When British indie pop princess Imogen Heap isn't recording, writing or performing, she's thinking about bike riding, Wikipedia and Salt Lake's own Red Iguana.
    You might not know her name, though it's likely you know her voice. Heap's beguiling pipes gave soul to the soundtrack of Zach Braff's "The Last Kiss" and have been featured on Fox's teen soap opera "The O.C.," known for keeping tabs on the hip music scene. Thursday morning, she was nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy.
    And tonight, she'll share those pipes with fans at Salt Lake City's In The Venue.
    Since her solo debut in 1998, "I Megaphone" (an anagram of her name), Heap has been compared to Kate Bush and Annie Lennox, but Heap buyers on Amazon.com also pick up tracks ranging from Emiliana Torrini to Sufjan Stevens and Death Cab for Cutie.
    The TV and movie sound clips have brought the songster new fans and recent, considerable fame, which she rides just like her silver cruiser bike: It gets her where she wants to go, but doesn't dominate her character. It is, however, keeping her busy.
    "I literally haven't had a day off in a very long time. It's funny, though - the first thing I would do if I had the time is write a song," she said in an interview from her tour bus in Norfolk, N.J.
    Tonight's show won't be Heap's first trip to Utah. A particular Salt Lake eatery left a spicy stamp on her memory: The Red Iguana. It's such a good place!" she says. "Every time I'm in Salt Lake, I stop there. We get cabs and haul our luggage and everything; the whole crew."
    Heap also manages to find time to indulge a favorite habit - surfing Wikipedia - though she's never been tempted to edit her own information. "It's a great source for everything," she says. She also likes to ride her bike along the South Bank in London, which she calls home when she isn't touring.
    The Internet nerd/cyclist combo seems an appropriate fit for Heap, who is part DJ, part vocalist and part producer, creating a sound that strings together classical, pop and electronica.
    Heap's music took a sharp turn with the release of 2005's "Speak for Yourself," which is loaded with catchy tunes and fun, sing-along lyrics like "Why'd you have to be so cute? It's impossible to ignore you" (from "Goodnight and Go") but also has a darker, emotional underbelly: "Oily marks appear on walls where pleasure moments hung before the takeover, the sweeping insensitivity of this still life" (from "Hide and Seek").
    "It's about learning to have fun again with music," she says. "It's the balance of having very uplifting music with very dark music. It's very breaking when you can get those two together."
    To be sure, she's had time to figure it out. Heap had what she calls a "musical upbringing, playing in orchestras" and says she plays the piano well, along with a handful of other instruments, though she wouldn't "dare play them live."
    Heap isn't your average live act. She's a self-taught music engineer who learned sampling and sequencing on an Atari computer. "I can make things sound better or more complete with a computer," she says. "There are drums, cello, clarinet on the record, but anything, even discarded cardboard sheets, can become an instrument."
    The most difficult part of a live show for Heap is "not being able to dance it out," she says. "I have to be by my gears, though I'm trying to make myself as mobile as possible by using wireless. . . . It's important to connect with the audience."
    Hopefully, Heap will get that Red Iguana treat. There's nothing like a good enchilada to make you feel like dancing.
   
   Heap o' fun
    * IMOGEN HEAP plays tonight at 6 at In The Venue, 579 W. 200 South, Salt Lake City. The show is sold out.