Michelle Gurevich
{{short description|Canadian singer-songwriter}}
{{Redirect|Chinawoman|Chinese women|Women in China}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Michelle Gurevich
| background = solo_singer
| image = MG by Sofia Camplioni.jpg
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| alias= Chinawoman
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| genre = Sadcore, lo-fi, Indie pop, Art pop, Folk
| instrument = Vocals, keyboard, guitar, synthesizer
| years_active = 2005–present
| label =
| associated_acts =
| website = {{URL|www.michellegurevich.com}}
}}
Michelle Gurevich is a Canadian singer-songwriter, also known by her former stage name Chinawoman.{{cite news|title=Six Toronto Songs We're Digging Right Now|url=https://nowtoronto.com/music/six-toronto-songs-were-digging-right-now/|accessdate=4 November 2016|publisher=Now|date=19 October 2016}}{{cite web|title=Chinawoman NO / Michelle Gurevich YES|url=http://www.musicaradio.gr/new-releases/kosmos/551-chinawoman-no-michelle-gurevich-yes|website=www.musicaradio.gr|date=24 May 2016|accessdate=4 November 2016}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.siegessaeule.de/no_cache/newscomments/article/3243-i-may-actually-be-writing-the-same-song-over-and-over-an-interview-with-michelle-gure.html|title="I may actually be writing the same song over and over" – an interview with Michelle Gurevich|website=www.siegessaeule.de|access-date=12 June 2017}} Her music is influenced by her Russian heritage,{{cite interview |last=Gurevich |first=Michelle |interviewer=Darryl Natale |title=Interview: Chinawoman |location=Berlin |date=29 July 2011 |work=Stil in Berlin |accessdate=9 August 2013 |url=http://www.stilinberlin.de/2011/07/interview-chinawoman.html}} and has been described as slowcore rock and "lo-fi pop".{{cite interview |last=Gurevich |first=Michelle |interviewer=Yana Radilova |title=Artist of the Week – Chinawoman |date=7 December 2010 |work=Public Republic |accessdate=9 August 2013 |url=http://www.public-republic.net/artist-of-the-week-chinawoman.php/ |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130112045957/http://www.public-republic.net/artist-of-the-week-chinawoman.php/ |archivedate=12 January 2013 }}{{cite news |title=Review: Chinawoman – For You I Want to Be Real |author=Stefanies |url=http://flaneur.me.uk/02/review-chinawoman-for-you-i-want-to-be-real/ |newspaper=The Flaneur |date=18 February 2012 |accessdate=9 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305051306/http://flaneur.me.uk/02/review-chinawoman-for-you-i-want-to-be-real/ |archive-date=5 March 2017 |url-status=dead }} She performed regularly in Russia,[https://rolld.ru/artist/chinawoman] and her largest fanbase is in Eastern Europe.{{cite news |title=Chinawoman |author=Chater, Jennifer |url=http://themoscownews.com/rock/20120319/189546084.html |newspaper=The Moscow News |date=22 March 2012 |accessdate=9 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513010852/http://themoscownews.com/rock/20120319/189546084.html |archivedate=13 May 2013 }}
Life
Gurevich was born in Toronto, Ontario, to Russian-Jewish immigrants and was raised with Russian as her first language. Her father was an engineer in Soviet Leningrad and her mother a Kirov ballerina (the subject of Gurevich's "Russian Ballerina").{{cite magazine|title=Chinawoman "Party Girl"|url=http://www.rollingstone.ru/music/article/5857.html|magazine=Rolling Stone|accessdate=4 November 2016|language=ru-RU|archive-date=5 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161105035457/http://www.rollingstone.ru/music/article/5857.html|url-status=dead}} Gurevich originally wanted to become a filmmaker and worked ten years in the industry before turning to music. "I eventually tried to write a song and found it was not only cheaper but much easier to get a good result."{{cite web|title=Premiere: Going Ape with Chinawoman's Video for "A Woman Is Still A Woman" – Noisey|date=6 March 2014 |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/premiere-chinawoman-video-woman-still-a-woman/|publisher=Vice|access-date=4 November 2016}}
Gurevich began her career recording in her bedroom. The stage name "Chinawoman" was chosen as a spur-of-the-moment joke when GarageBand prompted her for a band name.{{cite news|title=Wie wunderbar brennt mein Haus|url=http://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/wie-wunderbar-brennt-mein-haus/4419024.html|work=Der Tagesspiegel|accessdate=4 November 2016}} After receiving criticism for being a non-Chinese woman inappropriately using the word Chinawoman, Gurevich distanced herself from her stage name and began to perform under her own name.{{cite web |last1=Boyarinov |first1=Denis |title=Мишель Гуревич: "Я рада, что это в прошлом" |trans-title=Michelle Gurevich: I'm happy, that [this] is in the past |language=Russian |url=https://www.colta.ru/articles/music_modern/14781-mishel-gurevich-ya-rada-chto-eto-v-proshlom |website=Colta.ru |access-date=7 November 2021}}
Gurevich has cited Alla Pugacheva, Adriano Celentano, Charles Aznavour, Yoko Ono, Leonard Cohen, Francis Lai, Nino Rota, Xavier Dolan, Todor Kobakov, Jennifer Castle, and filmmaker Federico Fellini as influences on her music.{{cite interview |last=Michelle |first=Gurevich |interviewer=Nadia Says |title=From LA to Berlin: Chinawoman |date=13 June 2012 |accessdate=9 August 2012 |url=http://www.localsuicide.com/interview-series-from-la-to-berlin-chinawoman/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121218083020/http://www.localsuicide.com/interview-series-from-la-to-berlin-chinawoman/ |archive-date=18 December 2012 |url-status=dead }} Gurevich possesses a contralto range.{{Cite web|url=https://reportersombra.com/michelle-guervich-ou-a-filha-das-limitacoes/|title = Michelle Gurevich, ou a filha das limitações|date = 13 March 2019}}
In 2011, Gurevich was invited to tour Europe as an opening act for Patrick Wolf.
In 2012, "Lovers are Strangers" was the theme song for the Latvian film Kolka Cool.
In 2013, "Russian Ballerina" was featured on the commercial for the Nokia Lumia 1020.
In 2014, Gurevich's song "Party Girl" and "I'll Be Your Woman" inspired the 2014 French film Party Girl.
In 2020, Gurevich moved to Copenhagen, Denmark, with her Danish wife and their 2-year-old daughter.{{cite web |last1=Grooss |first1=Minna |title=Lo-fi-dronningen Michelle Gurevich: "Monogami handler ikke om et sidespring eller et kys med en fremmed, men om en større pagt, man laver med et andet menneske" |url=https://heartbeats.dk/lo-fi-dronningen-michelle-gurevich-monogami-handler-ikke-om-et-sidespring-eller-et-kys-med-en-fremmed-men-om-en-stoerre-pagt-man-laver-med-et-andet-menneske/ |website=Heartbeats.dk |date=15 May 2020 |trans-title= "Lo-fi queen Michelle Gurevich: "Monogamy is not about a sidestep or a kiss with a stranger, but about a larger pact you make with another human being" |language=Danish |access-date=7 November 2021 }}
In 2022, "Feel More" was the theme song for the American documentary miniseries Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey.{{cite web|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/documentaries/true-crime/keep-sweet-theme-song-explained/|work=Radio Times|title=What is the Keep Sweet theme song? Opening music explained|first=Lauren|last=Morris|date=June 16, 2022|access-date=July 30, 2022}}
On August 30, 2023, she announced the cancellation of the fall tour due to being "not well enough to perform".[https://www.facebook.com/themichellegurevich/posts/858130675668744]
Discography
= Singles =
- 2008: "Russian Ballerina"
- 2013: "Kiss in Taksim Square"
- 2019: "Poison In My Mind"
- 2020: "Love From A Distance"
- 2021: "No One Answer"
- 2021: "Ho Fatto L'amore Con Me"
- 2021: "Losing Touch"
- 2021: "Forever Awkward"
- 2022: "Goodbye My Dictator"
- 2022: "Aliens Wanna Touch"
=Studio albums=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
! scope="col" style="width:14em"| Title ! scope="col" style="width:22em"| Album details |
| scope="row"| Party Girl
|
|
|---|
| scope="row"| Show Me the Face
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| scope="row"| Let's Part in Style
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| scope="row"| New Decadence
|
|
| scope="row"| Exciting Times
|
|
| scope="row"| Ecstasy in the Shadow of Ecstasy
|
|
| scope="row"| It Was the Moment
|
|
References
{{Reflist}}
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Category:Canadian people of Russian-Jewish descent
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:21st-century Canadian women singers
Category:Canadian expatriates in Denmark