A Conversation with Meiko – HuffPost 10.15.14

Mike Ragogna: Meiko, your new album Dear You features the single “Be Mine” that you premiered with Paste. Ahem. Anyway, you could make up for that faux pas by perhaps revealing a little about the creative and recording processes for this album, maybe how this one differed than your last album, The Bright Side!

Meiko: Haha! Paste‘s co-founder Josh Jackson was the very first person to put my name in print in 2006. Can’t blame a lady for showing some loyalty to a publication that’s been supportive from the beginning, can you?

MR: [laughs]

Meiko: Anywizzle… The last album, The Bright Side, though I love it so much, had a lot–and I mean A LOT–of peoples’ opinions involved in the recording process. I wanted to make this new record, Dear You, a little differently. I basically hid in the studio with the producer, Jimmy Messer, for about a month, he and I recording the majority of it on our own. I felt a little rebellious and very FREE when making this album, with no one breathing down my neck saying “change this” or “change that” or “we should have this guy come in and do this or that.” It was basically me and Jimmy in a little studio making what we felt was like an art project.

MR: This project is, I guess you could say, “moodier” than the last one. What was going on in your life that inspired this direction. You know, every single personal story behind every song. Or maybe just a couple, that’s cool too.

Meiko: A lot of these songs are ones I’ve collected over the years. I’m actually in a very happy place in my life right now (I swear!) But happy songs get boring sometimes, for me anyway. I wanted to make a moodier record. I like sad songs. I like intense songs. I’m a product of “’90s Alternative Sad Girl Music.” Hole. Portishead. Liz Phair. Juliana Hatfield. Patty Griffin. I wanted to make a record that I would enjoy listening to. One of my favorite songs on the record is “Sweeter.” I wrote it about my first boyfriend. I wanted to write a letter–errrrr song–to the Hooters girl he cheated on me with. Her name was Jeanette. I will always remember that. Her name, and the fact that she had enormous chesticles. My other favorite song is “Go to Hell.” It’s a song about being judged as a kid and always feeling like I was doing something wrong. It hits a deep chord with me and I’m pretty sure lots of people–especially ones who grew up in the Bible Belt–will relate to it.

MR: This being your third album, I’m imagining you’ve gotten into a groove with regards to your music career and lifestyle. How have things changed from your early days? Is there anything slipping away because of your success and maturity that you’re kind of wishing could have stayed a little longer?

Meiko: Not really. In fact, I LOVE where I’m at in my life right now.
I’m still young-ish and a hell of a lot smarter than when I first chose this crazy-ass profession. Being mature is a blessing. The only thing I miss, maybe, are house parties. Mature adults hardly ever have big ol’ house parties.

MR: What do you look for in a song? What kind of calibre does it have to reach these days? And would you define your material as being autobiographical or simply topical or something else?

Meiko: My songs are always autobiographical. Even if I claim I wrote a few about a “friend’s” situation. Ha! I love hearing someone’s soul in their music. I like knowing words come from a deep dark REAL place. A new (to me) artist who has that is Jessica Lea Mayfield. I love her.

MR: You’re classified musically as a “singer-songwriter.” Is that how you view yourself is there something that category doesn’t quite cover?

Meiko: That’s a really good question. I think “singer-songwriter” sums it up professionally, but there are so many other layers to me. Guitar player, s**t talker, story teller, lover, fighter, dim-sum eater…

MR: Which song best represents you on Dear You and why?

Meiko: Probably “Sittin’ Here”. I wrote it in a bar as I was waiting for a boyfriend to show up – who never did. I wrote it on a bunch of napkins as I threw myself a pity party. I feel sometimes like I’m always waiting for people or for things to happen. I’m trying to get over that.

MR: What advice do you have for new artists?

Meiko: Trust your gut. If anything feels icky or wrong, it probably is. Play as many shows as possible. Be humble–and NEVER be a dick to the sound guy.

MR: Is this advice you would have taken and did anyone ever offer you advice that you either took or dismissed?

Meiko: YES! I’d take ALL of it. The best advice I’ve ever received was from my Dad. He told me, “If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bulls**t.” I like his style.

MR: How do you envision a creatively fulfilled Meiko in the future?

Meiko: I love writing songs and singing. As long as I’m doing that, I’ll be creatively fulfilled. If it happens in the backyard of a house in London that I’m living in, well, that would just be the cherry on top…