“At this point I am just living my life and taking up space. That innerG is what is keeping my creativity going. ”
It all started when…
SOULDEGA: What inspired you to start singing? Can you tell us a bit about your beginnings/background?
MIRANDA: I grew up listening to all the greats, Marvin, Stevie, Sade, Luther, Debarge, Anita...and going to my Dad's underground Hip-Hop club, Club UNITY, where I was exposed to Hip Hop Gods, WuTang, Xzibit, NAS, Ras Kass, etc. That really is what sparked the flame. My Mom singing to the top of her lungs, my Dad singing the melodies with his own words, lol. Music was a good time. It brought us all together. When I moved in with my grandparents in GA., my cousin Tiffanee and I had a singing group with our friends who lived down the street. It was us, Iesha, her little sister Carita, who was our backup dancer, and Heavenly Swan. Crazy, I remember all their names! Only Heavenly and I could really sing though. We used to practice but it was a hobby, really. Then my cousin and I started to record the radio so we could playback and pause the songs to write down all the lyrics. That's how we learned pretty much every TLC, Aaliyah, Xscape, Tamia, you name it, we knew the song! My cousin lost the book....(heart break emoji) Throughout school I was in chorus and in high school, I was in the girls trio all four years where we competed locally with other schools. I learned a lot. I had another friend, Trillis, whose family was always super supportive of us really pursuing our creative talents. They were always making us sing! I was always comfortable in a group until I reached and got out of college.
College is where I really gained my voice by becoming a spoken word poet. Before then I wrote poetry, which is how I started writing songs, but I had never performed poetry. The passion, the command, the way you could get lost, the way you could be found. I was unstoppable. I started recording with some of the homies who lived in my building, they called it 'The Barshop Mixtapes.' One of them is actually a pretty prominent Barber now, go figure, Seth the Barber. Ya'll holler at him if you in the A! After becoming the 1st Woman President of spoken word performance poetry group, W.O.R.D, it was up from there. I honed my leadership skills, I had my poets performing on top of chairs in the cafe, we had our largest number of attendees to date and that is what really showed me that I could give a good performance but that people also connected with the message. It's also how GLAMSOUL was born.
After I left school in Savannah and moved to Atlanta, I started a songwriting team with my 3 best friends, Samone, Deylan, and Clay, and our new friend, Crystal(lah), 5 Star! Summer 2007 really changed my life. I met a gang of people! Producers, Artists, Promoters, and all the music heads. I worked out of Red Zone studios for a while with production team, Battery 5, where I had the opportunity to cut demos for Jazzy Pha, and eventually Chris 'Deep' Henderson, and Miykal Snoddy. About a year or so later I started performing for a showcase called 'Keep It Classic,' at The Bench, a new Indie performance venue. That was my first real show. I had one of our friends from high school, Britney style us, and we shut it completely down. I had only one song, 'Lovesick,' and from that moment on I performed at The Bench weekly. That's pretty much how it all began.
SOULDEGA: What inspires your music and what keeps you in a creative flow?
MIRANDA: At this point I am just living my life and taking up space. That innerG is what is keeping my creativity going. Becoming more of who I am and inspiring a little human to do the same is as motivational as it gets. I want to leave something good in this world.
SOULDEGA: What made you gravitate towards house music?
MIRANDA: House Music chose me really. I was working with producer Ryan Bowser weekly, writing and recording tons of songs, really investing in my process and formula for writing and recording, when he introduced me to Don King, a songwriter who he had done some work with. Don thought my voice would be perfect for a song he wrote but wanted me to write the bridge and sing the song. That song was 'Kissing You,' which started out as a down tempo, R&B song. At the time I didn't have a computer so one of my co-workers, turned biggest supporter and greatest friend, Shani Harris, let me put all my recordings on hers so she could send them to people if I needed. Talk about a friend, cause you ain't putting nothing on my computer, lmao. One day Shani came to work singing 'Kissing You,' I can still hear her voice in my head, 'Miranda, the world needs to hear this song, when I kiss you, you will understand!' It was the moment House chose me. Shani loved House and was also a DJ, she asked if she could send the song to her friend Serge Negri in New York so he could do a remix. After I squared it away with the guys, we sent the vocals and the journey began. Serge at the time was in the studio with Ian Friday when he heard the song and also wanted to remix the tune. It was my first single and what established my House music career. I didn't even realize the song had gotten so big and charted so much because I wasn't on the House music scene. That was 2011. I've been performing at House music parties and releasing music on various labels worldwide since. It really is beyond my imagination that so many people know my tunes. Truly thankful that I could make a name for myself.
SOULDEGA: Can you list some of your most memorable moments/experiences in your musical career thus far?
MIRANDA: Singing background for Teedra Moses for Essence Festival, my first paid gig in NYC, the time I did a tri-state tour w/ Ian Friday, opening for Renee Neufville from Zhane for a water benefit for Haiti. Living in Beirut, Lebanon for 7 months where I performed covers at a club called Al Mandaloun was an experience that I will never forget and still have dreams about. I played Boston once where a couple got engaged during my performance of 'Kissing You,' that was a tearjerker for sure! I was interviewed once on the Kevin Hedge & Louie Vega show, I think that was the same time I did my tri-state tour. But really, all my gigs are memorable in their own way. It's the people that make this whole experience magical.
SOULDEGA: Do you have a support group/trusted community that has helped you get through any creative ruts or hurdles? If so, can you name them?
MIRANDA: Wow! So many to name! Let's see, 5 Star (Samone, Deylan, Clay) DJ's Tabone, Salah, Steph The Barber, Robert Baldwin, Sharni Harris, Serge, West, Jah Med....My creative and Mommy collective here in NYC, Ashleigh, Dana, Thysha....Shani & Dawn in Atlanta, Donai...my Dad. Karlene and Spirits in Motion have been super supportive and kind, really treating me like family, getting me together and all, lol. Chilly-O, who I can always depend on. Freiberd, and my daughter too, even though she's five, she's so creative and free. If I missed anyone I love you and appreciate you as well!
SOULDEGA: Can you tell us about the creation of your latest released song “Sugary”? What’s the inspiration for this track? How did the video concept come into play?
MIRANDA: When I heard the music Nadeeah had produced I knew that it would be a challenge. It was something I had never done before creatively. She had given me the title so that was a great lead on how to approach the song and which direction to go in. The music made me think of The Wiz, one of my favorite movies for obvious reasons. I often imagine how the dancers would move when I am writing as well. I listen to all the instruments and then I dress the song with the lyrics. I knew I wanted the lyrics to be breathy and have space. I knew every line had to make an impact, I wanted it to be sensual and sassy at the same time. I love the results, especially when we added Montana's vocal part. The video concept was also inspired by The Wiz. We wanted to make it look like sugar, very colorful, and tell a story. Ashleigh and her team really brought it all together. We tasked the Art Bar with creating the sets, we all pulled props from our own homes, I traveled around the world (not literally) for fabrics and was very hands on with creating the props. Some of the ideas came together on set as well. We really flowed and worked well together. It took a few shoots and lots of organization but I had the best team of people to work with.
SOULDEGA: Where do you see yourself creatively 5 years from now?
MIRANDA: *** Living my best life*** definitely not going back and forth wit no ni**as! Tuh. No producers, labels, etc. Getting all that is mine and owed to me, living carefree, and happy! Continuing to put more positivity in the world, having my act on and off stage cleaned all the way up and really being more comfortable with taking up space on this life journey.
'Life is no dress rehearsal!'
Realest advice I've ever gotten.
SOULDEGA: What is your favorite song out right now?
MIRANDA: Look. Mine. Lol, Sugary and Don't Look Away! Nah, I do love everything about Jazmine Sullivan. Her content is so real and raw, I really admire her transparency. Also, India Shawn's new album 'Before We Go Deeper,' is EVERYTHING! Put that on and let it ride.
