interview: misty boyce

With the recent release of an amazing stop animation video for her single, ‘Dutch Girls’,  Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Misty Boyce had a chat to lip about her album, getting caught with your pants down, and feminism.

How and when did you start playing music?
I think I was 5.  My parents just put me and my brothers in all the same activities…piano, t-ball, etc., to see what stuck.  I turned out to be better at piano than playing outfield.

Who were your early influences?
How far back do I go?  Mariah Carey?  Reba McEntire?  Tori Amos?  Radiohead?  Jewel?  A movie I saw called “A Thing Called Love” about a girl trying to be a country star?  I wrote my first song about that movie…intended for Billy Ray Cyrus.

What were the greatest challenges in recording your album? What has the response to it been like? Is there anything you’d do differently if you had the chance to do it over?
I think the greatest challenge in recording this album was that it spanned a year, and I changed so much during that time.  Musically.  Emotionally.  My voice changed a little.  It was hard sometimes to reconcile putting the earlier songs up against the later songs.  And by the end, I wanted to re-record everything because I thought I could do better.  But I had good people around me, like Patrick Ermlich and Eshy Gazit (producers), telling me to let it go…nothing you ever make will feel finished.  This is a never ending process.

What are your other interests/passions?
I really love to dance.  And yoga.  I’ve become a tad bit of a yoga freak the past few months.  I love French.  I’m taking classes now (again, after many in high school and college), and would love to live in a francophone country sometime in my life.  I also love to cook.  And eat.

Did you always envision you’d be playing music?
I did.  Or, at least, I always envisioned I’d be on stage somehow.  Since I can remember.  Either dancing or singing or acting.  I felt so awkward socially, but within these mediums, I imagined I was a part of something, and craved the attention.

What’s the most interesting thing that’s happened to you on tour?
I got caught, pants off, peeing on the side of the road.  Oh.  Man.

Do you consider yourself a feminist, and if so, in what way?
I’m not sure if I would call myself a “feminist”.  I believe in many feminist ideals…equal rights, equal opportunities, etc.  But I also believe in celebrating how gloriously and painfully different women are from men.  I believe in accepting difference and not qualifying or quantifying it.  I desire freedom, but I’d also like to feel free to perhaps assume some “traditional” roles of womanhood.  I mourn the loss of traditions that have been passed down in my family…recipes, the craft of sewing…things that are lost on me.  Things that my mother was taught, but that she thought unecessary to teach me, since clothes are now so cheap and easy to come by, as is food.   I’m taking classes now to learn those things that at one time I would have learned in the fold.  Yet…I’m free…living the life I want…a musician…unmarried…no children.  So, I suppose there are some casualties that come with change for the “better”.

What’s a question you’ve always wanted to be asked but that has never come up?
I think I’ve always wanted to be asked if I was a feminist or not!  Ha!  I didn’t realized how passionate I was about that.  I think I could write another couple pages or so…

Want more? Misty’s self-titled debut album is available through Modern Vintage Recordings and make sure you check out the video for ‘Dutch Girls’:

Misty Boyce’s ‘Dutch Girls’ on YouTube.

(Image credits: 1.)