The original songs of singer, pianist, producer and composer Lauren Nottingham have touched down on Earth under the moniker Frau Knotz. Channeling rave nostalgia and Eurodisco, Frau Knotz toggles between whimsical fantasies and dark truths, switches propulsive rhythms and expansive balladry and tunes glamour with gameplay to concoct elixirs of experimental electronica.

2022 was a breakout year for Frau Knotz. After just 3 months of developing her project, she was picked up as the opening act for Trip Change on their North Island tour to celebrate NZ Music Month. The momentum rose in September with the release of her debut single Supernova, the music video of which was featured on MTV Upload and Juice TV. Supernova was premiered exclusively by The Most FM’s Making Tracks series, reviewed by muzic.net.nz and added to playlists of many independent radio stations nationwide. Festival highlights for 2022 include performing Supernova with a live band curated by the Black Seeds’ frontman Barnaby Weir at TAFT’s Spiegelfest closing night, as well as ending the year with a New Year’s Eve feature performance at Taranaki’s TSB Festival of Lights.

2023 saw two single releases, with her successful sophomore single Runway of Reality hitting over 1.2k views on YouTube, charting on Radio Control’s Top 10 and a well-attended release show at the King’s Theatre in Stratford. Her third single Cellular dropped November 10th, imploring her listeners to think twice about their devices. Her collaboration with 15 year-old dancer Mizaan Turner as a choreographer resulted in a music video and live performance of a curated dance routine to a sold-out crowd at Dancing For Hope Taranaki, an event raising funds for Taranaki Retreat and Mike King’s I Am Hope charity. Festival highlights include her DJ debut at TSB Festival of Lights Winter Pop-Up in July, as well as being a featured guest at the Wellington Jazz Festival in October backed by the Other Futures Big Band.

With all of this under her belt, Frau Knotz is ready to take her live act to crowds further afield. 2024 has begun with an Auckland debut at Whammy Bar, followed by the release of Odyssey I, the first single off her 7-track debut EP Nextraterrestrial, due for release in August 2024. With more music to roll out in the coming months, get ready; Frau Knotz vows to take you on a deep sonic odyssey through her 3-dimensional world.