Rykka

Christina Maria Rieder (born 13 March 1986), better known by her stage name Rykka (/ˈraɪkə/), is a Swiss-Canadian singer and songwriter from Vancouver, British Columbia. Her songs have been featured on TV, and she has been nominated for several music awards both in British Columbia, and across Canada. On May 12, 2016, she represented Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in Stockholm with the song "The Last of Our Kind". She sang in the second semi-final of the event.

Rykka
Rykka in 2016
Background information
Birth nameChristina Maria Rieder
Born (1986-03-13) 13 March 1986
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
OriginSwitzerland
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
Years active2000–present
Labels
  • Little Jig Records
  • Vissen Records
  • Cordova Bay Records
Websitewww.rykka.com

Life and career

Early years

Rykka was born Christina Maria Rieder in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She began guitar lessons at age 15, then performed at local community festivals. During her two-year program at Vancouver Community College, Christina studied voice with Paula Kremer, while also busking around Vancouver’s Granville Island.

In 2009, she moved to Toronto to record her third independent album Straight Line under the performing name “Christina Maria”. The album was produced with the help of several Canadian producers such as David Baxter, Russel Broom, and Ryan Guldemond of Mother Mother.

In 2010, her album Straight Line was released in Switzerland under Little Jig Records.[1] Rykka stayed and performed both in Switzerland and in Germany, highlighted by a performance on "Sat.1 Frühstücksfernsehen"; a German television channel boasting an average audience of 1 million viewers.[2] She later received a nomination for Demotape Clinic at M4Music in Switzerland.

2012–2013: Kodiak

Kodiak was Rykka's 2012 album. It marked a significant change in her musical career since she formally changed her stage name from Christina Maria. She recorded “Kodiak” under the new name Rykka. The record was produced by Ryan Guldemond of Mother Mother, engineered by Shawn Penner, mixed by Warne Livesey and mastered by Andy VanDette. It was released that year in Switzerland by Little Jig Records.

2013–present: Other work

In 2013, Rykka released her fourth studio album Kodiak under Vissen Record in Canada,[3] following a release of the same album in Switzerland the year before. Later in 2013, she won $100,000.00 in BC's Peak Performance Project.[4]

Rykka played a slot in BC’s well-known Squamish Valley Music Festival (2014),[5] opening for another Peak Performance Project winner, We Are the City.[6] She represented Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "The Last of Our Kind" (written by Rykka, Jeff Dawson, Mike James, and Warne Livesey) after winning ESC 2016 – Die Entscheidungsshow. She placed last in the second semifinal of Eurovision 2016.

Personal life

Rykka splits her time between Zürich in Switzerland and her hometown of Vancouver. She cites Heart, Blondie, Madonna, Björk, Cyndi Lauper, Kate Bush, and Pat Benatar as her main influences.[7] Her paternal grandfather is Swiss.[8] Her maternal ancestry is Dutch, her maternal grandfather comes from Bodegraven and her maternal grandmother is from Woerden.

Discography

Studio albums
Title Details
Kodiak
Beatitudes

As lead artist
Title Year Album
"Map Inside" 2012 Kodiak
"The Brink"
"Blackie" 2013
"Electric" 2014
"Movies" 2015 Beatitudes
"The Last of Our Kind" 2016
"Bad Boy"
"Youth is Wasted" 2017
Title Year Album
"Never Fade"
(Alex Guesta featuring Rykka)		 2014 Non-album singles
"The Devil"
(The New Black Tea featuring Rykka)
"Dolls"
(The New Black Tea featuring Rykka)
"Delirium"
(Zomboy featuring Rykka)		 The Outbreak
"Aurora"
(Delerium featuring Rykka)		 2015 Rarities & B-Sides
"Don't You Honey Me"
(Timothy Jaromir featuring Rykka)		 Non-album singles
"Thunder"
(Matierro & Dynastrax featuring Rykka)
"With or Without"
(Tommy Mangano featuring Rykka)		 2016
"Toes"
(Frank Walker featuring Rykka)
"Rebels"
(Esh featuring Rykka)
"Escape"
(Armando Vico featuring Rykka)
"The Hardest Part"
(Ørjan Nilsen featuring Rykka)		 2017

Filmography
  • Blackie was featured on TV series Rookie Blue (S04E07)[9]
  • The Brink was featured on TV series “Tessa & Scott” (S01E03)[10]

Awards and nominations

References
  1. "Christina Maria "Straight Line" - littlejig.com". Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  2. "Frühstücksfernsehen - Video". 22 November 2011. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  3. "Vissen Records". Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  4. performance-project "Rykka wins the Peak Performance Project 2014 (The Georgia Straight)"
  5. "Rykka plays Squamish Valley Music Festival (The Now Newspaper)" Archived 2014-08-21 at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Rykka opens for We Are the City in Squamish (Squamish Valley Music Festival Schedule)"
  7. "Bio". Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  8. "Rykka mit The Last Of Our Kind". SRF. 6 December 2015.
  9. "Watch Music Lounge TV Show - ABC.com". Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  10. "Tessa & Scott". Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  11. "Rykka - Timeline - Facebook". Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  12. "2013 WINNER ANNOUNCED!". Retrieved 19 September 2016.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Mélanie René
with "Time to Shine"		 Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest
2016
 Succeeded by
Timebelle
with "Apollo"
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