Miss Velvet – Lovin’ in the Afternoon

By starrymag | June 7, 2023

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

 

Q) How would you describe your sound?

 

A) Miss Velvet lives in a 70’s sonic-cinematic technicolor world with a modern rock sensibility.

 

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

 

A) Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Aerosmith, Simon & Garfunkel, Janis Joplin and The Holding Company, Nancy Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, George Clinton, Fleetwood Mac, Annie Lennox, Tina Turner and Nina Simone.

 

Q) George Clinton called you “the definition of rock n’ roll.” How does that make you feel?

 

A) Very humbled. Truly an honor he said those words to me. I will never forget that day coming out of my RV and him stopping me and telling me that. He has been around so many greats and heard the best of the best – so to have him say that, is just so powerful. I’ll always hold on to his words in deep gratitude—and as he did every night on stage during our tour, I also follow my own gut in music.

 

Q) Talk about the story behind your new song “Lovin’ in the Afternoon.”

 

A) The inspiration behind this song was to write a feel-good rock-n-roll song. The message behind the song is about being in control of your own destiny with love. I wanted a song that just has this explosive energy driving it the whole way through. These kinds of songs for me let me push myself as far as I can go up there on stage. It’s physical and exhilarating to push to that limit. When thinking about the whole album I always like to have moments where I can do that on stage and then I can pull way back and get very still and then just let the song or voice do the story telling. It’s gotta be like waves — some lap smoothly at you and some crest and crash all over you sending you tumbling!

 

Q) The song dropped on Valentine’s Day. What made that the perfect release date for it?

 

A) I chose to release that single on that day because the message behind the song is about being in control of your own destiny and powerfully playing with love. Whether that is for a fling — (in the song’s case, an afternoon delight) or, of course, something more. Having the confidence to get what you need and want—whatever that means for you!

 

Q) What do you think it is about the song that fans connect to?

 

A) I think fans are connecting to the wild, powerful and playful energy of the song. I see a lot of women singing this song or dancing to this song with a fierceness. It’s so rad see people actually using your song when they want to feel empowered, sexy or badass! Because that’s how I feel when I sing it!

 

Q) How does the video for the track play into the message behind it?

 

A) At this particular point in time we do not have a full video out…Along with the playful vibe, we’ve been tossing up some content TikTok for fun! It’s been great seeing the reactions and engagement you don’t get sometimes with a full-on music video.

 

Q) What is your song writing process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics?

 

A) I usually go pretty deep into the creative vortex. I used to have to go somewhere like rent a studio in New York and completely isolate, but now with kids it has obviously changed my process. Remarkably, it feels more natural to create around the house with them – interspersing my time with little moments by myself to marinate on the music or words. For this particular record, the process was unlike anything I have ever done. My producer and co-writer, Esjay Jones, actually lived together for a few nights a week every week for about three months writing this album. Once we wrote the album, we then demo-ed up the songs and sat on them for another month or so making little tweaks here and there. Once we felt good, we then locked-out Revolver Studios here in Cali for two weeks and recorded the full album. We had amazing musicians tracking all the instruments live so that it really lived in a sort of 70’s soundscape in real time—not manufactured—it was totally generic!​​

 

Q) How much of hand do you have in the production of your music?

 

A) It has been a very beautiful process this time around where producer Esjay Jones and I demoed up everything together even before we went into the recording studio with the musicians. We had this joke that we would say, “We are the band.” We knew exactly what we wanted. I would describe the feel and vibe and the Esjay brought the tracks to life. We would sit in my home studio, and we would go through each instrument and sound. Esjay is truly a force being able to hear and play every instrument while building the track.

 

Q) What can fans expect from a live Miss Velvet performance?

 

A) I’m so excited to get back on stage! It’s been a minute between the pandemic and two children back-to-back! My live show has a really dynamic arch to it. It starts off full throttle (just to make sure the audience is awake [laughs]) then we have this very cool stripped down acoustic moment in the set where the band steps off stage and Esjay (my producer/ songwriting partner) and I do a few songs just us two, guitar and vocals. Then, we rev back up and end the set with a very cool surprise cover. I always love to end my sets with a cover.

 

Q) Your album Traveleris coming soon. What are some themes you can tease that you will be exploring on it?

 

A) Traveler explores themes of conditional and unconditional love, sex, loss and motherhood with a distinct focus on the style of classic rock music.

 

Q) You’ve performed in over a hundred cities and done one hundred and twenty-seven shows. Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you?

 

A) I really loved performing in Seattle, Portland, New York and then oversees in Australia, Paris and Amsterdam. All of the shows and cities we went had special standout moments but these few shows I remember wall to wall packed venues and an electricity that just went through the crowd like a wave and hit us on stage. The band and I truly felt that buzz. That electric vibration that creates this circulatory motion between you and the audience. The people in these places were just so wonderful to us.

But I have to say, really everywhere we went in the world the people who come out always give something special! It’s the live experience. Nothing like it.

 

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?

 

A) I’m just gonna throw out one of my hero’s right now…I would dream of doing a duet with Steven Tyler. Ahhhhh!!!

 

 

Q) What album/band are you currently listening to and why do you dig them?  

 

A) I went back and started listening to SteppenWolf again. They really embodied this time in America in the 70’s. This sense of freedom, Rock N Roll and that untouchable magic carpet ride they can take you on when listening to their records.

 

 

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

 

A) Like anything that is fickle, it can love you and hate you at the drop of a hat. It definitely can be a cool thing if used right or it can be a really scary thing if used wrong. I try to take it with a grain of salt. What has been cool is I have started to find an audience on TikTok that loves the classic rock era that I love and digs the vocal sound I have. We actually share songs and have some great convos. I recently did a cover of “Born to Be Wild” by Steppenwolf with Esjay Jones on guitar and it started to get really strong engagement and I was able to have real chats back and forth with people that were discovering me for the first time. Because they loved the cover, they then wanted to learn more about my own music.

 

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

 

A) I deeply appreciate the love and support because I get to make music that represents me and what I love and share it with you. Music has really been there for me in some crucial moments in my life and a fan said the other day to me that my song and voice got them through something. It literally made me tear up. That is truly why I do what I do.