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00:00105.9 KISS FM, Detroit's classic R&B's big homie Kimbrough here with you and I have someone very
00:05special in the studio with me, singer, songwriter Miranda Lee. How are you feeling? What up though?
00:11Hey, what's up? It's a pleasure to have you here today. I'm happy to be here. I'm so excited to be
00:17here. Oh my gosh. So I've heard very great things about you and I've had a chance to listen to your
00:24music. So we're going to get into it right now. So how has growing up in Detroit influenced your
00:30music and artist style? Growing up in Detroit influenced my music and artist style. Well,
00:36I grew up in Detroit and then by the time I was 14, 15, because I was doing a lot in school,
00:43I moved out to Flat Rock. So I graduated high school in Flat Rock, Michigan. So I am based
00:51from Detroit, Westside, Linwood. But growing up somewhere else. That's from Linwood. Linwood.
00:56Get out of here. Oh, wow. Okay. Growing up, being around other, being a different area kind of helped
01:03shaped my music because I feel like it is something that anybody can relate to. Yeah. So it just helps
01:10broaden my perspective and my writing style and maybe the word choice that I use or even the approach
01:16that I take with certain songs. Okay. Okay. Now we got to talk about this. Now you grew up on
01:21Linwood. Linwood and what? Linwood and Davidson. Dude, let me find out. So you didn't go to no
01:27schools over there? Yes, I did. What school did you go to? I went to Stewart. It used to be called
01:32Mary McLeod Bethune. Okay. Yep. On Will Demir. Okay. I didn't go there. I went to Thurkel. Okay.
01:39Paul Robeson Academy. Okay. I heard that. And I graduated from Central. Okay. Yeah. So.
01:44I know some people from Central. I used to skip at Central. Look, listen. Don't skip, guys.
01:51I don't want to talk about it. Yeah, kids, don't skip. No skipping. Especially when your
01:55uncle is a truancy officer and he sees you at the bus stop and be like, hey, where are you
02:00going? I'm like, oh, yeah, I'm going to the library. I'm going downtown to have some fun,
02:04man. Wow. That's crazy. So what aspects of Detroit's music scene do you find most inspiring
02:12as an artist? I think the fact that there are so many independent artists and they are all so very
02:19talented and different. When you go to the local open mics, when you go to the local events and even
02:25the smaller invite-only events and you experience different types of music, like a subgenre, like it
02:32could be rap or rap soul, or I've just found out about trap jazz. Like it's certain things that Detroit
02:38people bring into music that a lot of people aren't doing. And I think it's because of our
02:44hustle, our drive, and our kind of will to be innovative and say, I want to do this, but I
02:49want to do it differently and throw their own funk and style on it. And then that just doing that opens
02:55up more creative paths in your brain to discover something you didn't even know that you could
02:59create or was a thing. So yeah, I think that a lot of local Detroit artists are super, super
03:05talented in the area of just being creative and taking something and innovating and making it our
03:11own, even with our style. Yeah, most definitely. So are you experimenting with any different musical
03:17styles now? Do I experiment? I think I do experiment. A lot of the songs on the album, if you listen to
03:25them, they all kind of sound different. The beats, it's all kind of sounds like some stuff sounds more
03:30like soul. Some stuff sounds more like pop. Some stuff might even sound a little country,
03:35you know? So I think I experiment, but I think it's more naturally. It's not my intent to do that.
03:40I think I just lead with how I feel and what comes to me. And that's kind of, I just find myself
03:47in the waves with that. Definitely, definitely. Because I know one of my favorite tracks on the
03:51album is Not Just My Heart. Yeah, it's very nice. Thank you. It was when I first listened to it.
03:57Oh my God, this is nice. Thank you. I love that song. I was just listening to it on the way here,
04:02actually. Well, I was listening to it on the way here, too. So it all worked out. So are there any
04:09artists in Detroit that you have worked with or you want to work with in the future?
04:13I have worked with K-Bay. She's a local artist in Detroit and entrepreneur, as well as the educator.
04:21She does a lot of things for the city of Detroit. I've worked with James Azure. He's a, I believe,
04:26soft rock artist. He has a band called The Hail Saints. They've done a lot of things in Detroit.
04:32Who do I want to work with? Anybody. Like, I think because I have a love for all different types
04:40of music, it's really hard for me to say, I want to do this. I want to do that. It's more so like,
04:44I want to do it all. And I want to see what I can bring to the table with that. Even if it's not
04:48my genre, maybe I can write. Maybe I could arrange musically. You know what I'm saying? Maybe I can
04:53help produce that type of thing. So I think I don't have like a set person. It's more so like,
04:59I'm open to whatever creative energy I can exchange with anybody.
05:03Definitely. Now, you mentioned songwriting. So how does that process work for you? How do you get into that
05:09mode to write songs? To write songs? Yeah. Okay. So for me, it always just starts with the music,
05:17with the beat that I get. And even without it, because I have written songs, I have acapella tracks
05:22on my album that I've just wrote. And then the melody came to me. So when I'm writing songs with
05:28music, it just based off of how I feel when I hear the beat, I'll let it play and kind of hum along
05:34to it. And I don't really go in with a set theme. Like, this is what I'm going to talk about,
05:38or this is what I'm going to get off my chest. I kind of let the beat speak to me. And then like
05:42what I feel when I hear it is kind of what I talk about. Okay. And I kind of correlate that with the
05:48lyrics. Like how I feel when I hear the beat. Okay. Instead of maybe I want to talk about money.
05:54So this song is going to be about money. And whatever, I like that beat. So we're going to make
05:57it about money. Instead of, well, what is the beat actually saying? Right. Like, how does that make you
06:01feel when you hear it? You get what I'm saying? Yeah. Because like, I feel like music at its base
06:06element when it like, you know, classical music, it was no lyrics. No. But people still felt
06:10something from that. So I feel like I try to hone in on that. Like, what do I feel when I hear that
06:17and then bring that out? So it's kind of like a collaborative thing of me, the music bringing
06:22stuff out of me and the music bringing, me bringing stuff out of music and the music bringing stuff out
06:27of me. You understand what I'm saying? Yeah. Because like, I know, I'm big on production.
06:33I love good, good. As long as the beat is nice and the lyrics make sense, like you got me tuned
06:39in. Yeah. And I'm a sucker for an old school beat. If you sample something from way back in
06:46the day, I'm hooked. Yeah. Like off rip. You can be talking about anything. I don't care.
06:51Yeah. Yeah. I understand that. Yeah. Especially if it's like more fun. If you just want to have
06:57something that's just funny, you want people to dance or just kind of blow off some steam.
07:02Those type of songs, it's just kind of just light and easy. But I think for me, I be wanting
07:08people to feel something. Yeah. So that's kind of where I come from is that I felt something
07:12when I heard this beat and this is what came from it. And I hope you guys feel something too
07:16when y'all hear it. And I do dabble in a little bit of the fun stuff, like with my track
07:21Lala or even or what a little bit, it kind of just has that lightweight, like let's have
07:25fun, flirty type of vibe. And then I have the deeper songs on my album. So yeah.
07:30Okay. So let's get into the album. Now, how has the reception been for the album lately?
07:37The reception has been overwhelming. A lot of people have told me like it's no skips. I'm
07:43getting songs that are people saying that they're, I'm getting songs that people are saying
07:46they're their favorite songs. And I wasn't expecting them to be like songs that I didn't
07:50think would stand out more because they're just more, I guess, personal. Some of you
07:55will listen to in your personal time, emotional people are like, I love that song. Like that's
07:59my favorite song. And I'm like, maybe I should sing that in my sets more, you know? So I'm
08:04getting a lot of love, a lot of good reactions. I'm really proud of the work that I've put
08:08into it. Five years of work.
08:10Yeah. This is your debut album.
08:12This is my debut album.
08:13Correct.
08:13Yeah. And I released two singles off of the album, which were like a song and Lala, which
08:18people love those and just even or what, not just my heart, our favorites now. And I just
08:25feel so much appreciation for the reception that I have gotten from the people in my city.
08:30And I can't wait to grow and get more fans and get a bigger, bigger audience and share
08:34more music.
08:35Definitely.
08:36Yeah.
08:36Okay. So are there any like particular favorite venues you like working, you know, in the
08:42city?
08:43Okay. My favorite, I do like performing downtown. I did perform at Heart Plaza. I like performing,
08:51see my favorites. There's a venue called Chroma.
08:57Okay.
08:57Yeah. I like, I like, I like performing there. There's an event called Flowers that goes on
09:01there once a month. Artists from all over Ridley, Michigan have been going there. It's free
09:07entry. It's donation based. They showcase people's art as well as let you come up and
09:12perform. So it's a really great event that happens once a month. What else? I'll be all
09:19over. So it's like, I'll be all over. I've done a couple of shows at Trixie's Barnham
09:24Tremec. It's really fun there. I like the vibe there. So yeah, all pretty much wherever
09:29I'm, wherever they want me, I'm going to be. That's cool. That's what's up. So after
09:35interviewing, you know, we're going to get into not just my heart, but is there anything
09:39that you want to leave with listeners before you go?
09:42Hmm.
09:45Hey listeners, I am Miranda Lee. I'm a singer songwriter based in Detroit, Michigan. July
09:524th, I will be performing at the Taco Fest for an hour from 1 to 2 p.m. So please come
09:57see me then. You can also follow me on all of my socials, get to know me. I respond. I
10:02follow back. Yeah. I would love to tap in with you guys and I hope you guys tap in
10:07with me, listen to the music. Yeah. I'm excited to get to know you guys.
10:12For sure. Miranda Lee right here on 105.9 KISS FM. Stay tuned.
10:17Bye.