Interview : Jack Chats With Misty Miller
After being discovered at Bestival playing a ukulele that wasnít her own, 16-year-old Misty Miller has built up a growing reputation based on her hauntingly beautiful voice and charming emotional lyricism. Hailing from the leafy and beautiful streets of Wimbledon, Misty is a beguiling combination of confidence and sweet naivety all wrapped up in an undeniable talent.
words : James Lynch | images : Tom Bunning
The favourite instrument of WWII variety shows is not something you would necessarily consider an aspiring musician of just 16 to play but it is with the ukulele that Misty Miller is most readily associated. ‘It was a gift from my Dad, we were in Denmark Street and we were just walking past a guitar shop, there was a pink, flying-V ukulele in the window and he really wanted to get it for me. Three months later I just started playing it.’
Somewhat unsurprisingly Misty comes from a rich musical family background, with her father and two brothers being musicians. She has been writing songs from the age of eight and it was her family who first introduced the very young Misty Miller to the possibilities of creating her own music. As she recalls, ‘I started writing songs with my brothers, I didnít play an instrument so I just sang and wrote melodies and lyrics but that was when I started writing and stopped just singing other peoples songs.’
It wasn’t just song writing that her brothers helped her discover either but also performance. At the age of only 10, Misty would get up on stage at her brothers university when he played gigs and sing with him, something that they still try to do to this day.
It was, however, the unlikely ukulele that really made Misty Miller into the artist that can be found on her current EP and album, ‘As soon as I picked up the ukulele, it was like my voice changed, because I used to sing really loudly, I used to like show singing. The ukulele kind of softens the voice I guess.’ As Misty pushes a stray piece of golden hair behind her ear, it’s hard to imagine such a sweet and unassuming girl ever belting out show tunes at the top of her voice but her self-confidence shows itself when she talks about her rather uneasy interpretation of what people expect from her.
‘There’s this big thing of a girl playing the ukulele in a little dress and I’m really trying to steer away from that because that’s what a lot of people have been picking up from me when they hear my music. I guess when I’m on stage I try and be a bit rougher with the way I dress because the sound is so girly and fluffy.’
Fashion may be something of an obsession for most teenage girls but despite having recorded a Burberry Acoustic session and having interviews and coverage in both Italian Vogue and AnOther Magazine, Misty is wary of how this may come across. She displays an unerring sense of self as she diplomatically explains that she is definitely not a singer-slash-model.
‘I always wanted to make sure that we kept my music and fashion separate. I didn’t want any confusion with me being a model or anything.’ In fact, the only thing Misty admits to having any kind of fashion-based obsession with are her perfectly manicured and amazingly painted nails, which today, I am informed, are a ‘black shatter’ effect. ‘I do my nails a lot, I really take pride in my nails and I’ll spend a lot of money on a nail polish over anything else.’ Even when I ask her to choose her favourite outfit Misty goes for a reliable pair of second hand baggy jeans, previously owned by her sister-in-law and an orange shirt which apparently makes her feel like sheís from Texas and can make old-fashioned country music.
READ THE REST OF THIS MISTY MILLER INTERVIEW HERE
