Judith Holfelder-Roy (née Holfelder-von der Tann; born 12 November 1976), known by her stage name Judith Holofernes (), is a German singer, guitarist, songwriter and author.
She was the lead singer of Wir sind Helden, the German pop rock band that released the song "Guten Tag" in 2002. The band received critical acclaim owing in part to Holofernes' lyrics, which are characterized by their playful use of words and use of social criticism.
After recording four albums that were chart successes in the German-speaking world, Wir sind Helden went on indefinite hiatus in 2012. Since then, Holofernes has recorded two solo albums (Ein leichtes Schwert, 2014; Ich bin das Chaos, 2017) and has published a book of poems (Du bellst vor dem falschen Baum, 2015) and a memoir (Die Träume anderer Leute, 2022).
Early life Holofernes was born in Berlin and moved at the age of six with her mother to the city of Freiburg im Breisgau in the south of Germany."Judith Holofernes: Jeden Sommer auf der Wiese" (in German). Badische Zeitung. 24 July 2014. From the age of 14, she busked in the city's pedestrian zone as a singer/guitarist.Hauser, Jan. "Studienabbrecherin Judith Holofernes: Werde du mal Popstar, Kind!" (in German). Spiegel Online. 16 December 2008. After she received her secondary education at Staudinger Gesamtschule, she returned to Berlin to study communication in social and economic contexts at Berlin University of the Arts, but did not complete her studies. At the university, she was concerned with anti-consumerism, one of her activities being to set up the German website of Adbusters, a Canadian-based anti-consumerist magazine."Zitat des Tages: Judith und die Kokser-Elite" (in German). Spiegel Online. 27 October 2003.
Music career
Late nineties: Early endeavours Holofernes was able to focus on music after leaving university. Towards the end of the nineties, she performed in Berlin clubs as a solo artist and self-released the EP Kamikazefliege (1999),"laut.de-Biographie - Wir Sind Helden" (in German). laut.de. Retrieved 3 October 2015. though only 500 copies were produced."Frontfrau Holofernes: "Die Rache des Universums" (2 von 9)" (in German). Spiegel Online. 8 August 2007. Some of the songs from the EP, such as "Außer dir" and "Aurélie", would be later re-recorded by Wir sind Helden for the band's debut album.Holtmann, Kevin. "Judith Holofernes - Ein leichtes Schwert" (in German). Plattentests.de. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
2000–2012: Wir sind Helden
In mid-2000, Holofernes met drummer Pola Roy, keyboardist/guitarist Jean-Michel Tourette and bassist Stefan Nietzky at a pop music workshop in Hamburg. They formed a band together, though Nietzky was later replaced by bassist Mark Tavassol."Wer wir sind - Stefan Nietzky" (in German). Popkurs Hamburg website. Retrieved 3 October 2015. The band was initially briefly called Helden (which means "Heroes") before being renamed Wir sind Helden (which means "We are heroes").Murr, Lilo. "Ein Doktor spielt den Bass" (in German). Augsburger Allgemeine. 27 March 2008. Wir sind Helden's breakthrough came in 2002 without the support of a record label, when the band's song "Guten Tag" was played by radio stations and a self-produced music video for the song received heavy rotation on MTV Germany.Schmid, Eva Dorothée. "Ihr altes Leben wollen sie nicht zurück" (in German). Berliner Zeitung. 22 November 2003. The band subsequently signed to LabelsRüther, Tobias. "Guten Tag, ich bin ein Popstar" (in German). Der Tagesspiegel. 27 May 2003. and released its debut album Die Reklamation (2003), which was a top 5 hit in Germany and Austria"Wir sind Helden" (in German). swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 October 2015. Select Charts tab. and sold over half a million copies in Germany alone. The band went on to record the albums Von hier an blind (2005), Soundso (2007) and Bring mich nach Hause (2010), all of which reached high positions in the German, Austrian and Swiss charts. In April 2012, the band announced that it was taking an indefinite break owing to family commitments, the long distances between the band members' home cities, and "signs of wear and tear"."Was heißt das: "Wir sind erst mal raus"?" (in German). Official Wir sind Helden website. 4 April 2012.
2012 to present: Post-Wir sind Helden career During her break from Wir sind Helden, Holofernes began composing songs informally using Apple software application GarageBand and then later decided to record them in the studio, with herself on guitar, piano and ukulele, Roy on drums, and Jörg Holdinghausen from German band Tele on bass. The songs appear on her solo album Ein leichtes Schwert, which was released in February 2014 and charted at No. 7 in Germany.Myrrhe, Anke. "Judith Holofernes macht's jetzt solo" (in German). Der Tagesspiegel. 19 October 2013."Judith Holofernes - Ein leichtes Schwert - Album" (in German). Offizielle Deutsche Charts. GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 3 October 2015. Holofernes' newest album, Ich bin das Chaos, was released in March 2017. For the album, Holofernes collaborated with the Faroese singer-songwriter Teitur Lassen and her husband Pola Roy who produced the album. In 2019, Holofernes joined the crowdfunding platform Patreon. She received support by the American artist Amanda Palmer who has been using crowdfunding to finance her work since 2012. On the platform, Holofernes, amongst other things, shares essays and episodes of her podcast Salon Holofernes in which she talks to various artists. Holofernes' memoir, Die Träume anderer Leute, was published in September 2022. In the book, Holofernes reflects on her experiences with the music industry, focussing primarily on her time as a solo artist since the hiatus of Wir sind Helden. Her general conclusion is that, while her solo career was enjoyable and to an extent successful, it has been "overshadowed into" a failure by her Wir Sind Helden era. This is also reflected in the fact that she mostly lives off the copyright of her old songs.
Collaborations Holofernes' voice appears on the song "X" from the album Supporters' Album #1 (2003) by German band Einstürzende Neubauten.Leckert, Daniel. "Einstürzende Neubauten - Strategien Gegen Architektur IV: 2002-2010" (in German). CDstarts.de. Retrieved 3 October 2015. She also sang background vocals for two songs by Tele on the band's album Wovon sollen wir leben (2004).Peters, Harald. "Weichgespült und glattgebügelt" (in German). Die Welt. 7 November 2004. Further vocal contributions by Holofernes can be heard on the song "Wir rühren uns nicht vom Fleck" (2004) by German band Die SterneHenze, Rainer. "Keine Gewalt ist auch keine Lösung." (in German). laut.de. 24 May 2004. and "Armer Vater" (2006) by German band Olli Schulz und der Hund Marie."Olli Schulz Und Der Hund Marie - Timm Thaler und der Pinguin" (in German). Westzeit. 3 November 2006. Together with Swedish singer Moneybrother, she recorded the song "Magic Moments", which appears on his album Mount Pleasure (2007).Hohl, Henrik John. "Pop, der keiner ist" (in German). Focus Online. 6 September 2007. She has also collaborated with German band Die Höchste Eisenbahn, recording and performing the song "Vergangenheit" (2012),"Höchste Eisenbahn als EP" (in German). Official Judith Holofernes website. 12 September 2012. and with German singer Maxim, co-writing and recording the song "Meine Soldaten" (2013)."Maxim, seine Soldaten und ich" (in German). Official Judith Holofernes website. 7 April 2013.
Artistry
Stage name Holofernes' stage name alludes to the Old Testament account of the beheading of Holofernes by Judith given in the Book of Judith. As a young teenager, Holofernes frequently heard the story of Judith and Holofernes from her uncles and aunts. She later decided in her late teens to use the two names to create her stage name.Kalitschke, Martin. "Judith Holofernes: Zwischen Bühne und Babybett" (in German). Westfälische Nachrichten. 15 March 2011.
Lyrics Holofernes was the lead singer and guitarist of Wir sind Helden,Kuhn, Andi. "Begrenzte Unmöglichkeiten" (in German). neue musikzeitung. December 2003. and also the writer of the lyrics for the band's songs.Finke, Günter. "Selbstbewußte Heldin aus Kalkül" (in German). Die Welt. 27 November 2005. She conveys her political opinions in many of her lyrics. For example, she criticizes consumerism in the song "Guten Tag",Grether, Kerstin. "An dem Produkt ist was kaputt" (in German). taz.de. 20 June 2003. a performance-oriented society in "Müssen nur wollen", the music industry in "Zuhälter",Friedrich, Stefan. "Von Nervosität keine Spur. Warum auch?" (in German). laut.de. 4 April 2005. and a dog-eat-dog society in "Konkurrenz".Käfer, Sara. "Kritisch und sehr unterhaltsam: Helden in Perfektion." (in German). laut.de. 25 May 2007. However, she has stated that politics are only one aspect of Wir sind Helden and that she is primarily a songwriter, writing love songs and songs of a whimsical nature with the same commitment as political songs.Hagel, André. "Müdigkeit am Vorhandenen - Interview mit Judith Holofernes, Frontfrau von Wir sind Helden" (in German). www.andre-hagel.de. 9 March 2004. She is known for her playful use of words in the German language and has been described as a wordsmith in the tradition of German writers Robert Gernhardt and Christian Morgenstern.Albers, Markus. "Pop ist ein Mädchen aus Deutschland" (in German). Die Welt. 14 March 2004. Songwriters that have had a major influence on Holofernes include Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello and Rio Reiser."Guten Tag! - Wir sind Helden (SynthiePunkPop)" (in German). AMBOSS-Mag. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
Other activities Holofernes maintains her own blog, where she has posted her opinions on topical issues, anecdotes from Kreuzberg (the area of Berlin where she lives), and Tiergedichte (animal poems). A collection of her Tiergedichte was published in October 2015 in her first sole-authored book, titled Du bellst vor dem falschen Baum."Judith Holofernes" (in German). beck to music. Retrieved 11 October 2015. Her previous book was Wir sind Helden – Informationen zu Touren und anderen Einzelteilen (2008), a band autobiography written with the other members of Wir sind Helden.""Wir sind Helden" auf Lesetour" (in German). Der Tagesspiegel. 27 February 2008.
In July 2011, Holofernes presented Summer of Girls, a season of programmes on French-German television channel arte concerning women in the pop music industry.Kormbaki, Marina. "Beim "Summer of Girls" würdigt arte große Künstlerinnen" (in German). Hannoversche Allgemeine. 4 July 2011.
Public image
Media appearances Following the breakthrough of Wir sind Helden in 2002, the band received much attention from the media, including the quality newspapers, owing in part to Holofernes' sociocritical lyrics in songs such as "Guten Tag" and "Müssen nur wollen".Thomann, Jörg. "Hymnen der Verweigerung" (in German). Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. 17 July 2003. Holofernes subsequently became a much sought after personality for interviewsSiehr, Natalie. "Judith Holofernes - Ein leichtes Schwert" (in German). AVIVA-Berlin. 3 March 2014. and has appeared on German talk shows such as Die Harald Schmidt Show.Schachinger, Christian. "Helden wie ihr" (in German). derStandard.at. 27 February 2003. In 2010, she made an appearance on political talk show Maybrit Illner, participating in a discussion titled "Bürgeraufstand 2010 – regiert die Politik am Volk vorbei?" ("Civil uprising 2010 – are the people being ignored by politics?")."Judith Holofernes bei Maybrit Illner" (in German). B.Z. 16 December 2010.
Activism