i & r

Making a name for herself
Palo Alto Weekly
11.20.98

Hot newcomer Imogen Heap brings her catchy single, "Come Here Boy," to Cubberley Community Center on Wednesday

by Jim Harrington

She's 6 feet tall and carries a long mane of red hair. Her features are very well pronounced; her nose and lips would make Barbra Streisand and Mick Jagger envious. Her singing is a breathy combination of Alanis Morissette and Sarah McLachlan.

But it's neither her divine looks nor her diverse vocal talent that is likely to strike you first.

It's her name: Imogen Heap.

Imogen, she explains, is Celtic. It's not a family name; it doesn't have a special meaning. It's just something her parents thought would go well with the surname. A name beginning with the letter "I" also avoided the risks of teasing by grade-school humorists who'd combine her first initial with her last name.

"'C' for Caroline would be 'Cheap.' 'S' for Sharon would be 'Sheep,' the 20-year-old performer explained. "Heap is the unfortunate part of (the name). It probably just means a pile or a stack of hay."

Once you get past the name, it's all roses--as locals will discover when the vocalist performs a solo show at Cubberley Community Center on Wednesday. It's an excellent double bill, opened by the Stanford product, The Girl & I.

Like contemporaries Fiona Apple and Tori Amos, Heap writes "little," introspective songs that tug on the heart while inducing the body to sway. The multi-instrumentalist's debut, iMEGAPHONE, is an accomplished work for one so young--simple and moving, theatrical and striking. The beautiful single, "Come Here Boy," has struck a note in this Lilith-Faired age and is the main reason the vocalist is finding a growing audience.

"That's the hit, man," Heap says with a laugh. "That's the one that's going to make me money--they say."

Still, those who move beyond the catchy single will not be disappointed.

Heap grew up in a lush, green and private part of Essex County in England. She was drawn to music early on, perhaps because of the lack of other readily available options.

"We were kind of in the country and very secluded," Heap said during a recent phone interview from Los Angeles. "That's where I started playing piano."

The talented youngster studied at a performing arts school until she was discovered by a talent scout at age 17. A publishing deal and recording contract soon followed. Now she has the Geffen-affiliated Almo Sounds label distributing her record in the states, and she's on the road reaching for that elusive next level. Needless to say, the last 2 1/2 years have been a whirl for Heap.

"It's gone so quickly because it's been so packed with really great things to do," she said.

Already, Heap is thinking about the next album. Using i Megaphone's sparse and precious end track, "Sleep," as a bridge, Heap says her sophomore release will be a much freer work with more of a live feel. She says it will move farther away from technical tricks like sampling toward a more real, performance sound.

In the meantime, she's thinking about such things as concert T-shirts and what she should put on the shirt to make fans want to fork out their hard-earned cash. Now safe from grammar school pranksters, she's even considering slogans that play off her unusual last name.

"You can have a heap of love or you can have a heap of (expletive). You can have all these different heaps on the T-shirt," the singer offers.

Umm, well . . .

"You wouldn't buy that, would you?" Heap says. "No? Neither would I."