Q&A: Aussie Blues Star Mia Dyson Avoids the Abstract
Australian blues sensation Mia Dyson has spent the past decade generating critical acclaim, not to mention appearances alongside musical 
legends like Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, Stevie Nicks, and Joe Cocker…just to name a few.
Earlier this summer, Dyson released her sixth studio album, Idyllwild, a collection of songs in which the woman behind them views as a departure from her traditional rock and blues work of yesteryear. Rolling Stone gave the album a four star review, so she must be doing something very right.
Recently, Riffyou.com spent some time with Dyson to discuss how her songs come to be, the male-dominated blues community, and that moment where she ultimately felt accepted.
RY: A lot of songwriters like to work in the abstract and keep songs rather generic. It seems like you’re quite okay with being really personal with your work. Is there a particular reason for that?
Mia: “I think that’s been developed over time. I did try to cover up [feelings] with vague lyrics in the early days. But now, it’s not that I feel okay with it. I still find it very uncomfortable…sometimes when an album’s done, I’m thinking about the lyrics and going, ‘oh my God, it’s all out there.’ I don’t necessarily have that much control over what I write. My writing seems to have become naturally more direct and honest. In some ways, I just don’t argue with it.”
RY: It must make things a lot easier to not purposefully try to hold back.
Mia: “Definitely. When I’m writing, I find it important not to think about people listening to it and what people will think, because that’s going to be some kind of a barrier. I try to keep the writing process very insulated from that kind of critical thinking. Of course, there’s that point where it needs some critical thinking. But, when [a song’s] being hatched, it needs space.”
RY: A lot of people have lumped you into the blues genre, and of course your music has that stylistic feel to it. What is it about the blues that inspires you?
Mia: “My parents had what I consider to be a really fantastic record collection. A lot of the music that I found very soulful had that blues element to it and that’s what drew me in.”
RY: At least on a mainstream level, there doesn’t appear to be a lot of highly-touted female blues artists. Do you have any rationale regarding why that is?
Mia: “In terms of the mainstream world, I see that things move in these deep, trendy arcs. Obviously a couple decades ago, blues was more popular…Bonnie Raitt was [in the mainstream] for a while. I don’t know. I feel that blues is not that cool music. It’s the music that’s always there, but not trendy.
“I don’t think a lot of women play the blues. Thankfully, there have been a lot more female song writers and musicians [arriving] in the last decade. I feel like when I first started ten years ago, there wasn’t a lot of women – at least where I was – playing any kind of music. I’m really excited to see that changing. And, we’ll continue to see that change because there are more role models for the younger women who want to get involved.”
RY: Speaking of Bonnie Raitt, you have appeared with her in the past. What kind of impact has she had on you as an artist and a person?
Mia: When I was growing up, she was really the only female role model I had that played guitar. She was really important in that way. I got to see her [in concert] when I was thirteen, and thirteen years later I got to open for her in the same venue I saw her in as a teenager. I got to sing with her and play guitar. That was quite an incredible moment…especially having that feeling of being part of the world musical community. Coming up in Melbourne, I felt like an outsider.”
-Adam Grant
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