Interview with Miri Milman from System Divide

My interview with the lovely Miri Milman from the metal band System Divide! ()_o \m/

Ty: What was it like growing up in Israel? 

Miri: Growing up here was great although when you are a kid you don’t really know life outside of your home. I did experience a war as a kid (the Gulf War) but rather than that I pretty much had a normal life here. I started doing music at a very early age so that’s basically what I did my whole life…

Ty: Speaking of your homeland, do people recognize you as a musician or do you have a certain degree of anonymity?

Miri: I think it all depends on what you intend on doing as a musician, if you try to get a job in the opera house or play in a band for a tv program or so then they will be surely asking for a degree because they hire people who truly know music and do it for a living. As for me, I don’t have a musical degree but I did study a few years of vocal training with several teachers and I had a few years of piano studies. I would have loved to have a musical degree but honestly I just don’t have the time to go to school and combine it with my touring life and family life.

Ty:Music projects both past and present that you've done have inspired people. Are there any bands that you especially enjoy or that inspire you and stimulate your creativity?

Miri: Through the years I got to know a lot of different bands, artists and musical genres and some of them truly influenced me as a person and as a musician.
Every period of time some other band/artist influenced me differently, depending on my mood of course. I think the main artists that engraved their signature in my soul were:
(in a chronological order)
Danny Elfman (the composer of Edward Scissorhands the movie) for his amazing creations in the movie that taught me how beautiful melody can take you other places in your head and stays with you forever. Beethoven for teaching me that music is timeless. James Hetfield because of his outstanding energy on stage I got into Metal music. Anneke Van Giersbergen (The Gathering) inspired me to sing in Metal bands and that metal is not only for men.
Christina Scabia (Lacuna Coil) inspired me that a woman can be beautiful but still kick ass on stage. Dolce Pontes - a Portuguese artist that inspired me the most and I never imagined that one can control all the vocals techniques in the world and makes it sound so easy!
Opeth for teaching me that Metal music doesn’t have to follow only one genre.
Beyonce – perhaps one of the few people that actually deserve all the fame and prize winning, she is without a doubt a gifted human being.

Ty: Your song "More than a Memory" is fantastic! Any chance you'll be putting out more solo stuff in the near future?
Miri: Well thank you very much sir! I’m actually working on a solo project these days, I still don’t know how it will sound like or what direction I will chose but I’m really digging out a lot from the darkest corners of my soul and putting together a very personal project that will discuss some private issues of my life. 

Ty: And speaking of new material, I hear System Divide's working on some ideas. How's that going?

Miri: We’re actually working on a new album as well these days, we got some solid ideas so far but we rather take our time and put out something that we will be absolutely complete with.

Ty: Working with your husband, does the writing and creativity process bring you guys closer together?

Miri: Hahaha, tricky question! Working with your partner is mostly a great thing, you get to share something you love doing with a person you love but again it depends on the current mood, some days things go smooth and we really enjoy it when our ideas flow together and some other days we have some conflicts but only because we’re very passionate with the ideas we have and we both try to voices our opinions, I think it’s normal just like every other issue we deal with J  

Ty: I really respect that you rely solely on your talent rather then run around half naked trying to sell yourself instead of the music. What advice would you give to others just starting in the music industry as far as image goes?

Miri: Thanks a lot, I grew up with an actual love for music and performing and I'm also kind of an old fashion type of gal, I don't feel comfortable or think it's necessary to get naked in order to make people listen to you. If you have a talent if you truly have the voice just use it and people will listen, there are still a lot of people out there that appreciate artists for their talent and not only for their good body features. It's true that a lot of people nowadays buy music with their eyes and not with their ears but this is just another phase of the music evolution.
My personal advice is just BE YOURSELF! Don’t try to imitate other artists, don’t do something that you’re not comfortable with, just go with what feels right for you!

Ty: One more and I'll leave you be. What are some of the pros and cons of working with all guys in System Divide?

Miri: The pros would be definitely the chance of working with professional musicians who breathe music their entire lives, also the privilege of doing music with my husband - that is the greatest pro for me!
The main con will be the distance, not be able to meet the band practice, having single shows or even just to hang out whenever we feel like, Every move we make cost a lot of money so we only meet them just before we go on tour then we have a few days of practice and off we go!