Artist Spotlight: Paris Miami
Welcome to our second artist spotlight! We have been talking to one of our artists who we manage, the supremely talented Paris Miami. She has been working with One Sound Music for around 1 year and 3 months now and caught up about her musical journey so far...
Hey Paris, thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself
Hey Tochi, thanks for inviting me! My name is Paris and I'm a 21-year-old singer songwriter from the West Midlands. I write my own songs and play the guitar, performing around the UK. Currently I am being managed by One Sound Music. I'm also a student at university studying Illustration and Graphics and I simply love anything creative.
That’s awesome to hear, especially the part about One Sound managing you lol. On a serious note though, it sounds like it's all pretty full on for you doing illustration and graphics as well as music. How long have you been doing music?
I've loved music since I was a child, my family are quite a musical bunch so I think it's in our blood. There was a piano at my grandparents house and a guitar so I was around instruments and singers often.
I was always active in choirs throughout school and at church I was often apart of praise teams for Youth days and other events etc. At the age of 16 is when I got my very own brand new guitar and from that point is where my journey as a solo artist began.
We have seen you on the church scene over the years and your talent is evident. How did you get started on the musical path? What made you start?
I guess I started by taking that step to put myself out there. I knew that I could sing but I think my voice was hidden when singing with others so I thought it was time to show more of myself. I decided that I would put a video out on Facebook and see what people's responses would be. At the time I was using my laptop to record with its dodgy webcam, but it did the job for the time being, before you know it I uploaded about 4 videos and the feedback was great.
Ah I remember those days, especially when you posted your beautiful arrangement of “The Lord’s prayer” on the Gospel Video Challenge back in 2012! Although the video quality wasn’t the greatest, your talent definitely shone through! Speaking of shining through and musical inspiration, which current Christian/Gospel artist would you say speaks to you? Who is your favourite?
My favourite gospel artist is Mali music. I just love his tone and lyrical content. He's actually been my main inspiration since the age of 16! If it wasn't for him I don't know if I would be the artist I am today or would have started my journey at the age that I did.
Wow that’s pretty amazing to hear! From the little I know of Mali Music’s work, I can see some hints of his influence, although you definitely have your unique style which comes through. Still on the subject of musical inspiration, what is your favourite album and why?
I don't have a favourite album. But there's an E.P called 'The Love Art Memoirs' by Alex Isley. There's not a week that goes by where I don't listen to it!
Wow that sounds interesting, I’ll definitely try and check that out! Now I understand that you’re also a songwriter, how many songs have you written?
So far I have written 9 originals songs and I have re-arranged 5 hymns.
We know and love your original work and also your hymn re-arrangements! You definitely have a distinct style, which comes across when you perform, both in your chord choices, harmonic choices and the way you weave your thoughts together. In musical terms, who would you say is your biggest influence?
I don't really know what my biggest influence is, it's just music as a whole. I listen to hundreds of artists and they all impact me in different ways. I go searching for music like it's treasure and whomever I find on a good day is my influence in that moment in time.
Ah I see, that’s fair enough. I can see it’s good to have a wide range of influences, so there’s benefit in staying ‘in the moment’! Moving on, this is probably a silly question, but my first guitar had a name (she was called Bessie). One guitarist to another, does your guitar have a name?
Yes my guitar actually has a name! It's named after my good friend Tino. He's an awesome guitarist and if can play at his level one day I will be very happy.
Ah that’s pretty awesome! I also know a Tino who is a guitarist and he may be featuring on our blog soon with his group Scripture Says Acapella, I wonder if it’s the same one :)
Moving on then, are you a multi-instrumentalist? Do you play any other instruments aside from guitar?
I can play the drums and that is actually my favourite instrument.
Wow! That’s a surprise! Hopefully we’ll get you on the channel soon playing the drums for us perhaps? Ok here’s a question for you; if there was 1 artist you could work with in the whole wide world, who would it be and why?
This is a hard question I can't possible narrow it down to just one, so I'll tell you my top two. First would be Shakka, he's my favourite non-gospel artist. His creativity is just out of this world and he exudes a lot of positive and fun energy within his work. I think we would be able to create some really cool stuff together. My second artist would be Mali Music, he really thinks outside of the box when it comes to sharing the gospel through song and it would be great to meet someone that has inspired me so much.
Ok that’s another artist I haven’t heard of yet, so I’ll go and check out Shakka! It would be amazing to get to work with those artists who have inspired us so I do hope you can realise that goal. On a lighter note, can you tell us 1 quirky thing about yourself?
One quirky thing, hmmm. Well I like to beatbox. I would love to master it one day that would be dope!
Well you really are multi-talented and you come across as being very multi-faceted! Other than music, what would you say is your biggest passion?
Aside from music I'm passionate about art and design. I'm currently an Illustration and Graphics student so I love drawing and expressing my self through that medium.
That’s amazing! It seems like you’re blessed with creativity and you seem to be going hard for it in all areas of your life! That’s pretty inspirational to me and I’m sure it will be to our readers. Is there anything you'd like to share with them?
I would like to say that everything I have and have achieved thus far is because of God. My voice is the gift He has given to me and I want to use that to uplift and inspire others. I like to think that He has big plans for me so I just try to keep trusting him. I encourage anyone to pursue what God has placed on your heart, it's possible to make your dreams happen. Keep praying and pushing.
Amen to that! We all need the reminder and push sometimes! We’re almost finished with 2 months of 2017, what does this year hold for you?
Hopefully amazing things. I’m focusing on just getting out there more and singing at new venues and events. I'm also aiming to release an E.P. so watch this space!
An E.P.!!! Whoop whoop, I personally cannot wait to purchase that! You already know how much I love your music! However while we wait for the E.P. to come out, do you have any upcoming gigs/dates so that we can come and hear you live and direct?
I’ll be performing at the One Sound Music Open Mic night on Sunday 19th March 2017 from 7:30pm to 9pm at Costa Coffee on Southwark Street in London, SE1 1RQ so come down and check it out.
Additionally I will be performing at Friends Zone which is a live music and Spoken words event on the 14th April at the Tank TV studio Coventry University. Time from 5pm till 6.30pm. I’ll also be doing other gigs this year, but follow me on social media so that you can get the latest updates as and when I have them.
Thanks so much for joining us today and sharing your story Paris, it has been fascinating talking to you. You can connect with Paris Miami and her music via our One Sound Music youtube page and also through her various social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/parismiamimusic/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Paris_Miami_x
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paris_miami/
Bandpage: http://parismiami.bandpage.com
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/parismiami