Holly Miranda is set for two gigs at The Mercury Lounge

by | Aug 26, 2015 | Coming Up, Culture, Music

holly miranda1

Holly Miranda may have earned her first record deal at the age of 17, but she’s built a great career slowly and steadily. After her ill-fated major label spell as a teenager, she formed The Jealous Girlfriends, who had songs featured on Grey’s Anatomy and The L Word and toured beside Delta Spirit and Nada Surf. In 2008, Holly went solo and collaborated with TV On The Radio’s Dave Sitek (who also went on to do work for Jane’s Addiction) for The Magician’s Private Library, which XL Recordings released in 2010.

In support of The Magician’s Private Library, Holly hit the road extensively, including plenty of large-scale dates alongside Tegan & Sara, the xx, and Florence & The Machine. She released a handful of tracks through Dave Sitek’s Federal Prism label in 2013. Finally, a second full-length album came out earlier this year, self-titled and released through Dangerbird Records. Holly wound up playing the majority of the instruments on her most recent album, which she made in Brooklyn but largely wrote out in Joshua Tree.

Holly, who will be playing at The Mercury Lounge on September 17th and 18th, kindly answered some questions for me about what’s ahead for her.

For someone who hasn’t seen you live before, what should they expect from one of your Mercury Lounge shows?

Holly Miranda: Someone recently said to me, “you play shows for other people” – and while that’s true of course, I also play for myself. It’s my therapy, it’s my religion. My favorite shows are the one that I don’t always remember all of them, I can kind of black out and leave my body while I’m playing. The ones where you feel like a conduit. It’s a spiritual experience with the intent to get fully free. That’s what you can expect at the Mercury Lounge shows. I hope.

You’ve been the opener for a lot of major artists like Florence & The Machine, Tegan & Sara, and the xx. Do you enjoy being the opening act and having to prove yourself? Or are you more interested in intimate shows like a Mercury Lounge gig?

H: I enjoy it all really. It depends on that band you are opening for, you can tell a lot about a band from how their audience behaves. My favorite band to tour with was Nada Surf, their songs are so full of love and I could see that love clearly reflected on their audiences faces every night. But if we are talking venues, I would take a Zebulon over a Barclays [Center] any day of the week. I’ll be there waiting to give you a sweaty huge hug at the merch table.

How would you describe your self-titled album to folks who haven’t yet heard it?

H: It’s a little bit of everything that’s influenced me throughout the years. The old country songs my Mema used to play me at her house in Tennessee, the Motown I feel in love with as a kid growing up in Detroit. Nina Simone, Tool, Marvin Gaye, Edith Piaf and Jeff Buckley. There are elements of their influence weaved throughout this album. However, it’s also the first thing I’ve done that feels wholly me. Due in part to the fact that I co-produced the record with my friend/engineer Florent Barbier.

You played most of the instruments on the album yourself in Brooklyn, yet opted to write the album in Joshua Tree. Do you usually do most of your writing out of town?

H: I write most when I’m on the road, on a plane or a train. When I’m “home” – wherever that might be this month — I want to live my life and see my friends. Of course, I’m always writing but I find I do the bulk of it when I’m traveling.

As the story goes, you moved to New York as a teenager to pursue music. Where in town did you originally live?

H: The first year I lived with my sister in Weehawken, NJ! Then she moved to L.A. and I proceeded to live in every neighborhood of Brooklyn over the next 13 years.

Where was your first gig in New York? How did you get around gigging in a city where so many of the venues are 21+?

H: My first gig was at The Sidewalk Cafe, I went to the Monday night open mic night that Lach used to host and he offered me a show. I didn’t actually live here yet, I was only 15 and visiting my sister for a month in the summer. Also, I’d only written the two songs I played that night. I went back to Detroit knowing exactly what I had to do. Write more songs and get a fake ID! I returned the following summer and never left.

When you have downtime in New York, do you have a favorite neighborhood?

H: I’ve been staying in the East Village lately, I love it there. I’m also very fond of Fort Greene!

Might we ever see another release from The Jealous Girlfriends?

H: I cannot predict the future!! Hard as I may try.

Finally, Holly, any last words for the kids?

H: Stay in school!! Only write if you can’t live without it. Read Letters To A Young Poet by Rilke. Call your parents!

 

-by Darren Paltrowitz

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