The Artist Explains: Myoa - 'YOU'
Photo credit: Emex Focus
Los Angeles based artist Myoa speaks to us about her profound single and visuals for, ‘You’, which focuses on the theme of disengaging from toxic relationships that prevent personal growth and happiness.
Where was the video for ‘You’ filmed?
It was filmed in the beautiful city of Los Angeles.
How does the video connect with the song?
The video was my chance to describe my ‘set-free moments’ from those toxic relationships. I chose to narrow the scenes down to a few scenarios that represent “You’s” such as dream stealers, negative people, opportunists etc and my choice to let them know I chose the path to win. The story line, which I wrote, was important to describe certain moments of staying ahead, regardless of the opposition I faced.
Do you have any behind the scenes stories you could share with us?
Yes, we actually shot the whole video in half a day. It was amazing, the actors were ready and talented to direct, and Will Darosa, the cinematographer and his team were efficient.
That morning I had to finish styling my hair since my regular hair stylist Rochelle Thomas was in Houston. I didn’t have a crew except for Erica Smith, who did my make up, so once that was done. I looked in the mirror and said, “Well you got this” and proceeded to enhance the curls that Rochelle had previously done. Once I did the first curl, I felt confident haha.
Also in between shooting, I styled myself which was super fun because when it was time for the next scene I was ready and it was like oh she did this herself. All in all we all worked hard and efficiently, and Will and I--because we were the co-director-- we knew what we wanted and that made shooting easy. The location owner Maiara made sure I had everything I needed ready and working i.e. the typewriter.
Can you tell us about the ideas/ themes/ imagery used?
When I was writing the story line, I knew I wanted a piano and some old equipment such as the typewriter to express my life as a songwriter and music maker.
The piano was to represent an instrument I love and the fact that I use that as my outlet to evoke my feelings through melodies.
The choice of the typewriter is to evoke the feeling of the old times and dig deep into my soul and it felt like a release to “type” out my words on a machine that is sturdy but powerful.
I loved Will’s choice to create the lighting and mood of the video; he involved me in that process as well. It all came together nicely.
Is there a message the video is trying to convey?
My goal is that everyone that watches the video can relate to it and choose to stay away from toxic relationships in a powerful but positive way.
You can walk away from anything that does not contribute to your personal and career goals, knowing that tomorrow will be better because you can win. In my case saying the words “win a Grammy from this” represents that I will succeed.
Interview feature by Karla Harris
‘You’ is taken from Myoa’s upcoming album, ‘Beautiful Journey’ and is available to stream and download, here.