Vanessa Forero

Vanessa Forero is a British-Colombian singer-songwriter, composer, producer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist and author based in the United Kingdom. She composes from an early age and, alongside her own artist work, mainly writes film and television scores and songs for other artists. She also works under the name Vanessa James as a film and TV composer.

Early life and background

Forero grows up in Bradford, Yorkshire. Her family background includes her mother’s experience of being abandoned in the Colombian jungle as a child and surviving there before being rescued, which shapes Forero’s upbringing and her connection to Colombian identity. Her own music later reflects those roots, including Colombian skin-drums and rhythmic influences.

Music and style

Her work sits in an indie folk style with Latino influences. She plays piano and has described music as the main place where she expresses herself, first developing as a musician while still keeping a low profile in public. She is also a keys player and says that after working for years on other people’s musical projects, she rebuilds her own voice as an artist.

Career

Forero begins composing at the age of nine. In 2015, Beth Orton selects her to write with and perform at a UK show, an experience that pushes her to step forward as a recording artist in her own right. She describes that period as a major turning point in which she rethinks her role and starts performing her own songs.

Her debut self-produced EP, From The Uproar, is due for release in 2016. She presents the project as the result of a long personal and musical process, and it includes the louder, more direct version of her own writing after years of mainly supporting other artists.

Other work and activities

Alongside performing and composing, Forero is a bestselling co-author of The Girl With No Name, a book about her mother’s life. National Geographic also makes the globally broadcast documentary Woman Raised By Monkeys based on that story. She is working on a sequel to the book.

She also speaks about encouraging more women into music production and instrumental roles, especially in studio and drum-based work.