Last week we first heard Missy’s new single Hate Me, a powerful and beguiling track concerned with love – and not the warm and fuzzy kind.
As we learned from chatting to the Dunedin artist, she’s spent years helping not only herself, but others, realise their feelings through music. To celebrate the new single and find out a little more about Missy herself, we took five.
Art is catharsis for Missy, a Dunedin singer/songwriter who grapples with co-dependent relationships on her latest single Hate Me.
HAPPY: Hey there, how are things? What are you up to at the moment?
MISSY: Things are really good right now, I spend the majority of my time working with developing artists, helping them discover their voice and their sound. My approach to music production is centred around artist agency, helping them improve their skill set, while making sure they are happy with the finished pieces. I really enjoy this approach, as I know the artist perspective, and how devastating it can be to have your musical ideas shot down, and to feel helpless and overpowered by someone with “more experience”.
HAPPY: Your new single Hate Me just dropped, how are you feeling about it now that it’s out?
MISSY: I’m stoked to have it out there, and the interpretations of it by listeners have been wonderful and interesting to hear.
HAPPY: Were you nervous to put something so personal out, or was it more cathartic?
MISSY: Once I’ve finished a song, I feel a sense of disconnect with the emotions that helped bring it about. Writing is therapeutic to me, and once I’ve written about my feelings, analysed them well enough to put them in a piece, I move on, in a way. Then all I have is a tune I love, and I can’t wait for people to hear it! I certainly used to feel incredibly bashful and embarrassed to share my songs, but now it’s the total opposite. I can’t wait to shove it in people’s ears!
HAPPY: We’ve done some digging recently around New Zealand, and Dunedin especially has such a rich pedigree when it comes to music. How would you say your locale inspires you?
MISSY: Growing up in the classical music community in Dunedin shaped my musical tastes, I grew up singing in choirs, playing cello, listening to Vivaldi, Prekofiev. The way I write draws so much from the environment I was raised in, and now that I’m in Auckland I’m surrounded by amazing producers, artists who shape me and my music. I have found a lovely space and community at Big Pop, and there so many peers to learn from. I draw from my classical past, and learn the ways and wiles of modern music from the now.
HAPPY: Are there any other contemporary artists from Dunedin or New Zealand that you’re loving right now?
MISSY: Abby Wolfe, Ciaran McMeeken and Sahara Skye are awesome examples of talent, hard work and perseverance. That their music is also great is just one of the pluses.
HAPPY: Are there any plans to tour the tune?
MISSY: There’s been quite a bit of interest in Hate Me from Australia… but I won’t say too much.
HAPPY: You’re a solo artist – what does your live show look like at the moment?
MISSY: Me, a vocal looper, a keyboard, a drum machine. Plus whatever additional talent I can lure in! I’ve played a little with drummer Katie Baya and keyboardist Stallone D’Souza when I feel that the task of performing alone is too daunting.
HAPPY: Thanks for the chat!
MISSY: Thank you!!
Missy’s new single Hate Me is out now.
