Winona Oak
Winona Oak is the stage name of Johanna Ekmark, a Swedish singer-songwriter. Oak grew up as a trained horse acrobat during her childhood which was spent more with animals than people.
She was born into a musical family that encouraged her talent to flourish, her grandmother performed in the Swedish Royal Opera, and passed that legacy onto Winona, who began playing violin at 5 years old and piano at 9 years, in addition to singing throughout her youth.
After moving to Stockholm to pursue her passion for music from her hometown Sollerƶn, she was invited to attend Neon Gold Records' writing retreat in the Nicaraguan jungle in 2017, there she met the Australian electronic producer What So Not. With him, she co-wrote his next two singles āBetterā and āStuck In Orbitā, later in 2018, Winona was the featured artist on his 2018 single āBeautifulā.
Winona was signed in 2017 as an artist to Neon Gold/Atlantic Records, she closed 2018 with her biggest writing credit and feature to date on The Chainsmokersā hit song āHopeā.
Her first single, āHe Donāt Love Meā, was released on Neon Gold/Atlantic Records in late April, the song was be accompanied by visual by director, Andreas Ohman filmed throughout their native Stockholm.
On the theme of her debut single, Winona explained,
āWeāre all capable of falling for people who donāt value us, grasping for a leaving hand. But we must understand that weāre just as capable of realizing that our worth does not lay in those heavy hands.ā
Just a couple of months later, she released her second single, āBreak My Broken Heartā.
Prior to her official debut, a cover of āDonāt Save Meā a song by Neon Gold Record signees, HAIM, was released and it can be found featured on the labelās 10 year anniversary compilation: NGX: Ten Years of Neon Gold.
Winonaās debut EP is set to be released in October 2019 along with a new single, āLet Me Knowā co-written by american singer-songwriter Ryn Weaver.