Miranda Joan is a Brooklyn-based singer, songwriter, and musician. Born in Montréal and raised on Vancouver’s north shore, she developed her songwriting through personal experiences, shaping a unique blend of Soul-Pop. Influenced by artists like Bill Withers, Stevie Wonder, Carole King, Anderson Paak, and Little Dragon, her music combines classic and contemporary styles with intricate songwriting and playful production.
Miranda’s self-released album ‘Overstimulated’ has garnered over 500,000 streams since its release in November 2023. Following the release, MIranda has pressed and distributed the album on special edition red vinyl, headlined London’s 100 Club, supported Adi Oasis in New York and performed at SXSW as part of the Submit Hub showcase.
Miranda recently joined our community as a winner of the 10th Anniversary competition we ran with Marshall, celebrating a decade of shesaid.so. She is currently on tour with The Killers as a backing vocalist.
Touring can be both exhilarating and overwhelming. Do you have any tips for artist on tour?
Touring is absolutely both of those things. Overstimulated is the album title but it has also been my constant state of being. The best advice I can give is to hone in on what things ground you and find time for them. It has to be flexible but a couple things that I try to honor on the road are a morning routine and before bed routine. Otherwise, in the chaos and movement of it all, it’s easy to feel out of control. Small things like exercise, journaling, time to talk with loved ones, down time and trying to eat well can help create some balance. I want to do my best job on stage and balance it with time for myself and my art when I’m off the road. It’s an ever-shifting target that requires adaptability, patience and focus. Also, bring vitamins and supplements!!! All the immunity boosting things - very helpful :)
If you could choose one song from your album"Overstimulated" to highlight, which would it be and why?
I think it would be fitting to highlight my song “She Knows” for the shesaid.so family. It’s an ode to the female friendships in my life; the ones that keep me grounded; those who truly know me. I think this community is in many ways rooted in the idea that we can’t do it alone but together there’s a limitlessness to the possibility of what we can create. I get by with **a lot** of help from my friends; my family, and this song is about the growth we’ve lived together and also the simplicity and innocence of the beautiful things that we were so connected to as young people. Things that still live within us beneath the noise we onboard as we grow up. Every time I get to sing this song is a moment of tending to those beautiful things. It feels like a chance to pull the weeds from my spirit.
What’s your favorite/least favorite thing about making music?
My favorite thing about making music is really just that - making it. I love the process of creating. I love being in the studio, I love working on things. It’s so pure and real. I think it’s the thing that keeps me in the game because when I’m actually creating there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing. The best feeling is the excitement of a new demo, one you listen to on repeat with all the jitters and butterflies of falling in love. Not because it’s “good” but because it feels good; to exercise this part of yourself, of your life and experiences, the good, the bad and the between, and make music out of it. It makes the living feel all that more deep.
My least favorite part… well that probably depends on the day, ha! But I’d say that releasing music is the most challenging. That’s when expectations start to creep in. When you share your music you are inevitably welcoming in feedback. Sharing is half the beauty because that’s when you get to see the songs take on new life; when they are no longer yours but something that others can find themselves in.
What’s challenging is the pressure that is both put on us as artists and that we put on ourselves to be successful in some very specific ways. It feels like the unspoken expectation amongst artists is some version of commercial success and the very spoken desire is to be able to live off of our art. Both of these things are incredibly hard to do and so it’s easy to reduce your work and, by osmosis, yourself, into something small, not good enough; unworthy. It’s so far from the place of creation and so I try my best - with loads of support from my loved ones - to stay rooted in the reasons why I make music at all. It is my greatest love but I am human and not impermeable to the noise and numbers we are constantly forced to judge ourselves by. It takes great mental fortitude to continue to find forward motion; to not give up on yourself.
What’s your best networking tip to connect with the right people in the industry?
Be a good person and an even better friend. Find the people who inspire you to be the best version of yourself and show up for them. Not for gain but because those relationships, one of true and genuine exchanges of energy and love, will make you feel good, make life livable, and be your greatest source of strength in whatever you do. Maybe this is bad advice, but it is my very real relationships that have gotten me the farthest in my career so far (big shoutout to my people - I love and appreciate you and I am always rooting for you).
If you had to describe your music using three words, what would they be?
Soulful, silky and story-driven.
3 people who inspire you
My mom, my brother, Martha Cleary.
3 things you can’t live without in your bag
Phone (yuck but it’s sadly true), airpods, lip chap.
An album that changed your life
Honey by Robyn
What are you listening to at the moment?
Currently, I’ve been swept up in the monoculture - BRAT, Rise & Fall of a Midwestern Princess, and the Wicked soundtrack have hit hardest for me. When I need to escape and feel cozy, I return to some of my favorite artists like Emily King, Stevie Wonder, Anderson Paak., Robyn, Donny Hathaway, Little Dragon, the list goes on.