Heir (singer) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Hēir
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Patricia Matcin |
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| Born | 13 June Chișinău, Moldova |
| Origin | Naples, Italy and London, England |
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| Years active | 2012–present |
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Patricia Matcin, known professionally as Patricia Manfield and later as Hēir, is a singer and songwriter from Moldova. She lives in London, England.
Patricia first became famous in 2015 in the fashion world. She was known as Patricia Manfield and became one of the most important street fashion bloggers in Italy. She worked with many big fashion brands like Versace, Dior, and Fendi. In 2018, she decided to focus on music and changed her professional name to Hēir. She signed a deal with Sony Music Entertainment. In March 2020, she released her first collection of songs, called an extended-play (EP), titled Daddy Issues. This EP has been streamed over a million times on Spotify.
Contents
Early Life and Music Beginnings
Patricia Matcin was born in Chișinău, Moldova. Her parents were both classical musicians from Russia. She spent her first few years near Moscow, Russia. After that, she traveled a lot with her parents as they went on music tours around the world. Because her parents traveled so much, Patricia went to many different international schools. She has said this was a challenge, but it also let her see many famous European theaters. English became her main language.
When she was eight, her parents encouraged her to start learning music. She began taking piano and violin lessons. At age ten, her parents divorced, and she moved to Naples, Italy, with her mother, Svetlana Matcin. In Naples, she found a stable home and finished high school.
From Fashion to Music
After high school, Patricia moved to Milan to study fashion business at the Istituto Marangoni. While studying, she also started working as a model. One day, she went to a fashion show and photographers took her picture. A famous casting director noticed her. Patricia Matcin then changed her professional name to Patricia Manfield to sound more British.
She started working as a Brand ambassador and fashion muse for many major fashion brands. She also created a fashion website called The Atelier with her boyfriend at the time. Patricia traveled the world to attend fashion week events in cities like Paris and New York. She became one of the most important street fashion bloggers. Her instagram page gained over 403,000 followers.
Starting the Hēir Music Project
After finishing her fashion studies, Patricia decided to move to London. She put her fashion career on hold to focus on music and finish her first album. In London, she began working closely with her manager, Renata Di Pace. She also met the production team KXNGS, made up of twin brothers Joe and Jeeves Abhol.
Patricia decided to change her stage name from Patricia Manfield to Hēir. She chose this name as a tribute to her musician parents. On April 12, 2018, she released her first song, Threads. This song mixes pop and electronic sounds, and Hēir wrote it herself. She filmed the music video in London and shared it first with Rolling Stone Italia. Soon after, on April 26, 2018, she released Love Song. Around this time, Sony Music Italy contacted her, and she signed a distribution deal with them a few months later.
Her first song with Sony, called Soundtrack, came out on May 31, 2019. Hēir wrote this song about her teenage years. She describes it as a song about women's rebellion against men who treat them badly. On June 5, 2019, the official music video for Soundtrack was released. It was a short film inspired by the world of cyberpunk. In September 2019, Hēir announced her first EP, Daddy Issues, at a Versace fashion show in Milan. On November 15, 2019, her second single with Sony, My Love, was released. This was a sad love song that mixed indie rock, R&B, and pop sounds. Hēir wrote the song, and its music video came out on December 5, 2019.
Debut EP: Daddy Issues
On March 11, 2020, Hēir released her first EP, Daddy Issues, through Sony Music. She had worked on this project for over three years. The EP has eight songs, including the singles Soundtrack and My Love. It also features other love songs like Spike Lee, Close Up, Fences, Sweet Degree, Eternal, and Get Down and Dance. The song Get Down and Dance was inspired by the Netflix series The Get Down.
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic started around the same time. Because of this, Hēir decided not to promote the EP much, out of respect for those affected by the pandemic. Even without much promotion, the EP has been streamed over 2 million times on Spotify.
On July 2, 2021, she released the single It's All Good Until It Isn't. This song was the start of her second music project. On July 28, 2021, she released Nobody Wants Me in partnership with Fudasca. On February 25, 2022, she released the single Anyone, which was a preview of her next EP. Hēir wrote the song, and it was produced by Kxngs, Cheap cuts, and Michael Percy. The music video for Anyone was filmed in Naples in the Quartieri Spagnoli. On June 1, 2022, she released the single Vertigo. The video for Vertigo was filmed in the Toledo metro station in Naples and came out on June 6, 2022. Vertigo was her last single released with Sony.
New Music: Is That All There Is
At the end of 2022, after leaving Sony, Hēir began working closely with producer Duncan Boyce and songwriter Sean Walsh. On February 15, 2023, she released her single Rewind. The music video for Rewind, directed by Ryan James-Beau, was released on February 20, 2023. This song was a preview for her EP Is That All There Is, which was released on April 7, 2023. This EP has five songs: Rewind, Nirvana, Barely Breath, C.L.O.W.N., and the second single Landslide. On June 16, 2023, she released the single Ex Machina.
Musical Style
Hēir's music is a mix of indie, pop, R&B, and electronic sounds. This creates a style often called alternative pop. Besides traditional Neapolitan song, she is influenced by artists like Lana Del Rey, St. Vincent, Nirvana, James Blake, and Bon Iver. Hēir is also very inspired by music from the 1990s.
Discography
Extended Plays
- 2020 – Daddy Issues
- 2023 – Is That All There Is
Singles
- 2018 – Threads
- 2018 – Love Song
- 2019 – Soundtrack
- 2019 – My Love
- 2021 – It's All Good Until It Isn't
- 2021 – Nobody Wants Me
- 2022 – Anyone
- 2022 – Vertigo
- 2023 – Rewind
- 2023 – Landslide
- 2023 – Ex Machina
