documentary films, cinema, music (especially contemporary electronic hybrids), art, dance (began classes @ 3yr - all types), yoga (all types), random acts of kindness, anything to do with the environment/nature, metaphysics, alchemy, mythology, other realms, my family of friends & lovers
I'd like to meet:
Other like-minded souls interested in making substantial changes toward the betterment of our collective reality.
I'm a singer, filmmaker, actor & activist. I'm surrounded by an ever-increasing community of like-minded souls that have become family - other artists & pro-active individuals aware of the dilemmas we face as a global society working towards deep & meaningful change.
My birth chart, being a Virgo, is apparently similar to that of Joan-of-Arc (3 separate readers have all told me the same thing) - a daunting thing to live up to, however it is intriguing to think about. The child of a hyper-realist painter mom & computer-analyst/programmer dad, I was introduced to activism at a pretty early age. My best friends' mom & her girlfriend (we're talkin' the '70's) would take us to lesbian/feminist rallies & concerts, no nukes protests & the like. I grew up part-time on a 1400 acre working farm in south western Ontario & allowed to roam free, to discover who & what my spirit really is. I began dancing at 3 years old, then on to performing, piano lessons & recitals, violin & flute, track & field, gymnastics, down hill skiing, & cycling... I wanted to be the Bionic Woman's stunt double.
Eventually, I left home & school when I was 15, got three part-time jobs, had my own apartment & forged my own path. One of my first jobs was working for school credit at a community cable-tv station where I was trained to edit, produce & shoot local events & interviews... then everything changed. I was scouted several times throughout my teens to model. After about the 5th time I relented & had a moderately successful career that allowed me to travel/live/work in Paris, Milan, Munich, Hamburg, Tokyo, Athens, Thailand, Amsterdam, Zurich & New York, among other cities & places, where I appeared in magazines, billboards, television commercials & music videos.
However, I always had a passion to sing & create original music from a very early age, inspired by early Eurythmics, Grace Jones, Laurie Anderson, Allison Moyet (Yaz), Kate Bush, Cris Williamson, Nina Hagen, Lisa Gerrard & Patti Smith... strong women with killer talent. At a party in Toronto back in '93, hosted by friend & veteran music video director Floria Sigismondi, things finally began to shift towards music & singing. I was 'discovered', I suppose you would call it, to travel to Belgium & work with one of electronica's original pioneers Daniel Bressanutti (Front242), to create M.O.R.F., along with video director/vj Rod Chong. I had never sung infront of anyone before, let alone pursue it as a 'career move', so when our first gig happened to be at the Paradiso in Am*dam with a crowd of over 2,000 people, it was then that I was introduced to the underground electronic scene in Europe. Over one year later M.O.R.F. disbanded (they do exist now in a slightly different incarnation). Rod & I began working with Thom Holkenberg of Junkie XL fame, & electronic music producer Lars Korb (Bugbreeder) to create Speedtribe (which also still exists, with many of the M.O.R.F. crew). Canadian super-talent producer Byron Wong (David Usher, Crystal Method, My Brilliant Beast) also leant a helping hand via Toronto.
Yet, despite adverse conditions of squatting in an abandoned bank in Am*dam & continual gear problems, a demo was completed in just two weeks. One month later, Speedtribe performed to another capacity crowd at the Paradiso, bringing interest from several European labels & seven months of heavy contract negotiations. By this point, I realized all too painfully, that I had to find my own voice. From the minute I made the decision to become a singer it totally metamorphed my life - & it has never been the same since.
I made the very difficult decision to strike out on my own, landing in Vancouver. I 'unplugged', literally, & became part of the burgeoning spoken-word scene, where it was about communicating with the voice, building community, & active awareness. One day, on my way to Long & McQuade to rent recording equipment, I ran into Len Paul, who ironically happened to have the very piece of gear I needed & *Unspoken* was created.
As a soloist, I've collaborated with Dickey Doo, Dr. J, Troy Jackson & DJ Luis, & shared the stage with The Front, Tegan & Sara @ Grrlapalooza, Adrian White (FLA, Silent Alarm), Yvette Narlock (Mollies Revenge), Silvana Kane (West End Girls, Pacifika), Jacqueline Rendell, Rachel Flood, Intermission Arts Society & Michael Franti (Spearhead). Key live performances have included Elle'ectricity at Club Sonar, Sistahood (twice), the very first New Forms Festival, & Under The Volcano, as well as numerous Wiggle events hosted by the House of Venus. In October/November 2005, *Unspoken* went on our first mini-tour to Am*dam & Berlin, & we're looking forward to returning sometime in the fall of this year, as well as the release of our debut album (check out www.unspoken.ca, or www.myspace.com/unspokenca for more details).
As an actor I've appeared in both film & television, starring in such shows as Bliss, Outerlimits, Strangeworld, No Night is Too Long, Passageway, Brotherhood of Murder, & The L Word. Diverse roles have seen me as a futuristic pop star diva; astronaut; FBI agent; 1930's courtesan; burlesque dancer; 1950's jesus-freak housewife; heroine addict; & the last descendant of Nostrodamus, just to name a few. My favourite directors to work with have been Helen Shaver, Lynne Stopkewich, Floria Sigismondi, Tony Goldwyn, Ernest Dickerson & Stephen Gyllenhaal (yes, Jake & Maggie's dad).
I'm also a videographer & editor, as well as a budding documentary filmmaker. I was hired by my friend Mark Achbar (Manufacturing Consent) to work alongside him as his assistant on the highest grossing Canadian documentary to date, *The Corporation* (www.thecorporation.com). After almost a year as *Creative & Organizational Catalyst* working directly with the post-production, research, editing, sound & graphics crews, I was asked to be *The Voice of The Corporation* (www.thecorporation.com), with Len supplying the original soundtrack (www.lotusaudio.com). By then I had direct knowledge of all the issues we talk about in the film. Mark wanted it to sound somewhat like a female version of Hal from 2001... seeing how the film has gone on to win so many awards around the world & how much it has tapped into the current of events has been truly rewarding. This has lead to other narration gigs as well, & I love contributing my voice to things that truly matter (check out www.ghostsofindustry.com - a wicked site that Len did the music for as well).
So, what comes next? *Unspoken* is a going concern, with new songs ready for mixing/producing, relocating to Toronto & tapping into the vibrant music scene here, as well as in pre-pre-production on my own first feature documentary. Over the course of the next few weeks I'll continue to post interview footage, music, some film clips, & more images.
Thanx for the visit & for reading thus far. Be well - Mikela
"Polaroids" - shot/styled/envisioned by michael venus over a period of 6 months
Illyria Pestitch Fall '07 Promo
Music:
bjork, anything by pj harvey, the blue alarm, silent alarm, pacifica, my brilliant beast, yvette narlock, unspoken, troy jackson, jarrett martineau, basement 11, sugarcubes, cocteau twins, joanna newsome, antony & the johnsons, old eurythmix, patti smith, front242, junkie xl, lars korb, freakydna, nina hagen, portishead, lamb, morcheeba, the living dead boys, anything experimental, intermission arts society, igor santizo, mary margaret o'hara, tricky, massive attack, martina toply bird, radiohead, low, sigur ros, fraser mackenzie, iron&wine, dead can dance, this mortal coil, sinead o'connor, nina simone, kinnie starr........ & on & on &....
Movies:
orlando, elizabeth, amie & jaguar, 2046, in the mood for love, kissed, falling angels, flower & garnet, the corporation, anything by or with vincent gallo, it's all gone pete tong, lara croft, crouching tiger hidden dragon, anything by the surrealists (man ray, maya deren) & the list goes on....
Television:
only when there is absolutely nothing else to do
Books:
the perfect book tends to almost fly off the shelf at me... on several occasions this has literally happened, opening to the exact page with something totally relevant
Heroes:
my neices & nephews, pippy longstockings, the bionic woman, maya deren, katharine hepburn, audrey hepburn, marlene deitrich, greta garbo, christy turlington, annie lennox, pj harvey, tenzen palmo, angelina jolie, susan sarandon, floria sigismondi, tilda swinton, cate blanchett, chloe sevigny, martha graham, frances mcdormand, lauren hutton
