Jay Miners is a singer, songwriter and composer with indie/folk/pop sounds. Born and raised in New York, she grew up playing classical piano and has written wide range of songs, including pop melodies and lyrics, instrumentals, and jazz pieces. She is influenced by her parents’ CD collection of the greats (Simon & Garfunkel, Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell) in her early introductions to music, and later inspired by folk/pop singer songwriters like Sara Bareilles, Vienna Teng, and Elizabeth & The Catapult.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Jay Miners about the latest project, motivations, challenges and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
I was born and raised in New York – first Queens, then out in the suburbs of Long Island, and now back in Queens. My music has been categorized as folk/pop or chamber folk, but sometimes there’s a bit of jazz in there, which comes from my time in college in the jazz band. Sometimes a little country, which I think has a hearty dose of great story-telling. Mostly a quiet confident hum in my songs, with a story to tell and a striking of emotions that I always aim for.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
I took classical piano lessons starting from when I was 6 up until I was 16, which was when I was going through a particularly difficult time. It was also when music, my safe place for so long, suddenly felt like somewhere I didn’t know anymore, and that scared the shit out of me. So I was determined not to let it go; I taught myself how to play the guitar, I was a part of the school musical in high school, and I started to compose. Songwriting really snuck up on me during those few years, and re-invented my relationship with music — it truly became my outlet of expression, of being brave and sharing whatever I had to say, of harnessing this creative side of me that wanted to come out but didn’t really know how. What continues to motivate me is really a love for this craft. I really don’t know what I’d be doing otherwise.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
When I was writing Something Alive, I was also in the midst of writing a book (which has been at a pause for a bit). The book tells the story of a young Asian American woman, who is searching in her late mother’s past for answers about her death. There’s alignment between the main character and myself, like the lostness she sometimes feels grappling between the Asian and American sides of herself, and her relationship with her parents and culture. Those themes very much inspired the song, and helped me explore and reflect on my own experiences.
I was also lucky to have worked with a bunch of talented folks to make a music video telling a part of this story. An all-Asian cast (the fantastic J.Y. Chun plays the main character) and some amazing filmmakers (director Erik Lu of Descendant Films and production team from Maestro Filmworks) made this project super special.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
Finding how to promote yourself on social media and figuring how to get your music heard is always challenging, and something I’m still learning to navigate. The whole landscape of discovering music now is still new and evolving, and it’s tough to keep up for sure. Something that has helped me is knowing that there are so many options to share what you’ve made, and looking at that optimistically. In trying different outlets, I get closer to figuring out how and where to connect with people. Recently, it’s been fun doing DIY videos and finding a visual way to share a song’s release and story.
What was the last song you listened to?
“Hands Dirty” – Delta Rae. A badass tune.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
I’d have to say I’ll always have a soft spot for CDs. My parents’ CD collection fills a whole closet, and it was my childhood. I loved going to Borders (#RIP) on the weekends, buying CDs and popping them into my player, and following along the lyrics in the CD booklet for each track. There’s something about falling in love with an album that way.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
I really appreciate Spotify as a listener, I think there’s this cool conversation between playlist creators sharing songs they love and those looking for new music. As an artist, Spotify’s a tough cookie to crack, but it feels like the place to be. If I had to choose, Bandcamp has always been a favorite of mine. Easy to see an artist’s work, with an option to both stream and directly support musicians.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
Follow me on Facebook and Instagram! I try to share cool things. Besides that, feel free to sign up for my mailing list (titled “Jaybirds” for kooky reasons) for updates on upcoming shows, new songs, etc. Links below:
https://www.facebook.com/jayminersmusic/
https://www.instagram.com/jayminers/
https://www.jayminersmusic.com/jaybirds/Psst… a Patreon page is in the works so stay tuned for that!
Anything else before we sign off?
New music is coming really soon! I’ll be releasing the second single off my new EP by the end of November, and it’ll be released with a cool lyrics video artist Jeff Deng and I worked on.
I’ll also be playing a show at Rockwood Music Hall on 12/8 at 3pm. A little holiday show to close the year – would love to see you!
