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British musician MIRI on her brand of soulful street pop and starring in “She’s in London”

UK based singer/songwriter/actor MIRI might not be a gal-on-gal household name quite yet but she’ll soon be filling up our earbuds and MacBook screens with her EP, Sound Vibrations, and starring in the lesbian-themed Tello series She’s in London. Her sound is her take on a sort of folky street pop, tinged with a very particular soulful quality that the Brits seem to have mastered.

Currently in the middle of a PledgeMusic campaign to finish her EP MIRI took time to answer a few of our burning questions about her music and lesbian life in London.

AfterEllen.com: How’d you find yourself in music?

MIRI: A while back when I left school, I made a short film with my songs in it. I received interest from an A&R guy and began my career in music. I learned music production, worked as a project tutor for a music and media charity and travelled to South Africa with the charity organization to work on a project. While in London I helped run live music events promoting UK hip hop and soul artists. I did street promotion for record labels, signed to management, indie labels, received interest from major labels, got rejected a bit, and worked quite a few different jobs over the years to fund my music before becoming a full time music artist and co promoter of monthly live music night, Blue Monday.

AE: How would you describe your sound?

MIRI: Soulful indie pop.

AE: Can you tell us a bit about your forthcoming EP Sound Vibrations and what the music means to you?

MIRI: The concept of the EP is about raising vibrations through music. Music is such a powerful outlet and means everything to me. The EP will have four tracks which I hope will connect and inspire people. If I can raise enough money through crowdfunding I’d love to record a fifth.

AE: How are you finding the experience of crowdsourcing with PledgeMusic?

MIRI: It’s been fun. I was a little resistant at first because I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about asking people for pledges. Now I’m getting to grips with it more. I love that I’m able to release exclusive downloads and video messages to everyone who’s made a pledge and showed love to the campaign. I have so many songs I’ve written over the years I’m just grateful for the opportunity to raise the funds to record some of them to unleash into the world!

AE: What are your thoughts on streaming platforms and sharing your music?

MIRI: As an indie artist it’s good to have sites like SoundCloud that help people find and discover your music. It’s also a great showreel. I find there’s still a lot of music lovers out there who are more than happy to pay for music even though they get to hear it for free, too.

AE: How have you found being an out musician?

MIRI: Authenticity is really important to me, in everything I do. The beautiful thing about music is that it’s universal. It’s wonderful to be able to reach out to so many people through doing what you love.

AE: From your perspective what is the landscape like for queer women in the industry?

MIRI: I find being a woman in music can have its challenges. Judgements can be made as I guess they can in lots of different scenarios. If I’m booked for a gig and turn up with male musicians to accompany me, the sound engineer will usually go to the guy to ask what’s needed even though I’m standing right there and have booked and arranged the gig. I’m more than capable of providing my technical requirements but that can sometimes go unseen.

AE: What’s the lesbian scene like in the UK?

MIRI: One of the main LBQ areas in London is Soho and its becoming very gentrified. A lot of LGBTQ spots and music venues have been closed down and it’s been heart wrenching to see. … She’s in London deals with the gentrification of Soho. We don’t want to see the area lose its heart and identity by being replaced with generic buildings and shops. I’ve always known Soho to be a real hub of creativity and I’d like to see it stay that way.

AE: Since it’s the season what’s your favorite holiday song?

MIRI: It’s got to be Mariah Carey “All I Want For Christmas” or Coldplay‘s “Christmas Lights” if I’m in a slightly quieter mood.

AE: What’s pumping you up right now?

MIRI: Films and songwriting. I’ve been working on two new songs-being creative and expressing myself through music gets me well pumped! It’s also very cathartic. I can’t wait to see the new Star Wars film too. Return Of The Jedi was the first film I ever saw in the cinema and I loved it. Especially the Ewoks. I like to embrace my inner geek now and again. I also loved the movie Carol. I found it beautiful and inspiring.

AE: What’s something we wouldn’t be able to find out about you through a deep internet lurk?

MIRI: How much I love rice. I’m like Bubba from Forrest Gump, except the rice version. I love all different styles of rice but one of my favorites is Jollof rice.

For more on MIRI and to support her EP, check out her PledgeMusic site.

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