss, but also a malicious entity which is not describing Germany, but shaping it instead – with an agenda."Template:Refn The letter attracted much attention, causing the Wir sind Helden website to go down.<ref name="Spiegel Bild" /> Bild subsequently reproduced the letter without Holofernes' consent in a single-page advertisement in German newspaper Die Tageszeitung, with a caption at the end thanking Holofernes for her honest and unpaid opinion.<ref>"BILD-Zeitung wirbt mit Holofernes-Absage" Template:Webarchive (in German). taz Hausblog. 27 February 2011.</ref>
Personal lifeEdit
Holofernes married Roy, fellow member of Wir sind Helden, in July 2006 and gave birth to their son in December of the same year.<ref>"Biografie: Wir sind Helden" Template:Webarchive (in German). SWR3. 7 August 2007.</ref> The couple had a second child, a daughter, in August 2009.<ref>Ernst, Olaf. "„Zu Hause ist für mich wie Urlaub“" (in German). KIELerLEBEN. 11 March 2011.</ref> Holofernes and Roy are both Buddhists; in 2007, she met the Dalai Lama.<ref>"Frontfrau Holofernes: "Die Rache des Universums" (9 von 9)" (in German). Spiegel Online. 8 August 2007.</ref><ref>Müller, Felix. "Tatort Berlin – Wer soll auf Ritter und Stark folgen?" (in German). Berliner Morgenpost. 22 September 2013.</ref>
She is a fan and also close friends with the singer Teitur.<ref>Template:Cite podcast</ref> She owns a dog named Lupita.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As of now, she does not agree with some of her old lyrics.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
6 years ago, in 2018, due to a combination of work related stress and exhaustion, motherhood and meningitis, she practically lost her voice which was fragile from the beginning, susceptible to allergies, asthma and infections.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Since 2022, she has been doing voice therapy and can sing along "Dolly Parton and Joni Mitchell", though in a different pitch and tone than she used to.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
DiscographyEdit
- Kamikazefliege (1999)
- Ein leichtes Schwert (2014)
- Ich bin das Chaos (2017)
BibliographyEdit
- Wir sind Helden (2008). Informationen zu Touren und anderen Einzelteilen (in German). Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag. Template:ISBN.
- Holofernes, Judith (2015). Du bellst vor dem falschen Baum (in German). Tropen. Template:ISBN.
- Holofernes, Judith (2022). Die Träume anderer Leute (in German). Kiepenheuer & Witsch Template:ISBN