Miko Reed — Songstress on the rise
What’s your full name and where are you from?
Yumiko Elizabeth Reed. I am from Oceanside, California but I currently live in Vista, CA.
Tell us a little about your business
I am a singer, songwriter, and musician. After I earned a BA degree in Visual & Performing Arts in which I studied music, fine art, and visual & arts, I wanted to pursue a career in music. In order to pursue that dream I needed to earn a “real” job (as my parents would put it) and ended up in the Biotech and Medical device industry for steady income. On the side I sing professionally in several cover bands ranging from Latin jazz, gospel, R&B/Soul, funk, 70’s and 80’s cover bands and I even write and sing my own originals. I also collaborate with other musicians and do recording projects or session work which has come in handy during the COVID shutdown. You can produce music in your own home studio and send the WAV files to people which is so easy and convennt! That is my side hustle but ultimately the goal is to make it my full-time career.
What makes you different as a person and also what separates you from the rest of your peers in your industry?
What makes me different is that the other singers that I work with on the local music scene most of them just sing. They are not songwriters, they are not musicians, and some of them are waiting naively to get discovered by American Idol or The Voice or whatever the next big contest a television show puts out. I feel they are waiting in vain. Those shows are great, but they are just two options and I feel the odds are stacked against you of even winning a contest. Instead of waiting to be discovered a singer or musician should make things happen by being pro-active and not putting all her eggs in one basket. When my gigs and shows got canceled I panicked. What am I going to do now with my music? So I saved my money and put together my own home recording studio and starting writing again and learning how to use Pro Tools and starting producing my own music and making some musical arrangements on the keyboards AND submitting my works for contests and auditions. I’m also looking into teaching voice lessons virutualy, and when the shutdown is over maybe teaching students in person. Luckily a gig popped up out of nowhere so I have that to look forward to as well. God is blessing me! Because I am praying but being pro-active at the same time. Also, I am multi-racial. Half black and half Japanese and I don’t run into too many people like me in my music circles. I’m equally proud of both sides of my heritage and that I was raised by two awesome, loving parents that are still married today…45 plus years!
Where do you see yourself in 5 years? - I see myself having a full-time career in music as a recording artist, doing my gig performances and teaching voice.
What legacy do you wish to leave behind?
I want to be able to also tips and advice to younger people wanting to sing professionally and to produce music that is positive and encouraging to people.
I have a desire to bring R&B/Soul and Neosoul of yersteryear to the present and just as popular. Music with substance and combining the old with the new. Talking about positivity and encouraging others with your music. Too much music nowadays is all about being materialistic and disrespecting others. We need to bring it back to its roots gleaning from our musical legends of Motown, Soul, Funk, with 90’s R&B and early 2000’s days of skillful vocal abilities and love songs.
Miko Reed
(p) 760–207–5786
(e) mikomusik760@gmail.com
YouTube: youtube.com/c/MikoMusik/
Web: mikomusik.com
FB: facebook.com/MikoMusik/
IG: instagram.com/mikoreed/
Spotify:
