BIOGRAPHY
Born by the Mediterranean Sea (Italy) and raised between the Alps (Switzerland), Iris moved to Southern California 9 years ago, developed her songwriting craft and created soulful songs.
She is a finalist of The Voice, appeared on many albums, performed at the Belly Up (CA), the Bitter End (NYC), the Montreux Festival, at the EXPO Milano, and sang the National Anthem at the San Diegan Petco Park.
Iris is the second half of the new electro-pop project called kardada, in collaboration with the producer kandrax. They released the first album in September 2022 and a remix album in December, with lyrics in Italian.
Three recent soul-pop singles are available on all music platforms, together with the newest singles Higher, Rebel Soul, Direction Soleil, and On&On.
Iris Moné is a Swiss-Italian artist with an international flair. Hailed as one of Switzerland’s most beautiful voices, in 2008 the national press crowned her “Queen of the Blues To Bop Festival”, in Lugano. In 2013 she was a finalist of the first edition of “The Voice of Switzerland”. She is featured on over 12 albums as a lead or back up singer, and performed in Europe, in the USA and in Africa, on TV Shows like "4x4 Vive La Suisse" and at the Swiss Embassy in Washington DC.
She was a vocal coach at the Swiss TV show "Showtime" and juror of the international finals of the "Eurovision Song Contest".
In 2016 and 2017 she sang the US National Anthem for the Padres in San Diego at Petco Park Baseball Stadium, this was broadcast live on TV. In 2019 she had a tour in Costa Rica, Panama and El Salvador.
Iris currently lives in San Diego where she works as a songwriter and performer.
Her three singles Soul Train, Wild Cat and Soul Sister were released in 2019.
MORE DETAILS
Iris Moné was born in the multicultural city Triest (Italy), in a region where a Slovenian speaking community has resided for centuries. She learned to read musical notes before letters and words. While in kindergarten, she started singing in the kids choir and playing piano.
At age 7, her father's job prompted the family to move to the south of Switzerland. Iris studied and played the recorder first and flute later.
By the time she was 16 she started a professional singing career, while still attending high school.
She started her first band, "Wanted Witches" with some friends, and performed on TV shows and at regional festivals, as well as learning to play percussion. At the same time she started to take voice lessons and also studied classical singing later on.
By the time she was 19, she moved to Zürich to attend the renowned ETH University (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) and received a "Sport Sciences" degree. She used the acquired knowledge for a few years, before switching completely to music and getting a professional music degree from Milan in 2002.
Iris has collaborated with several musicians, songwriters and bands, always gaining more experience in recording studios and stages, touring mostly in Switzerland, but also Italy, Germany, Africa and the United States. She had been part of the swiss bands "Wave Flow", "Little Venus" and "Swiss Miss".
Today, Iris appears in 7 CD's as lead vocalist and many more CD’s as guest, side musician and backing singer. In 2011 she released her first solo project CD "Rinasco" with all songs that she wrote in the Italian language. The two singles "Golosa" and "Prima la mia felicità" have had a great airplay in the Swiss-Italian radio stations.
In 2013 she applied to the famous TV contest "The Voice", first edition in Switzerland, and after several selections she conquered the Finale and finished third, getting national recognition and performing all over the nation (including the Montreux Jazz Festival) and also Germany.
Besides singing, Iris has had a long career as teacher and in several schools. She was a vocal coach at the Swiss TV show "Showtime" during all four seasons it was broadcast.
She's also a requested juror for music and vocal contests, like the Eurovision Song Contest (regional, national and international selection).
In 2015 she moved to San Diego, California. In the first years there, she deepened her songwriting knowledge and skills and collaborated and co-wrote with artists between San Diego and Los Angeles, including the former Motown top Hollywood songwriter Alan Roy Scott. Then, she moved on to the arrangement and production phase, and collaborated with a Grammy winning producer among others.
She has sung the US National Anthem on two different occasions at Petco Park Stadium in San Diego before a baseball game, and she performs regularly in the region with several groups and her own project and band.
In the last years, beside attending "The Songwriting School of Los Angeles" and following the "Voice Building Method", she followed several personal development courses and built an actual working team.
In 2019 she released 3 songs, all influenced by the SOUL music of the 60/70 yet arranged with modern sounds. In these songs, you will find emotions we all have experienced with our best friends, or with impossible lovers. The first single is a real tribute to the show "Soul Train" and its cultural importance.