SOLID SOUND INTERVIEW: MIKAELA DAVIS
Interview by Carson Paradis
Mikaela Davis is an alternative indie rock and folk artist from the Hudson Valley, NY. She plays the harp and uses guitar and other pedals to enhance the sound of her harp in alternative ways. She and her band released “And Southern Star” on August 4, 2023.
Carson Paradis
Would you like to introduce yourself?
Mikaela Davis
My name is Mikaela Davis. Harpist and musician from the Hudson Valley, New York. Originally from Rochester, but I’ve been living in the Hudson Valley for four years.
Carson Paradis
How do you like it?
Mikaela Davis
Love it. Yeah, I love the mountains. I can see the Catskill Mountains from my bedroom window.
Carson Paradis
Very cool! So, harp is such an interesting instrument because traditionally you would think of it as such a classical instrument, but you take it and twist it into this awesome, almost psychedelic way. Can you tell me a bit about that?
Mikaela Davis
Started playing classical harp, first and foremost. And then, I started writing songs in my spare time and eventually started adding pedals to the harp. I got a contact mic. I was interested in putting my harp through guitar pedals because of the music I was listening to and the influences at the time, possibly. All my friends were in a band, and I wanted to be in a band too, and I didn’t want the harp to exclude me from that.
Carson Paradis
When was this?
Mikaela Davis
Later on in high school. Before I was writing on harp, I was writing on piano and gave a few concerts at my middle school, actually, with songs I wrote on the piano. And then, in high school, I wasn’t doing as much of that, but I started writing on the harp and was mainly just showing it to my friends and not really doing too much with it. But after I graduated from high school is when I started playing, and had shows and then eventually playing in local clubs in Rochester. It started off as just me and the harp, and just micing the harp. And Alex, my drummer, he’s been my collaborator forever, you know, 15 years we’ve been writing and playing music together. So, I’m incredibly lucky that I’ve been playing with this band for an average of 10 years. You know, depending on which member we’re talking about.
Carson Paradis
Wow, that is so awesome! That must feel great. You must feel really proud of yourself.
Mikaela Davis
Like yeah, it’s a great connection. To have and you know, we’ve all it’s like, it’s like being in a relationship. We’ve all been through so much together, and we’ve somehow found a way to stick together and support each other through the roller coaster ride that is being a musician for a career.
Carson Paradis
Now, do you think that this emotion you guys are feeling as a band is because now you’re just starting to really work together? I know some of your earlier stuff was solo written and kind of pieced together, but your latest album was a huge collaboration between all of you. How do you feel about that? Do you feel like you’re finally on a stage in your band where you are collaborating more and advancing collectively to make your music?
Mikaela Davis
Yeah, I’ve always shown my songs to them. Immediately. And we work on the arrangement together. But for this last album, I didn’t have enough songs, and I really fell in love with a few of Cian’s songs that are on the album. I had heard him play them before and asked him if I could adapt a couple of his songs to record on the album. Alex and I have been co-writing for a long time, too, and I write on my own, but I’m such a slow songwriter. I really enjoy bringing a song to a bandmate for them to help me finish because I trust them. And I think that’s where it starts, and it’s all about trust, and I feel more comfortable sharing my thoughts and my music with my close friends rather than just a random person that I’ve never met. Sit down and write a song. So you know, you never know what’s going to happen on the next album I’ve been writing. I’ve been writing some songs on my own. I’ve been writing some songs with my partner, John, who is the guitar player in Circles Around the Sun. We put a collaboration out this year, an EP, it’s mainly instrumental but it’s really just like in the moment, whoever I’m closest to is who I ended up collaborating with. I lived with Cian and Shane for a while over the pandemic. So that is definitely why I like Cian’s songs on the album, and there’s some co-writes on there and a song by him and Shane.
Carson Paradis
I mean, you’re forced to stay indoors.
Mikaela Davis
Yeah, it’s always like, who you’re closest to at the moment and seeing who you collaborate with. So we’ll see what happens with the next album that was in the works.
Carson Paradis
Can you talk to me about how you build your songs? You said that you have a harder time writing lyrics as it takes a longer time. I completely understand that. I’ve been writing the same songs for the past couple of months. Do you write your harp first or your other instrumentals?
Mikaela Davis
I tend to write the music first. Or sometimes it starts off with a melody that I might just come up with in the car while I’m driving. And for me, it’s really all about the melody and the rhythm of the words. I’ll be singing gibberish before I’m singing lyrics. Lyrics are the last thing that happens to me sometimes. I even am writing lyrics in the studio while we’re recording. On my last album, “Delivery,” one of the last songs on the album, “All I Do is Disappear,” I’d written that song most of it pretty quickly. And when I brought it to the studio, I still hadn’t written the second verse. So when it was time to record vocals, I think I wrote lyrics to the second verse like the night before or the day, but it’s mostly all about the melodies, and the vibe of the song for me and the rhythm of the way you sing the lyrics, I believe is the most important part of the songs. I mean, you know, lyrics, of course, are important, but for something somebody to remember, when they have some song stuck in their head. It’s because of the melody and because of the hook of the rhythm.
Carson Paradis
Those tingly feelings in your brain.
Mikaela Davis
Yeah, so that’s, that’s what sticks with me.
Carson Paradis
Very cool. Thank you so much. This has been an awesome opportunity. I hope that you guys are having fun here.
Mikaela Davis
Yeah, we definitely are. Everyone’s having a blast!