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Thao partner Mirah carves out her own identity in the music world

FLOWER CHILD | Even after years in the industry, Mirah still calls her own music shots.

THAO AND MIRAH
With Led to Sea. The Loft,
1135 S. Lamar St.
June 13 at 7:30 p.m. $12–$14.
TheLoftDallas.com.

After 13 years in the music business, Mirah might have figured things needed to change. The singer is no stranger to that. Whether she was in a band (The Drivers) or collaborating with one (Black Cat Orchestra), playing well with others has been one of her strong suits. And in town this week, she’s teaming up with fellow indie musician Thao Nguyen.

"We were introduced through a mutual friend but we had a hard time connecting due to schedules," she says. "We have so much fun playing together and have a strong mutual admiration for each other."

Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn and Thao have certain similarities in musical tone — the fusion of styles is easy to imagine. But if Mirah finds any disparity in the result, it comes from the audience.

"We have this joke going how our two fan bases interact with each other," she chuckles. "Thao has a different demographic than mine. They are a bit more energetic where mine are laid back. So sometimes, it’s hard for me to read an audience."

Although openly lesbian, Mirah says her orientation has no specific influence on her songwriting. She takes a blind approach to arriving to her music. Without shying away from her sexuality, she balances her music with personal life along with the goal of reaching as many ears as possible.

"It has no bearing," she says. "It’s totally not any purpose of what I’m trying to do. I don’t only need to speak to people like me. I write about my experiences so it just has to be true about me. I like making music for people but I don’t really care if they like it. That’s not to say I wouldn’t want everyone to hear it!"

Mirah is an artist who lets the work happen intuitively and without an overly detailed approach to a new album or song even. The lesbian aspect may not figure in lyrically, but it doesn’t hold her back from providing something important to LGBT music in general — she’s both gay and an artist and somehow neither are constricting labels.

Mirah’s do-it-yourself sensibilities have kept her out of the trappings of being boxed in as a lesbian artist only playing the coffeehouse circuit. She doesn’t note if her fan base has a huge lesbian contingent, but her fans do appreciate her for being simply a musician.

"We were just talking about the traps people get in," she says. "For me, however I identify, I actually feel me working on small indie labels; booking my own shows is the track I’ve been on. I never got out of that and I’m still doing it in a similar way. But really, I don’t want to be stuck in any track."

Just don’t let her seriousness fool you. Of all things, she laughs about her insecurities even being in the music business for over a decade. Must be an artist thing.

"Yes, I’m insecure!" she says with an exclamation point. "The feeling of ‘unsureness’ is like this concept of time. Instead of being linear and progressing, it’s more of a flurry. I kinda feel like that."

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition June 11, 2010.тиц сайта узнать