Diandra Interview Missyou: Freeing Yourself Through Music

Missyou are not just “new artists;” they are refreshingly purposeful. From beginning to end, you should always hold your career with a set standards and dignity that, no matter what, you never break. Why? Because a career can be successful without being happy. For Missyou, they have to be feel good about themselves to make music that makes others feel good, as well. Thus, in our interview they discuss their creative criteria to make music that means as much to them as fans. 

Diandra: You have said you are for “freedom of expression”? How would you define this freedom, and how has music exemplified this definition? 

Missyou: I think having the courage to let go of inhabited behavior and not to feign your personal truth, even if it’s ugly or unpopular. To have gumption to speak from a genuine place, no matter how dark or socially taboo. That is the freedom that music and art can give to you and connect us all.

Diandra: You make it clear that your music is not genre-based. Do you feel genres are confining for artists? 

Missyou: I think that people are tribal by nature, so it’s not that genres are negative, but they can feel esoteric at times. We just want anyone and everyone to feel welcome in our circle, to love whatever you love, and celebrate that love. 

Diandra: You write your songs like screenplays. What movies do you feel most represent and inspire your sound? 

Missyou: That’s tough, to name a few that come to mind 

True Romance

My Own Private Idaho

A Place Beyond the Pines

Fight Club

Drive

(Side note: I AM DEEPLY IN LOVE WITH THEIR CINEMATIC CHOICES!)

Diandra: You put emphasis on the storytelling aspect of your music. What is your creative when trying to turn a story into a song? 

Missyou: I think of a place, a smell a time of day, a texture. The levity those things hold start to paint a picture and a plot. It can be subtle but it sort of comes through you, it’s dynamic, stories come in waves the same as songs are built. 

Diandra: When describing your EP, you have said it is about loss. How do you feel your songs have helped you deal with loss? 

Missyou: To put pain into words, fictionalize certain things ,and have others connect to it, makes you see empathy in the world around you. This can give you hope that all things are connected and that evolves grief.

Diandra: “Yourbody” flirts with ideas of possession and carrying dark secrets into a relationship. How do you keep clear of possessiveness in both relationships and also as a group creating music together? 

Missyou: Attachment has the potential to be a dangerous thing; the tighter you grasp things, the faster the slip away. You have to stay grounded in yourself because trying to hold onto ideas or concepts or love when they don’t just belong to you is futile. That’s what the song is about. The only thing you really can control is your own feelings. 

Diandra: What do you feel each member offers as an artist and friend to the group dynamic? 

Missyou: I’m not sure how important we are as individuals, we see this as one body, we create and add different things everyday. It’s a constant push and pull. 

Diandra: What have you noticed being an artist has taught you about coming into your own as a person? 

To not be too precious about who you are. To be defined by what you add to the world: not what you take. 

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