Interview with Musician Mia Dyson

by Sean Sroka
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Mia Dyson is a successful independent rock musician, who’s been making waves for quite some time and is coming out with her fifth album entitled “Idllywild” on June 3, 2014. Although she began her career in her hometown, Melbourne, Australia, she is currently involved in a North American tour and finally returning to Canada since her last visit to North by Northeast (or NXNE) in 2004.

This year Mia’s schedule is packed with three concerts during Canadian Music Week, which will be taking place in Toronto on May 7 at The Rivoli, May 9 at The Dakota Tavern and May 10 at the Horseshoe Tavern.

After several attempts to chat with Mia Dyson during her tour, a last minute spot opened up. Although we were still located miles apart, we had the opportunity to Skype about her upcoming trip to Toronto, her latest album, and some interesting experiences in her life as a musician.

As an independent artist. Mia has performed with such icons as Bonnie Raitt and Stevie Nicks (Did I mention she was Independent). Mia Dyson seems to demonstrate how much one person with passion and some good friends can accomplish.

During our interview, I found out some great information about the things that define and inspire her. When asked about her musical influences I noticed a trend of love for some great Canadian bands such as The Band, Lenard Cohen, and Neil Young. Other major influences consist of Bonnie Rait and of course Bob Dylan. Mia says that first and far most, she’s always drawn in by the voice and from there she listens out.

After listening to her music, I feel a major part of her style is her great textured voice that seems to blend perfectly with her roots and rock influenced music. As we talked about her next album, she explained that it was a bit of a new and nerve racking experience. After creating four prior albums, it sounds like it’s to be a bit more experimental, not so much in genre, but within instruments, tones and textures. Mentioning how much she loves the previous albums, she admits that going into those recording sessions, she was almost choking them with the ideas she had in her head and that “restrains the possibilities of other things happening.”

In Mia’s perception, this upcoming album is looking like it will be more honest. Mia explained that she’s noticed a difference in her songwriting and that the album is more upfront, but still true to her poetic side. She’ll be touring this album with the band that actually recorded it with her opposed to the American touring band she normally tours with, when in the States. This tour Mia feels really confident and knows that she’s completely surrounded by trustworthy friends and musicians that can take care of themselves, so she doesn’t have to, which will overall give better performances.

As a final question for Mia,  I asked her about any crazy experience she’d like to share with the Fresh Print readers and her story about an instant ‘super fan’ was the most compelling to my ears. A few years ago, during one of her North American tours, Mia Dyson and her band ended up playing a gig that opened up for a local artist in the outskirts of Philadelphia. After some great shows behind and ahead of them, she didn’t know what to expect from this one. After waiting and waiting for people to show up, it turned out that the almost empty room was the best they were getting that night. However, Mia wasn’t discouraged whatsoever and gave it everything she had, playing what felt like a great show to almost no one in the club.

A few weeks later a campaign to raise money for her next album was released and immediately a person donated $2,000. Surprised and curious, Mia got in touch with this super fan right away to thank them for their donation. After talking to the super fan, it turns out he was one of the few audience members at this small gig in the outskirts of Philadelphia. He said that he really appreciated the effort she brought out that night. I thought this story gave great merit to Mia Dyson’s live performance and also to her as a musician.

We strongly encourage you all to see this $2,000 performance for the price of a $15 admission at any of the shows listed below!  We at Fresh Print Magazine wish her the best of luck on the tour.

Check out this amazing artist at the upcoming venues and be sure to visit www.miadyson.com.

Check out Mia Dyson in Toronto this week for Canadian Music Week:Interview with Musician Mia Dyson - Fresh Print

May 7, The Rivoli, Toronto May 9, The Dakota Tavern, Toronto May 10, Horseshoe Tavern

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