Hailing from New York City we talk via the wonders of email to silky smooth Mr Shy
Thanks to an inclusion on the American Indie Bible website and newsletter we had drop through the shadders online letter box a fantastic array of parcels all marked with the phrase ‘Air Mail’. Some of the CD’s were awful, some downright bizzare and of the best were Anglo American rockers Dirty Royals direct from LA and from the East Coast, New York City to be exact came a bit of a surprise. Mr Shy was the name and ‘Superstar’ was the album, it kinda took us off guard as we weren’t expecting such a soulful and smooth album. We reviewed it straight away, dishing out glowing praise and this album review is featured below. Then using the glorious modern technology that is known as myspace and email questions were sent across the Atlantic ocean and quickly completed and returned. The resuts of this techno interview is also posted below as Mr Shy answers 20 questions.
Album Review - Super Star (New Soul Records)
State of origin– Direct from New York City, the fashion and creative capital of the states.
Price of shipping to the UK – 3 x 63 cent stamps featuring some happy looking medical scientist Jonas Salk.
Background – Mr Shy is the ‘trading name’ of a Michael Miller who used to be the singer of New York collective New Soul Orchestra, no we’ve never heard of them either! According to the biog Michael has been a singer / songwriter all his life and his influences over the years include The Beatles, Marvin Gaye and Earth, Wind & Fire.
Worth a listen? Yeah definitely, Mr Shy has created in Super Star an album featuring ten laid back, cool songs that will have you tapping your feet and nodding along without you even noticing. It’s not the in yer face album we were expecting from one to inhabit the city that never sleeps, in fact it’s rather understated but beautifully crafted. At times there are hints of the Philly soul of Daryl Hall and Michael’s falsetto vocals lays well on the rich soulful musical backdrop. His influences have paid off, Motown and old skool RnB (before it became rap pop nonsense) he actually lives up to the title of Superstar, or it would do if it sold the shed load of record it deserves to.
Verdict – A silky smooth 38 minutes of relaxing tunes straight from the heart.
20 Questions for MR SHY….
Q1, Firstly I’m sure you’ve been asked this question a million times but why are you called Mr Shy, when your real name is Michael Miller!? The name actually comes from an old song I wrote, and also played in my previous band, New Soul Orchestra. The title itself is "Mr. Shy", too, and it was written after I couldn't muster up enough courage to go ask a girl for her number at a restaurant one night.
Q2, Your debut solo album is called ‘Superstar’ is this you blowing your own trumpet? Well, I loved the double-meaning of it as an album title, knowing people will assume it's some egomaniac singer's song (not saying I don't have a decent size ego), before they actually listen to it... so I couldn't resist! And hey, "power of suggestion", as they say ;) Of course, the song is all about what you hope you are in the eyes of your signicant other.
Q3, What can newcomers expect from ‘Superstar’ and why should they part with their hard earned dollars / pounds to buy it? Expect a very original -- but also very pop -- album of good songs, each one carefully crafted, and sung, produced and labored over with all of my love and care and passion for what I do. Hopefully, people buying my album will take it home and quickly discover it was money well spent, and maybe even think it was a steal! :)
Q4, Where can we buy it and can it be shipped to the UK? The physical CD can be ordered online, using PayPal, and we ship it globally -- and that, of course, includes the UK! Also, there is no additional shipping!! It can also be ordered through CDBaby.com, and I believe it's available on Amazon.com. As, for digital downloading, it is available on iTunes, and we are waiting for Snocaps, if you've heard of this, where I can virtually set up my own downloading store. You can also find all the places it's available on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/mshy
Q5, We think it has the feel of Philly soul, perhaps early Hall or Oates, is this fair and what’s the best and worst reviews / comments you've read about the album? Well, my style and my voice certainly are influenced quite a bit by great American soul, like so much of the Philly sound, Motowns, etc.. Funny, was just listening to The Spinners, and they actually started on Motown, but for some reason they were not embraced by them, and then they took off in the 70's on Atlantic, on the East coast. Anyway, I'm digressing a bit... hmm, my best review? Well, I've gotten quite a few that really appreciate the album as a whole, and that is really the highest compliment for me. As for the worst, there was a reviewer who also reviewed New Soul Orchestra (my old band) and while he loved that, was quite luke-warm to my solo offering. Especially disliked the "rinky-tink" sound on my last track, "Missing You", which I sort of thought was funny.
Q5, Rumour has it you’re working on a remix album, what’s all that about and when is that released? Rumor NO MORE !!! :) Yes, I stumbled upon a producer/DJ in France online, who did a remix of my single "Super Star", and he then pointed me to a label in Italy, GKF Records, who specialize in house remix digital-only releases. They loved the remix and hired 2 more remixers, and now a compilation is being released in the spring -- April/May 2007! There will also be a bonus remix track of my album-opener, "Loved The Way You Loved". But I've also uncovered a very extended underground world of remixers and house music, and to-date there are about a dozen remixes of "Super Star" and a few other tracks, that I also plan on either releasing on my label, New Soul Records, or landing them with other labels. Lastly, there is a remix that might be on an album of a producer in Spain, and it could be a major-label release.... Stay tuned on all of this!!
Q6, We believe you gig regularly on the NYC circuit, how would you describe yourself on stage? Wow, that's a hard one to answer. Being a front man singer, with just a mic in my hand (I grew up playing drums, btw, and did a lot of singing behind drums) is something I'm still getting used to, but I become more comfortable with myself the more I do it, naturally. I do play locally in NYC on a pretty regular basis, although I have not done a show since early January with all the deals and promotion I've had to oversee.
Q7, Any chance you spreading your wings and coming across the Atlantic to play in the UK ? I would love to!!! I am planning more of a promotional tour/trip later this spring, in May it's looking like, but if a single really takes off and I have some financial backing to really take my live show on the road, the UK will obviously be at the top of my list!
Q8, What’ s your favourite Mr Shy tracks to perform live and why? "Missing You"... and I never would have guessed before the band tackled it and we added it to our set. It's the closing track on my album, and it's sort of a mercurial mid-tempo r&b song, with an up-down/complex vocal melody. The chord changes are not simple, either. But somehow, it's really come together live (my bandmates are virtuoso, and love jazz too, and I think they are especially fond of this song musically and find it a fun challenge.) As for me singing it, I just find myself really getting into it... getting lost... which is not so easy for me. "Loved The Way You Loved" is also a solid live song, and one I love to perform.
Q9, If you could pick a couple of covers to perform which ones would you chose and what does this say about your music? Hmm, another tough one. I really love Earth Wind & Fire, and I've sung in cover bands a few times where we did some of their classic 70's songs, and that was a blast! Also, because of my voice, I have fun doing old Michael Jackson songs, like "Rock With You".
Q10, Have you a website and do you have a myspace page? Not that it’s a competition but how many friends do you have on myspace! Yes, yes, and a good amount!! :) Below are both sites, and I am about to crack 13,000 (as of the release of this interview, it will certainly surpass that) friends on myspace! Oh, and I'll include YouTube below, too: http://www.mr-shy.com http://www.myspace.com/mshy http://www.youtube.com/mrshy
Q11, Rumour has it you were in a band before going solo who were they and what were they like? That band was New Soul Orchestra. It was the joint brainchild of myself and my oldest brother, Dan. It sort of never got too far off the ground, although we did manage to put out an album, which is on New Soul Records, together with my solo release. They were more of a live-feel outfit -- a big band, a-la Earth Wind & Fire -- and we did live shows in NYC with 2 back-up singers, 2 horn players, and a string trio!! It was an ambitious project, and partially financed by my brother who had a successful business at the time, but then he started a family and moved out to California, and I was sort of left to myself to finish the album, and things fizzled out after that. But it's on myspace, too, and people can order the CD (and vinyl, btw!) there: http://www.myspace.com/newsoulorchestra
Q12, Can we still get hold of their album? Haha.... yes, see above :)
Q13, So we believe you were raised and live in New York, what’s living in the ‘big apple’ like? You can get very lost here, and feel quite small and insignificant, like any big city I imagine, but this one in particular. It's still a great city of culture, music, nightlife, etc., and I don't take advantage of it enough.
Q14, What’s the music scene like stateside? All we see is bubblegum pop, hip hop and goth rock in your opinion is there anything we should be looking out for? I do believe the music scene is pretty divided and stale here. It's why I am finding more success and a warmer response overseas, i.e. my remixes and releases all throughout the EU. So gosh, no, I really don't think we're exporting much these days beyond what you're describing. The major labels just continue to saturate themselves with what they know will bring in profits (bubble gum acts, "street cred" hip/hop and rap, or just oldies that have a built-in buying base) .... the big music biz labels.... real risk-takers and visionaries of new, quality music, aren't they? :p
Q15, Could we ask you about 9/11? From this side of the Atlantic it felt like the beginning of the end of the world what did it feel like in the city on 9/11? The beginning of the end of the world. Yeah, it was beyond surreal and very scary. I paced my apartment all day, worrying about my two brothers and mom. I was at home, still sleeping, and I live on the uptown part of Manhattan, so maybe 5-6 miles from ground zero. It was horrible, the whole thing, and utter barbarism in the 21st century.
Q16, We’ ve visited NYC before and after 9/11 and we thought there was a huge attitude shift in the population (for the better) do you think this is true and what differences have you noticed? Hmm, I'm not sure. I actually think, with 5 1/2 years gone by, that people have forgotten to some degree. Certainly, in the months following, we had American flags hanging from every front door, awning and window. Funny how now, if someone hung our flag, there might be people outside protesting.
Q17, Are you Yankees or Mets (we’ve been to see the bronx bombers ourselves and we gutted to see them beaten in the play offs last season)? Mets, but the Yankees baseball stadium IS nicer -- and filled with all of the legends of our "great pastime" game, a great history/nostalgia and ora to it -- the Mets are the relative newcomers to the scene (came into the league in the 1960's.) But I root for both of them :)
Q18, What’s your favourite part of the city and what should the humble tourist see or do when they travel into New York? Downtown is certainly more hip and has the best clubs, versus upper west or east sides -- all this in Manhattan, of course. For more cutting-edge hipsters, Brooklyn is the place to hang out, with an underground art and music scene. You can also find this on the lower east side, but that's changed a lot over the years -- it's more basic-nightclub stuff now.
Q19, What do you think of the Bush administration and is he as hated as much in the states as he seems to be in the rest of the world?! I will separate Mr. Shy from politics (as I certainly do not write about it in my songs -- love songs all the way, for me;)) BUT, I will simply say, as an artist/ musician from a very left/liberal-leaning city, I do not go lock-step with the rest of my crowd. Bush is not "the most dangerous leader" in the world, or evil, or insatiably power hungry etc.. He's a 2-term limited president in a democratic country, that had a lot of hard choices to make in a new, complicated global age, and he's out of office in about 20 months. So this blindly radical view that he's some imperialist, ruthless, blood-thirsty leader in the minds of so many around the world just puzzles me, and I find it pretty irrational. I guess I'm finding my own brother and mom pretty irrational then, too :p
Q20, Finally in no more than 50 words please write your own press release (and swearing is allowed!). If carefully crafted pop songs with an r&b/urban edge, guided by a soulful and passionate voice, delivering thoughtful, straight forward lyrics of love -- requited and unrequited -- sewn together with infectious hooks, harmonies and rhythms is your bag (whew!) ... then Mr. Shy is sure to satisfy!