The ever bluesy Mia Dyson talks about her angsty teenage years, opening for her ‘guitar-slinging hero’ and why an American accent sometimes sounds better.
OUTinPerth: How did you get into music?
Mia Dyson: My dad is a musician and a guitar maker, so he used to make guitars and play great records around the house when I was very young. We always had lots of instruments lying around the house in case we wanted to play – drum kits, keyboards, and obviously guitars. I got my dad to teach me how to play initially and I would try to learn people’s songs that I loved and imitate other guitarists when I was alone in my room. I started writing around 16 and that led to me wanting to record an album. It took me many years though before I wrote songs that I actually liked. I had some really horrible songs in the early days, as you can imagine. I was in that high school girlhood thing where I was writing about these things you think are big dramas. I mean they are dramatic at the time, but you look back and go, ‘Oh god, the world is a lot bigger than that, luckily.’
OiP: You don’t record in a studio, why not?
Mia: It is more conducive to getting the creative juices flowing and more peaceful and fun to be out in the bush or by the beach with the band recording an album. In the studio, you put the drums down, then the bass, then the keyboards, then the guitars, then the vocals. We’ve recorded this album all together… it’s the band playing together and there’s that interplay you don’t get when you set it down separately.
OiP: Does recording all together with that pressure to perform make you a better performer?
Mia: If you have chosen to record this way, then you have to be at a certain level of performance. You have to be able to think that even on a bad performance, you can still do it well… Recording is always a lot of pressure to get things right because you want to get the best performance for an album – it’s the one that lasts, not all those gigs you thought you played really well.
OiP: How do you incorporate American blues and roots traditions into your identity as an Australian singer-songwriter?
Mia: When I was growing up, there wasn’t amazing blues guitarists from Australia or amazing jazz singers that I was aware of. Pub rock was the main Australian fare, so I listened almost exclusively to American music – Bonnie Riatt, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan. So, as strange as it is, it is kind of natural for Australians to already have an American sensibility and accent when we sing. Even Paul Kelly with his Australian drawl has some words where the American accent permeates because it sounds better to sing like that. Some words, Australians have those short vowels, and if you sing in an Australian accent, it cuts the words off and doesn’t flow as well.
OiP: So, what makes you uniquely Australian?
Mia: The stories I can tell as an Australian.
OiP: You mentioned that Bonnie Raitt albums were kicking around the house as a kid. You recently had a chance to support her on tour, what was that like?
Mia: It was the thrill of my life, not just my musical career. She is my guitar-slinging hero. My dad took me to see her when I was 13 at the Melbourne Concert Hall and amazingly, the first show I opened for her was at the Melbourne Concert Hall, the same venue. I was totally blown out. On top of all that, she was there to wish us a great show before we even went on stage, then she watched our shows from the side and she invited me on stage for her show.
OiP: What song did you get to do with her?
Mia: It’s very interesting that you ask me that because I have completely forgotten I was so overwhelmed.
