Nicole Willis facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Daniele Willis
Daniele Willis, known as Nicole Willis, in 1997
Born	Nicole Daniele Willis 1963 (age 61–62) New York City
Occupation	scriptwriter / director / visual & sound artist / singer / songwriter / producer / vocal coach & mentor / A&R
Years active	1983–present
Children	Phoebe Lehto, Astrid Lehto
Musical career
Origin	New York City

Daniele Nicole E. Willis, also known as Nicole Willis or Daniele Willis (born in 1963), is an American artist who creates visual art and music. She is also a scriptwriter, singer, songwriter, producer, and director. Today, Willis lives and works in Helsinki, Finland.

Biography

Early music career

Daniele Willis started her music journey in the 1980s. She sang with different groups in New York City, like The Hello Strangers and Blue Period. Later, she moved to London and continued to sing.

Nicole Willis became the main singer for the neo soul band Repercussions. They released songs and albums with big record labels. Their song Promise Me Nothing was very popular, reaching number 6 on a Billboard magazine chart in 1995. The band even recorded a song called Let's Do It Again with the famous singer Curtis Mayfield in 1994.

In 1999, Willis worked with the electronic music group Leftfield. She sang and wrote the main vocals for their song "Swords". This song was part of their album Rhythm and Stealth, which sold a lot and became a Platinum record in the United Kingdom. It was also featured in the movie Go.

Art projects (2005-2014)

After living in Spain, Willis moved to Finland with her family. In 2005, she started studying fine arts at Lahti University of Applied Sciences and graduated in 2009.

Willis worked with the artist Sophie Calle in 2007. She performed in a special art show called Take Care Of Yourself at the Venice Biennale, which is a very important art exhibition in Italy. She also contributed vocals to another art performance called Rinologia by a group of artists from Barcelona.

In 2012, Willis showed her oil paintings in her first solo art shows in Helsinki, Finland. These shows were called Gatherings. She also contributed a painting to an exhibition in London about Elvis Presley in 2013. In 2014, she had another solo exhibition in Tampere, Finland, called Talking Trash.

Music with Timmion Records and Herakles Records

Willis released her first solo albums, Soul Makeover (2000) and Be It (2003), on Puu/Sähkö Recordings. In 2005, she teamed up with The Soul Investigators and released Keep Reachin Up with Timmion Records. This album was a big hit with music critics. Their song Feeling Free was even named the Worldwide Winner on Gilles Peterson's BBC radio show in 2006.

A very cool fact is that the song Keep Reachin' Up was chosen by former US president Barack Obama for his re-election campaign playlist in 2012! Also, her songs have been used in TV shows like Brothers & Sisters and Ray Donovan.

In 2013, Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators released another album called Tortured Soul. It was very popular in Finland and reached number 8 on the official Finnish music charts.

Willis also started her own record label, Herakles Records, in Finland. In 2013, she released the album Enigmatic with Jimi Tenor under the name Cola & Jimmu. They released another album in 2014, and their song Open Up Your Chakra was a hit in Japan.

In 2015, Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators released their third album, Happiness in Every Style, which received a perfect 5-star review from a major Finnish newspaper. However, in 2017, Willis announced that she would no longer be working with The Soul Investigators.

New music and art projects

After leaving The Soul Investigators, Willis started a new sublabel called Persephone Records. In 2017, she released an EP called Big Fantasy (For Me) / Tear It Down with Jimi Tenor and Jonathan Maron.

Later in 2017, she released her album My Name Is Nicole Willis. This album was special because she collaborated with the UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra. The album featured new songs and some of her older songs re-arranged for a jazz orchestra. It also received a great review.

In 2019, Nicole Willis released My Soul Sensation with a new group called Banda Palomita. She also released an instrumental version of the album.

More recently, in 2022, Willis released electronic music under her name Daniele Willis, called "Polymer or PARA [Seasoned]". She also sang the first vocal single for the Finnish electronic group Aavikko, called Space Disco Muysic.

In 2023, Willis returned to performance art with a show called Phobos & Deimos Contemplate Reception in Helsinki, Finland. She wrote, voice-acted, and performed in this dramatic show.

In 2024, Willis released an instrumental album of her "My Name Is Nicole Willis" project. She also announced that future songs featuring her vocals will mainly be released on her new label, Goliath Records.

Education and early life

Daniele Willis studied fine arts at Lahti Institute of Fine Arts in Finland and also in London, United Kingdom. She focused on oil painting, digital film, and performance art, graduating in 2009. Before that, she graduated from the High School of Art and Design in New York City in 1980.

Willis was born in Brooklyn, New York City, in 1963. She lived in different parts of Brooklyn during her childhood.

Solo art exhibitions

• Talking Trash; showing oil paintings, digital films, and textile art, at Gallery Emil, Tampere, Finland, from February 2 to February 28, 2014.
• Gatherings; showing oil paintings, at Galleria Pirkko – Liisa Topelius, Helsinki, Finland, from November 2 to December 1, 2012.
• Gatherings; showing oil paintings, at Galleria Kingi Kongi, Helsinki, Finland, from April 6 to April 27, 2012.

Sound and performance art

• Hunajanjyvä, Salama ja Maa; a performance at Mad House in Helsinki, Finland, on October 7, 2023. It included Phobos & Deimos Contemplate Reception, a dramatic monologue written, performed, and with music by Daniele Willis.
• Listen to a mushroom, listen to a bike; a music and sound art project in Turku, Finland, from October 1 to October 31, 2020. It featured her digital music release, Polymer or PARA [Seasoned].

Scripts

• Data Collector | Tietojen Kerääjä; a screenplay being developed for a fiction feature film (2024).
• Iloinenmaa | Happyland; a 15-minute screenplay for a short film (2024).
• Phobos & Deimos Contemplate Reception; a script for her performance art piece (2023).

Films

• My Friend Keke (2023): Daniele Willis directed and edited this short film about a music producer.
• Atoning for Gen Alpha, Discussions on Religious Pluralism with Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen (2023): Willis directed and edited this discussion film.
• 1 418 Inhabitants Per Square Kilometre (2022): Willis directed, filmed, and edited this short film.
• Jimi Tenor & Felix Kubin Kontula Electronic (2017): Willis filmed this performance.
• Felix Kubin & Jimi Tenor Kontula Electronic (2017): Another film by Willis documenting the same performance.

Artist collaborations

• About us (refrain to refrain); a performance for artist Jani Ruscica, shown in Helsinki, Finland, in 2022.
• Between Paths I; Nicole Willis read a poem for a video installation by Juan Kasari in Tampere, Finland, in 2020.
• Take Care of Yourself; a performance for artist Sophie Calle, shown at the Venice Biennale in Italy in 2007.
• Rinologia; a vocal performance for artists Los Rinos, performed in Spain in 2007.

Discography

Singles under Laissez-Affaire

• Makeshift (2024)
• Homage (2024)
• Light My Fire (2024)

Selected singles under Garland & Jemima

• Makeshift (2024)
• Homage (2024)
• Fade Into You (2024)
• The New New - Edit, Remaster (2024)
• Jheronimus Blush (2024)
• polymath party (2024)
• Double Dutch (2024)
• The New New (2024)
• the green man (2024)

Albums

• Polymer or PARA [Seasoned] (as Daniele Willis) (2022)
• Banda Palomita's My Soul Sensation (as Banda Palomita, Nicole Willis) (2019)
• My Soul Sensation (as Nicole Willis & Banda Palomita) (2019)
• My Name Is Nicole Willis (as Nicole Willis & UMO Jazz Orchestra) (2017)
• Be It (2004)
• Soul Makeover (2000)

Singles

• I Call Your Name Smoove Remix (2019)
• Reparate (2019)
• I Call Your Name (2019)
• An Angel on My Shoulder / And I'll Be Free As A Bird (2018)
• Still Got A Way To Fall (2017)
• Say It (2003)
• Siesta / Heed The Sign (2002)
• Curiosity (2001)
• All The Time (2000)

Collaborations

• Nicole Willis feat. UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra, Jimi Tenor & Pete Toikkanen; My Name Is Nicole Willis, Instrumentals (2023)
• Aavikko ft. Nicole Willis; single Space Disco Muysic (2023)
• Bosq feat. Nicole Willis; Tonight (2018)
• Nicole Willis & UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra; Haunted by the Devil / (Everybody) Do The Watusi (2018)
• Nicole Willis & UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra; Still Got A Way To Fall (2017)
• Nicole Willis, Jimi Tenor & Jonathan Maron; Big Fantasy (For Me) | Tear It Down (2017)
• Bosq ft. Megan Doherty & Nicole Willis; Can't Seem To Hide | Take Me There (2017)
• Bosq ft. Nicole Willis; Bad For Me (2015)
• Nicole Willis, Jimi Tenor featuring Tony Allen/Nicole Willis & Jimi Tenor; All For You/Touching (2015)
• Pizzicato One; on track A Little Bit Of Soap from LP One And Ten Very Sad Songs (2011)
• Jimi Tenor & Abdissa Assefa; on track Leatheries from LP Itetune (2011)
• Shawn Lee; on track Jigsaw from LP Soul in the Hole (2009)
• The Flexatones Originals; on tracks Fresh & Cause I Want (2007)
• Mr. Comicstore;Are You Ready To Party? (2006)
• Nuspirit Helsinki, on Honest from LP Nuspirit Helsinki (2002)
• Jimi Tenor; on tracks Spell & Call Of The Wild from LP Out Of Nowhere (2000)
• Leftfield; on track Swords from LP Rhythm and Stealth (1999)

Albums with Cola & Jimmu

• I Give To You My Love & Devotion (2014)
• Enigmatic (2013)

Singles with Cola & Jimmu

• Open Up Your Chakra (2013)
• Transcend Our Love (2013)
• No More Wars (2013)
• 369° Grind (2013)
• Enigmatic (2013)
• Brooklyn Girl (2013)

Albums with The Soul Investigators

• Happiness in Every Style (2015)
• Tortured Soul (2013) (peaked at #8 in Finland)
• Keep Reachin' Up Remixed (2007)
• Keep Reachin Up (2005)

Singles with The Soul Investigators

• Hot Sauce (2015)
• Let's Communicate (2015)
• One in a Million (2015)
• Paint Me in a Corner | Where Are You Now (2015)
• Tell Me When | It's All Because Of You (2012)
• My Four Leaf Clover | Holdin' On (2006)
• Feeling Free (2006)
• Perfect Kind of Love (2005) (peaked at #15 in Finland)
• If This Ain't Love (2005) (peaked at #4 in Finland)
• You Better Change | Raw Steaks (feat. Jimmy Tenor) (2003)

Albums with Repercussions

• Charmed Life (1997)
• Earth and Heaven (1995)

Singles with Repercussions

• Love, Again (1997)
• Promise Me Nothing (1995)
• Let's Do It Again with Curtis Mayfield (1994)
• Promise/Field Trippin' (1992)

Music videos

• One In A Million (as Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators) (2015)
• Earthly Delights (as Cola & Jimmu) (2014)
• Open Up Your Chakra (as Cola & Jimmu) (2014)
• Transcend Our Love (as Cola & Jimmu) (2014)
• No More Wars (as Cola & Jimmu) (2014)
• 369° Grind (as Cola & Jimmu) (2013)
• Enigmatic (as Cola & Jimmu) (2013)
• Brooklyn Girl (as Cola & Jimmu) (2013)
• Time To Get Business Straight (as Nicole Willis & the Soul Investigators) (2013)
• Break Free (Shake a Tail Feather) (as Nicole Willis & the Soul Investigators) (2013)
• If This Ain't Love (Don't Know What Is) (as Nicole Willis & the Soul Investigators) (2007)
• Let's Do It Again (as Curtis Mayfield & Repercussions) (1994)
• Make No Mistake (as an extra; Keith Richards) (1988)
• Keep On Movin (as an extra; Soul II Soul) (1988)
• Happy Ever After (as an extra; Julia Fordham) (1988)
• Rock Box (as an extra; RUN-DMC) (1984)

Images for kids

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  Daniele Willis, known as Nicole Willis, in 1997