Songstress Holly Miranda feels it all

This year has been good to Holly Miranda. After releasing her new solo record, "The Magician's Private Library," in February, Miranda toured with Tegan & Sara, had a profile written about her by New York Times music writer Ben Sisaro, and was lauded on Kanye West's personal website. Her music has drawn comparisons to Cocorosie, Cat Power, and a trippy version of Feist, but the former Jealous Girlfriends vocalist shrugs all that off, and names Nina Simone as her main influence. Miranda grew up in Michigan attending a Pentecostal church five times a week and was banned from listening to secular music -- with Motown as the exception.

The tall, dark-haired Miranda has always been open about her sexuality. "I have no problem being out, but I don't think it has anything to do with my music," she told AfterEllen.com in 2009. "I like who I like. I don't want people to not listen to my music because of that and I don't want people to listen to my music because of that. I haven't had to deal with it in a professional way very much yet."

"Private Library" layers synthesized sounds over Miranda's honey-smooth vocals and raffish guitar. "Sweet Dreams" calls to mind Arcade Fire's instrumental breadth while the combined listening of "Canvas" and "Sleep on Fire" seems akin to the newest release from Icelandic post-rock group Sigur R�s. Throughout the album, which was eleven years in the making, Miranda's voice offers haunting life to songs about sleeping, dreaming, and being in love.

Miranda's husky voice matchers perfectly her maladroit, blas� demeanor. She calls me "man." Her brown hair is long and her legs are even longer, and when she sings, she tosses her head and stamps her feet just like a horse. Her slender arms are stamped with tattoos. Miranda will make a stop at T.T. the Bear's in Cambridge on May 22 when she passes through the East Coast yet again on her way back from touring in Europe. Thanks to Miranda's flight getting cancelled by that pesky Icelandic volcano, I got the chance to chat with the songstress about Nina Simone, why interviews are like therapy, and what she would keep in her private library if she were a magician.

Bay Windows: Congratulations on the new album!
Holly Miranda: Thank you.

BW: You're stranded in the U.S. because of the volcano, right?
HM: Yes. [Laughs] It's bizarre.

BW: What were your plans abroad?

BW: Where's home?
HM: Brooklyn.

BW: What was it like touring with Tegan & Sara?
HM: It was awesome. It was a pretty incredible experience. They're amazing, and they put on such a great show. We just got to play some really, really beautiful, old theaters and places I'd never dreamt of playing, like the Ryman [Auditorium in Nashville]. Steel Train, the other band that was out with them, was incredible, too. By the end of the whole tour, it was just like a big family.

BW: Speaking of family, are the Jealous Girlfriends ever going to get back together?
HM: [Laughs] I don't know. I don't think I can really say what will happen with the Jealous Girlfriends, now that we're all doing our own thing right now. Two of the guys started another band and the other guy had another kid, so we're all kind of occupied with our own things right now. But, you know, never say never.

BW: What was it like to find out that Kanye West had posted your song "Slow Burn Treason" on his website?
HM: It was really flattering. ...I honestly don't really know too much of his music, as sad as that is. I don't really know a lot of music, actually. From what I've heard, I think he's really talented.

BW: If you were a magician, what would be in your private library?
HM: Endless symbolism. [Laughs] There'd probably be lots of horses, and weird little noisemakers, instruments. Yeah, probably that. Horses and instruments. [Laughs]

BW: How did your religious upbringing influence your interest in music?
HM: I think it really influenced me a lot. There was always music in the churches that we went to. There was always a full choir and a band. I never really sang in church, like performing in church on a stage, I didn't do that. But I just remember I was always singing on my way home from church. That and Motown is really all I was allowed to listen to until I was in my early teens, I guess. I started finding other music. But I can definitely hear the structure of hymnals and even the chord progressions in my own music still. I think it really influenced my songwriting a lot.

BW: You've named Nina Simone as a big influence on your music.
HM: She's the cr�me de la cr�me. Her soul...she put absolutely everything into her music. I adore everything that she's done. I didn't even realize that was her playing piano for the first couple of years I was listening to her, and then I found that out and it just, like, blew my mind. Even further, I'm reading...there's a new biography that just came out on her, called "[Princess Noire:] The Tumultuous Reign of [Nina Simone]," or something. Her story's incredible. She was the first African American woman ever admitted to Julliard for voice and piano. She tried to get into a school in Philadelphia after that, but they weren't accepting women so she started playing jazz. The combination of her classical training with her improvisation, I think she's one of a kind. I could go on and on and on.

BW: Maybe you should write a book about her next.
HM: Maybe I will. I'm going to do a graphic novel based on the life of Nina Simone. [Laughs]

BW: So, why are so many songs on the new album about sleeping and dreaming?
HM: I don't know, man. ...It wasn't a conscious decision and I didn't even realize it until I started doing interviews and people kept bringing it up and it was like, "Wow, yeah, there's a girl sleeping on the front [cover of the album], and practically every song has some reference to dreaming." I didn't even realize I was that obsessed. [Giving interviews has] actually kind of been like therapy. You know, I've been having to think about why I'm so obsessed with dreams and I've realized that I think it's because my first conscious memory from when I was two years old was having my first dream. And it's not even the actual dream -- I don't remember what the dream was -- I just remember waking up and crying because I had no idea what just happened. I didn't understand the separation. I think that probably lends itself to my obsession. [Laughs]

BW: What do you dream about nowadays?
HM: I haven't had any dreams lately. I don't remember them. I usually have some sort of crazy, trippy dreams, but I can't think of one right now.

BW: Now, the most important question: What's it like to have two first names?
HM: [Laughs] It's glorious. Miranda's actually my middle name. I went by my full name for awhile, but people always mispronounced it.

BW: Thanks for taking the time to talk with me. I'm looking forward to seeing you play soon.
HM: Thanks. Cool.

For more information about Holly Miranda's show at T.T. the Bear's Place (10 Brookline St.) in Cambridge on May 22, visit hollymiranda.com or ttthebears.com. "The Magician's Private Library" is available on iTunes or Amazon.com.