Isabella Summers

Isabella Summers
Isabella Summers at Dean St Studios
Background information
Birth name	Isabella Janet Florentina Summers
Also known as	Isa Machine
Born	(1980-10-31) 31 October 1980 Hackney, England
Genres	Indie rock, art rock, alternative rock, experimental
Occupation(s)	Songwriter, record producer, musician
Years active	2008–present
Labels	Universal Publishing
Associated acts	Florence and the Machine, Florence Welch, Ivan Ink 'n' Isa, The Life The Love & The Grateful
Website	www.myspace.com/isabellasummers

Isabella Janet Florentina Summers (born 31 October 1980) is an English musician, songwriter, producer, remixer and member of English indie rock band Florence and the Machine. As well as being the keyboard player for the group, Summers has five co-writing credits on the critically acclaimed, BRIT Award-winning Lungs and three on the album Ceremonials. She has three songs on the album How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful: "Delilah", "How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful" and "Which Witch", including two productions on the deluxe version.

When not on tour with Florence and the Machine, Summers writes, produces and remixes tracks for artists including Juliette Lewis, Iggy Azalea, Ella Henderson, Flux Pavilion, Maxine Ashley, Rita Ora, Judith Hill, and The Game.

Background

Summers lived her first nine years in London, and met Florence Welch as the young Summers would babysit Welch's younger sister Grace. When Summers was the age of nine, her family moved to Aldeburgh, Suffolk. There Summers attended Woodbridge School and in her teenage years got an interest in music by spending evenings with fishermen's sons "who would smoke a ton of weed and listen to hip-hop."

For her university years, Summers moved back to London, where she would get a fine arts degree at Central Saint Martins. In the meantime she bought a set of DJ mixers to learn how to mix, while also doing side jobs such as being a runner for Top of the Pops and transcriptions and film digitising for Alan Parker. Soon she was working with Dan Greenpeace on his 'All City Show' radio show on XFM London, an experience that lead Summers to buy her first MPC which was installed at the cupboard of her shared flat. With the help of a friend she started a studio in a former plastics factory at Crystal Palace, and began making hip hop. During this time, Summers worked with, amongst others, Kashmere, The Iguana Man, IRS Crew, MBC Crew, Inja and The Last Skeptic. She would also have meetings with Welch during DJ work and art school, as Welch was attending the Camberwell College of Arts.

As Summers was hired to remix songs by the band Ludes, Welch became a more common sight at her studio given she was dating Ludes' guitarist Matt Alchin, and even impressed Summers with her singing. One day, as Summers got into a creative rut and thought of writing pop music with a woman, she invited Welch to write songs with her. Following a day joining Summers' beats with Welch's lyrics, soon they were creative partners, with Welch nicknaming Summers "Isabella Machine" for her electronic music skills. This led to them performing together for a time under the name Florence Robot/Isa Machine. The project was renamed to Florence and the Machine as according to Welch "that name was so long it'd drive me mad."

Discography

Writing/ Co-writes

• Florence and the Machine – "Dog Days Are Over" – Island – Co-write
• Florence and the Machine – "I'm Not Calling You a Liar" – Island – Co-write
• Florence and the Machine – "Between Two Lungs" – Island – Co-write
• Florence and the Machine – "Cosmic Love" – Island – Co-write
• Florence and the Machine – "Falling" (Only on deluxe album)" – Island – Co-write
• Florence and the Machine – "Are You Hurting the One You Love" (B-side to Rabbit Heart)– Island – Co-write
• Florence and the Machine – "Ghosts (Demo)" (Only on deluxe album) – Island – Co-write
• Florence and the Machine – "No Light, No Light" – Island – Co-write
• Florence and the Machine – "All This And Heaven Too" – Island – Co-write
• Florence and the Machine – "Remain Nameless" – Island – Co-write
• Florence and the Machine – "Breath of Life" – Island – Co-write
• Florence and the Machine – "How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful" – Island – Co-write
• Florence and the Machine – "Delilah" – Island – Co-write
• Florence and the Machine – "Which Witch (Demo)" (Only on deluxe album) – Island – Co-write/Produce
• Florence and the Machine – "How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful (Demo)" (Only on deluxe album) – Island – Co-write/produce
• Carly Connor – Tracks – Atlantic Records – Co-write
• Dia Frampton – Bullseye – Universal Republic – Co-write/prod
• LP Tracks – Warner Bros – Co-write
• Sam Sparro – 16 Shades of Grey – EMI – Co-write
• Ivan Ink 'n' Isa – "Lover's Kiss" – Brink Records – Co-write
• Ivan Ink 'n' Isa – "Standing On A Hill" – Brink Records – Co-write
• Ivan Ink 'n' Isa – "Caught In Symmetry" – Brink Records – Co-write
• Ivan Ink 'n' Isa – "Silver Or Lead" – Brink Records – Co-write
• Angel Haze - Rose Tinted Suicide – Co-write/produce
• Katharine McPhee – "Hysteria"
• Iggy Azalea – "Trouble" (featuring Jennifer Hudson) – Virgin EMI – Co-write
• Flux Pavilion – "Never See the Light" feat. Andrea Martin – Circus Recordings – Co-write
• Rock the Kasbah – "Torch" – Co-write

Producing

• Florence and the Machine – "Dog Days Are Over" – Island
• Florence and the Machine – "I'm Not Calling You a Liar" – Island
• Florence and the Machine – "Between Two Lungs" – Island
• Florence and the Machine – "Cosmic Love" – Island
• Florence and the Machine – "Falling" (Only on deluxe album) – Island
• Florence and the Machine – "Hardest of Hearts" – Island
• Florence and the Machine – "Remain Nameless" – Island
• Florence and the Machine – "Breath of Life" – Island – Co-write
• Florence and the Machine – "Hospital Beds" (cover of Cold War Kids) (B-side) – Island
• Florence and the Machine – "Which Witch (Demo)" (Only on deluxe album) – Island
• Florence and the Machine – "How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful (Demo)" (Only on deluxe album) – Island
• Ivan Ink 'n' Isa – "Lover's Kiss" – Brink Records
• Ivan Ink 'n' Isa – "Standing On A Hill" – Brink Records
• Ivan Ink 'n' Isa – "Caught In Symmetry" – Brink Records
• Ivan Ink 'n' Isa – "Silver Or Lead" – Brink Records
• Dia Frampton – Bullseye – Universal Republic – Co-production
• Angel Haze – "Rose-Tinted Suicide" – Island – Co-write and production
• The Game, Diddy, Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, DJ Khaled, Fabolous, Curren$y, Problem, King Pharaoh, Wale, Yo Gotti, Swizz Beatz and TGT – "Don't Shoot" – co-write and production
• Rock the Kasbah – "Torch" – Co-write and production
• Kat McPhee – "Lick My Lips" and "Hysteria LP" – co-write and production
• Flux Pavilion –"Never See the Light" feat. Andrea Martin – co-write and production

Remix

• Beyoncé – "Countdown" – Columbia
• Beyoncé – "End of Time" – Columbia
• Florence and the Machine with Lexxx – "Cosmic Love" – Island
• Primary 1 – "Princess" – Atlantic
• WooWoos – "Remember Me" – Island
• The Kooks – "Forgive and Forget" – Virgin

External links

• Isabella Summers on Twitter

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons