Miya Collins

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Miya (Mee-ya) Collins is a native of Seattle,WA. Emersed in the arts early in life, she studied Piano, Violin, Tap, and Ballet as a child performing in numerous recitals and productions as a youngster. "I was pretty lucky as a kid, my parents weren't exactly rich, my father, a teacher and my mother, a seamstress, but they saw an interest in the arts and geared me in the right direction and it really kept me out of trouble! I was taking what I learned from dance class and applying to the musical productions we had in elementary school, one of the music teachers at school had me create and choreograph a dance routine and teach it to the other kids. This instilled in me a sense of responsibility. Mostly, other kids were great, however, I had to contend with your typical jealous, mean-spirited kids and distinctly remember a little girl threating to beat me up after school for really no reason but it really made me a strong-willed, determined, person early in life." At age 9, Miya accidently discovered singing while curiously, tagging along to her father's voice lessons and ended up studying opera with former Metropolitan Opera Singer, Edmond Hurshell. "I didn't plan on the singing thing but I seemed to have a nack for it." Also at the age of 9 she won a District competition for her self-written piano concerto, "Dream of the World in Harmony." "When I was a young kid, I really had more of a thirst to compose music rather than just play music (believe me I have great respect for the classical greats and love the music, but in my mind I had to create!) and it soon took over my piano lessons and I was spending less and less time on the curriculm. My piano teacher was supportive at first, I'd come to my piano lessons with new compostitions every week, and she'd tape them for me and I would get to perform them at piano recitals. But eventually, she told me in a irrate tone that she was a piano teacher not a composition teacher and I then ended up dropping the piano lessons at 14 years old."
In Junior Highschool she was entering district/state solo/ensemble adjudicated competitions and receiving a Superior + rating (highest rating) for 3 consecutive years for her solo vocal and violin events. "In the 9th grade I had the greatest music teacher who played drums who encourage me to try different things, he had me play drums at a concert we had at school,..I don't know how you "real drummers" do it, it was pretty funny, I remember my calves killing me!"
In Highschool she had her hands full singing, being a section leader and piano accompanist with the Concert Choir, doing the dance choreography and singing with the Vocal Jazz Ensemble, Being the lead singer with the Jazz Band, Singing with Jazz Combos, and playing Violin with the Chamber Orchestra and Concert Orchestras. At 17, she performed at the Seattle Opera House (Mccaw Theater) as the lead singer for the KM Jazz Band, Headlined by Trombonist, Carl Fontana in front of an very appreciative full capacity crowd. During that same period she performed at the Idaho Jazz and Downbeat Jazz Festivals. She was fortunate enough to be one of the elite voices to be selected for All-State Choir, All-NW choir (5 States), All-State Jazz Choir and All-State Orchestra. She was also Voted Most Likely to Become a Star, Voted Most Inspirational and Musician of the Year by her musical peers.
Miya received Musical Scholarships to Pacific Luthern University and Western Washington University for both Voice and Violin. She attended Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA where she studied music and flamenco dancing. Shortly, after attending college, at 19, she auditioned and then became one of the singing servers working 5 nights a week at the Holiday Inn by the Seattle International Airport performing group productions, and solo showtunes, standards and straight-ahead jazz with a former Sinatra/Davis Sideman and Juilliard Alumni, Polish Pianist/Composer, Igon Puchalski. for several years. "I was quite the little hustler back then, I remember a situation where I was able to cough up $150 for singing one song and getting "huge" tips for certain requests. I was also surrounded by such great talent, one of the singers is now with the San Francisco Opera Company." Through this experience she gathered an invaluable education. "It was a great experience, this really taught me how to read a variety of audiences and tap into the minds and hearts of them, Igon was an incredible player he was one of these piano players who could create an arrangement on the spot and make you work! We had great musical chemistry we had certain songs, "secret weapons" that would guaranteed to bring the house down. He always said we should record an album together but unfortunately it never happened." During her time there, she was picked to be interviewed and to be featured in a article regarding her experiences at the establishment, and in the Highline Times Newspaper article...the writer,Jennifer Steiner, described her as an old soul, "looking younger that her years but could belt out a tune with the vigor of an old pro."
Miya has entered and won numerous talent contests in the local area and has performed as far as Nevada and Oklahoma. She wrote the theme instrumental music for Toastmaster TV which can be seen here locally in the greater puget sound area. "In the past, I've actually had interest from a Columbia Records Representative, hearing me sing live cover music with my own stylings, phrasing, asking for a demo, but I didn't have one. However, after talking with different artists, I'm thinking maybe it's more beneficial to go Indie and have more artistic control over the material, image and direction. I've heard and read about horror stories of major label artists going bankrupt. It's a "borrow from the label, hope to hit a homerun and then hope you get paid game. Yes, there is an advantage with a major label as far as marketing and promotion, but, being independent if done correctly, can work. Indies just have to beat the pavement a bit harder and have a good distribution system to find their audience."
She has fronted her own straight-ahead jazz trio, "Miya Collins Trio", using some of Seattle's finest pro musicians on a rotating basis and has gigged with Seattle blues/jazz guitarist venom, Michael Powers. Currently, Miya's Karaoke Hosting/DJing weekly at a Nightclub in Bellevue, WA. "I use a different monger, it's sort of like a dayjob, it's great, we have a combination of your typical Karaoke singers, Borderline Pros, and Local Band Pros, that come in." She does it with her man, her "partner in crime", Triplejay. "It's a great way to keep the chops up without having to sing straight for 3 hours, entertain, and be entertained in the process, it's also a very stable gig, unlike your typical gigs where you are usually somewhere different every week." We also do quite a few private parties, weddings, corporate stuff, basically by word of mouth. "This forces me to keep my DJ skills up because you really have to know how to play everything! We've played for "black crowds", "white crowds" everything in between, all different types of people, from the upper echelons of society, to people trying to make it on the streets...what I really like about music is it really brings people together.. as long as they don't drink too much, needless to say, we've been in some very unforgettable predicaments! LOL She also joined an established Smooth Jazz fushion group based in Seattle after searching endless for the "right snap." It's a combination of Jazz, Neosoul, Funk, and R&B.
Current Happenings: Miya has been busy workin on several projects and juggling gigs and fielding several offers for session work in between. Miya recently lended her speaking voice on a hot latin acid jazz track written by Seattle DJ/Producer, Danny Massure, for his upcoming solo release. Miya previously did a collaboration with Danny Massure along with the deft aid of DJ Phil Anthony and the ever Multi-tasking Saxaphonist, Mike Deasy Jr. She contributed vocals/lyrics on a couple of hiphop tracks for the upcoming Ticklejunk Records CD and Vinyl release, "Ticklejunk All Stars-Future Funk Sessions." She's featured on "First Rate" and appears on, "Finally Arrived" f/t Chocolate Industries Rap Phenom, Diverse. "Finally Arrived" has been in KEXP's rotation. (Commercially released May 1st, 2007, available through Groove Distribution and in stores worldwide.) For more further information about this release checkout Danny Massure's myspace page. "You can find Danny on my Top Friend's List." Presently, Miya has been collaborating with Danny on a new album, comprising of a wide spectrum of sounds, including: Acid Jazz, Funk-Soul, Breakbeats, Brokenbeats, Deep House, Downtempo, Hiphop, Dance, and World Music.
A full length release of smooth urban jazz completely penned by Miya is also in the works followed by an album of Traditional Jazz and Blues.
"I want to take what I have experienced in life, the ups and downs, the observations, and deliver my unique take on it and hopefully, touch the hearts of and connect with the audience."