Originally from Colorado and now residing in Brooklyn, Miette Hope is in the city of dreams–or at least a borough outside of it. I spoke to Hope in late February over Zoom on Valentine’s Day. While scheduling, I failed to realize it was a holiday, but Hope was happy to accommodate me. Recently, Hope has been posting about her new dog on Instagram, so the conversation leaned towards us bonding about our dogs. My dog made a small cameo, sleeping idly behind me on my bed. During our introduction, I mentioned how Miette isn’t a name I’ve heard of before, so I had to ask where it came from. The story is better than expected; and yes, it is her real name.
The name Miette is based on a French film called La Cité des Enfants Perdus (The City of Lost Children). Her mom loved the name of one of the characters, Miette. They later found out that the name translates to “little crumb.” Many artists usually decide to go with a stage name, but Hope knew that wasn’t the path for her.
“I never really thought of coming up with something else. It wasn’t a thought that crossed my mind.”
Hope aims to create music that speaks to others, giving an apparent reason to be who they want. Along with that, she also makes sure to be honest with herself in her music. Hope says,
“My artistry isn’t about creating a character; it’s about being myself. Heart on my sleeve, authenticity. Music has always been therapy, and I can’t share my music without sharing my story. ”
In her most recent single, “Bubblewrap,” she relays the message of allowing oneself to be vulnerable under a synth based production. To love, to be loved, and to “get past the fears of emotional intimacy.” I brought up the lyric, “I wore a sweater from your sister when we walked around Berlin,” one that I happen to love and praise the specificity of. Hope expanded on the lyric,
“It’s not the big things that scare me, but more so the little moments and details that make a story real.”
On how the song came to be, it was a note that she kept adding to. She wrote the song’s first line after getting an email from her partner’s mom. In the email, her partner’s mom sent a few excerpts from past emails where she would write essays about her kids growing up, giving updates to family and friends. When Hope read the emails, she said,
“It felt really special, and I wanted to talk about it.”
The song ended up taking months to write. Her partner’s mom kept sending new emails she found, giving Hope more information to pull from. Eventually, after learning all these details about her partner, the song spoke for itself.
It’s a song that you can tell is heartfelt. As Hope describes herself, it shows that she wears her heart on her sleeve. “Bubblewrap” is a complete solo project that Hope has written, produced, and performed. I think it is evident the tender care and love that went into the song, as well as another favorite of mine, “Fragments.” It also happened to be my first introduction to Miette Hope. The song is slow-paced and has distortions that round out the sound. It describes someone losing their way, and as she sings, “I think I’m losing my ground, I keep losing my balance, I’m in fragments.” The distortions play a vital role in the song, tying together the idea of being in fragments.
Miette Hope is an all-around creative. She writes, produces, and sings on all of her records. Hope spoke to me about how exciting it is to be the lead on all her projects and how it feels.
“Anyone who has been there since my sound was different and still wants to listen, I want to honor them by keeping that music up. I think my sound has changed a lot since I started self-producing. And what I want to talk about and how I want to say it is more refined.”
Hope wants her listeners to feel less alone and be able to take comfort in her music.
“There’s a lot we don’t talk about and we aren’t open about. I wouldn’t ask my listeners to be more open, but with me being open, they can have a friend in this.”
At times throughout our conversation, I can’t help but feel as if she’s a friend I’m reconnecting with. I was excited to ask if there was new music in the future and what that would look like. Hope held back, but claimed,
“The songs that I am working on for this EP are definitely starting to sound more stripped back and starting back at my singer-songwriter roots. But I think I had to go the extreme and then come back to the other side.”
Miette Hope is decisive in her choice of words and has a clear mindset about what she wants to do with music. She has a serious undertone to her friendly demeanor and undoubtedly believes in her music. It’s admirable, an unwavering faith in your artistry. Yes, we spoke about how she wants her sound to be geared towards one specific genre compared to her earlier releases. She grew up with more folk inspired artists like The Decemberists, Bon Iver, Rufus Wainsworth which you can note even in her more pop influenced songs.
But even so, a true music admirer will see the growth and changes that come with being a musician. Oh, and she loves a good cold brew with oat milk and some simple syrup. Or, on some days, a good Yerba Mate before she sits back and starts creating.
You can follow Miette Hope (@miettehope) on all streaming platforms and look out for a new EP titled Crying In Restaurants in the near future.
Header image is from Shannon @queen.dionysus.
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