Eliza Wren

Eliza Wren (born October 7, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, filmmaker and actress from Austin, Texas. She heads the band, ELiZA WREN and co-heads the band Haun's Mill (novelty folk band) with Nord Anderson.

Early life and influences

Wren began composing music at a very distinct moment. In 1988, she attended her sister's piano recital. The teacher announced that one of the pieces was composed by Mozart at the age of nine. Eight-year-old Wren, unaware of Mozart's even earlier accomplishments, thought 'nine' to be some sort of record and sought out to beat that record. She went home that night and began composing.

On November 22, 1995, after channel surfing, Wren happened upon The Beatles Anthology on TV. The show immediately seeped in and inspired her to play the guitar and start her own group.

Filmmaker

Wren works both freelance and as a writer and director for Hack-Studios in Austin, TX.

ELiZA WREN band

ELiZA WREN was established in 1999 in Austin, Texas. The first album was recorded by Jim Eno of Spoon, in his studio and included the talents of Spoon bassist, Josh Zarbo and Justin VonKennel. The group performed at the 2001 North by Northeast Music Festival in Toronto, Canada and the Anti-Folk Festival in New York, New York. In this time Wren met Wes French who asked Wren to join in his group Hallicrafters. He also took on recording the ELiZA WREN band. Official bandmates at this time became: Wren, Justin VonKennel, Nathan Aloysius (bass), Chris Stelly (drums). The group recorded the album, Peradventure with Wes French. ELiZA WREN went on to perform in the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah and the 2003 South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas Wren then moved to Utah and reformed the band to eventually include members: Nord Anderson (guitar), Mike Crandall (bass), Dan Pectol (drums). Other notable bandmates from this era include: Barrett Ogden (bass), Linwood Bidoulph (drums), Justin Taylor (drums), Catherine Allred (violin, tamboritza), and Jon Minor (bagpipes). The group performed at the Utah Arts Festival, The Brown Bag Concert Series and for President Grimsson of Iceland. ELiZA WREN then began recording with Hyrum Summerhays and Eden's Watchtower. The group spent three years in the studio recording a double album that syncs with the film, Return To Oz, as influenced by Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Rainbow project. The album and performance premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Actress and star of the film, Fairuza Balk attended and hosted the event. The event continues to tour the country.

Haun's Mill

Haun's Mill (originally Haun's Mill Massacre, inspired by the historic event; the name was changed because it "pinned us as heavy metal to many people before they heard [the band], plus it clouded [their] more upbeat songs")^[1] was formed in 2006 by Wren and Nord Anderson as a duo. The band was inspired by the song, Mt. Pleasant written by Nord Anderson about the small town of the same name, in Utah. A former costume designer, Wren began constructing costumes for the group. Haun's Mill first performed on Halloween at Club Velour's Annual Monkeygrinder Halloween Bash. The event was sold out. The group went on to perform in the 2009 Utah Arts Festival, Brown Bag Concert Series, Helper Arts Festival and had music featured in a number of films. The group expanded to a full band and included members: Nord (vocals, guitar, banjo), Wren (vocals, banjo, guitar, toy piano), Hyrum Summerhays (accordion, piano), Mike Crandall (stand-up bass) and BB Melanson (drums). The group recorded their first full band album at Audiospace in Salt Lake City and released it in June 2009.

Returns to Oz

Influenced by Dark Side of the Rainbow, syncing Pink Floyd's album The Dark Side of the Moon with the film The Wizard of Oz, Wren composed an original rock score that synced with the 1985 cult Disney film Return To Oz that was exactly the same length of time as the film. In 2003 ELiZA WREN performed the score live at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, in Austin, Texas. Later, after moving to Utah, the group began recording with Hyrum Summerhays and Eden's Watchtower Records. The band spent three years in the studio. The album and performance premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Actress and star of the film, Fairuza Balk attended and hosted the event. The event continues to tour the country.

Hallicrafters

The group was formed by Wes French and Brian Locklin in Austin, Texas and was influenced by Italian Horror films and electronic muddling. The group collaborated and recorded their album, Pony, in 2003. The album also included the talents of Joy Sappington on the piano and Erich Ragsdale on a garden variety of odd instruments.

Actress

Wren began her career as a professional actress around 1990, mainly performing in theatre productions and occasionally film. Since she has moved almost completely to film productions.

References

External links

• Eliza Wren official site
• Haun's Mill official site
• Eliza Wren on IMDb
• Review: Eliza Wren Peradventure and Hallicrafters Pony (Austin Chronicle)
• Scene Stealers - Eliza Wren (Austin Chronicle)