And, at times, her candour when answering a question can be surprising.
About the tour: “Its always different, depends on the city, the stage, the bands we are playing with, the audience. If it’s a good night, I think, ‘Okay, let’s do this!’, if it’s a bad night, you fake it.”
About the critics: “Like my father says, opinions are like assholes, everyone has one and they usually stink.”
She penned her first song at 14 — a friend told her about Ani DiFranco and one night, after sneaking DiFranco’s Dilate up to her room, Miranda’s world was changed as she read along with the lyrics with her headphones tightly secured. She wrote her first song the next day. Although her popularity has exploded since then, as evident from her debut, Miranda has been able to retain the essence of the person who walked away from a deal with BMG when only 17.
Because her vision didn’t match the label’s — something she no longer has to contend with at XL Recordings — Miranda turned down an opportunity to have her music distributed globally, and went back to “banging the sidewalks”, eventually hooking up with the eventual members of The Jealous Girlfriends and arriving at a point in her career that was almost inevitable.
It’s almost as if the dichotomies within Miranda’s personal life — accepting her sexual orientation within a religious household; spurring on fate by moving to New York at 16 only to pull on the reins a year later by passing on BMG; the dreaming artist, the pragmatic realist — have been the fuel for her professional career.
The spotlight on Miranda won’t linger too long, though. Soon it will have chosen a new up-and-coming artist to focus its attention on, but that doesn’t bother Miranda.
“I sort of forgot a while ago about those childish dreams of fame. I never did it for that. I do it because I have to, so all of this, while flattering, is just a part of the bigger picture, but I can really see how someone could lose themselves in the compliments.
“Ego is a nasty little devil that will creep in when you aren’t paying attention.”
…………………………………………………………………..
Stylist – Sarah Parlow, Next (NY)
Photographer’s assistant: Semi Song
Hair- Alex Tome
Makeup – Vincent Oquendo, Next (NY)
…………………………………………………………………..
