Meg Myers
Janice Sue Meghan Myers, who goes by the name Meg Myers, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Originally from Tennessee, Myers moved to Los Angeles to pursue music and met Doctor Rosen Rosen, who signed her to his production company. In 2012, Myers released her first EP, Daughter in the Choir. Later that year, she signed to Atlantic Records, with which she released the Make a Shadow EP and her debut album, Sorry. She later departed Atlantic for 300 Entertainment and released Take Me to the Disco, her second album, in 2018.
Early life
Born in Nashville, Myers spent the first five years of her life in Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains where she was raised by her father, a truck driver, and her mother, both formerly Jehovah's Witnesses. After her parents divorced, her mother married a comic book artist, who moved the family to Ohio. Her mother and stepfather ran a cleaning business. When she was 12, Myers and her siblings were taken out of school when the family moved, this time to Florida, where they remained throughout her teen years. During this period, Myers began singing, writing songs on keyboard, and teaching herself to play. She played in a band named Feeling Numb that she started with her brother.A few days shy of her 20th birthday, Myers made the decision to move to Los Angeles to pursue a career in music. She lived in a studio apartment with her then-boyfriend, got a job waitressing at a coffee shop in Hollywood, and performed whenever she could secure a gig. Although the relationship with her boyfriend ended, Myers then met Rosen who signed her to his production company. The two began writing songs, including all of Daughter in the Choir and Make a Shadow. The full-length album Sorry followed in 2015. According to Myers, her goal for her music is simple, stating that "I want it to make people unafraid to feel."
Career
2012–2014: ''Daughter in the Choir'', signing with Atlantic Records, and ''Make a Shadow''
Myers released her début Daughter in the Choir EP in March 2012. Prior to release of the EP, she released the single "Monster", which was her first success, thanks to its music video, which was directed by A.P. Fisher and produced by Filippo Nesci, as noted by LA Weekly. Her follow-up single, "Tennessee", caught the attention of British radio DJ Mary Anne Hobbs, who named it her "Game Changer" track of the week. In August 2012, Myers completed a month-long residency at Bootleg Bar in Los Angeles and began to generate interest from record labels.In April 2013, Myers released her first single via Atlantic Records, "Heart Heart Head". The music video premièred on Jay Z's Life + Times. In September 2013, Myers opened for The Pixies at three shows in both Los Angeles, CA and Brooklyn, NY and released a new single "Desire", which premiered on Stereogum. Myers kicked off 2014 with the release of the "Desire" music video, premiering it on Vice’s Noisey blog. Both "Desire" and "Heart Heart Head" were featured on her second EP, Make a Shadow, which was released on February 7, 2014 and also features "The Morning After", which premièred via SPIN. Myers supported the release of her new EP with a show at LA’s Bootleg Bar.
2014–2017: ''Sorry''
Following the release of Make a Shadow, Myers began to draw attention at alternative radio, first by Kansas City’s KRBZ – 96.5 The Buzz, a station known for breaking acts early on, such as the English indie outfit alt-J. "Desire" became one of the top ten most Shazam'd tracks in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The song was the fourth-most-played on KRBZ Kansas City in the week ending June 15, according to Nielsen BDS. It went on to peak at number 17 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart. Myers performed at the station’s annual Afentra’s Prom in April, and she joined the New Zealand pop duo Broods on select dates of their Spring North American tour, which included stops in Los Angeles, Chicago, Brooklyn, Washington DC, and Boston. Myers also jumped on the summer festival circuit, having performed at the Governors Ball Music Festival, Bunbury Music Festival, Buzz Beach Ball, and Lollapalooza. The New York Times commented on Myers’s Governors Ball performance noting "...early arrivals heard Meg Myers hurling imprecations at the destructive power of love and desire: With seething hard-rock riffs like early P.J. Harvey, and a voice that built from laments to screams, she was cathartic even under noonday sunshine." On February 26, 2015, Myers released on her Instagram a 10-second snippet of her new single "Sorry". A full version was released March 3 on Myers's YouTube channel. A music video for "Sorry" was released on April 7. Myers embarked on her first headlining tour in May 2015.On July 23, 2015, Myers released a new single entitled "Lemon Eyes". That same day her album was made available for pre-order on iTunes.
On September 15, 2015, Myers released the studio version of her new single "Motel". Three days later, she released her debut album, Sorry, which debuted at number 79 on the Billboard 200.
2018–present: ''Take Me to the Disco'', [Running Up That Hill] cover, and 2020 EPs
On April 27, 2018, Myers released the song "Numb" as the lead single from her second album, Take Me to the Disco, which was released on July 20 via 300 Entertainment. "Numb" is about the struggles trying to fit Atlantic Records' expectations for her.The title track for the album was released on June 1. The third single from the album, "Jealous Sea", was released on June 28. The fourth single "Tourniquet" was released July 13, a week prior to the album's release.
Myers worked with producer Christian "Leggy" Langdon on the album, recording it mostly at his studio in Topanga. All her previous works were produced by Doctor Rosen Rosen. After completing work on the album, Myers and Atlantic Records mutually parted ways. She brought the completed album to NYC indie label 300 Entertainment.
“I met Andy when I was really young and had never worked with anyone one-on-one like that before,” Myers told Pass The Aux. “I had never had anyone pull stuff out of me like that so it was a really deep connection musically and as a friendship, like a brother. But change is the only way to grow, really,” Myers said of moving on from Rosen. “It was definitely scary and I didn’t even know exactly what I wanted to do sonically, but I just had faith. I feel like you just end up meeting the right people, and I met Leggy and it was just such a magical connection. I found another person who would help harness my authenticity.”
On March 6, 2019 Myers released a cover of "Running Up That Hill", originally by Kate Bush. With the release, it was also announced that she will be releasing a collection of seven original songs that were recorded as part of the Take Me To The Disco sessions in the early summer of 2019. However, the EP was not released in 2019 for unknown reasons. Myers then stated during a livestream on her Patreon on April 27, 2020 that the project has evolved into two EPs to be released later in the year. Meg announced during another Patreon livestream on June 22, 2020 that the two EPs are expected to be released in August of 2020 and will be titled "Thank You For Taking Me To The Disco" and "I'd Like To Go Home Now". On July 26, 2020 it was announced during a livestream on Patreon that her next single will be titled "Any Way You Want To Love" and will most likely be released in September of 2020, along with the EPs.
Musical style and influences
Myers's musical style is the result of her upbringing and childhood musical influences, as well as collaboration with her co-writer and producer Doctor Rosen Rosen. "I came from this grunge, punk-rock background, but I always wanted to write catchy pop songs," Myers says. "I just didn't have the technical knowledge to make them work. But I grew up listening to well-crafted songs. I loved Sting, Led Zeppelin, Dire Straits, James Taylor and Fleetwood Mac. That's what I was drawn to. I love the simplicity of a great song, I just didn't realize how hard that was to capture in a recording. That's why working with Rosen is so great. It was like, 'Okay, I found this guy I can write songs with and who is really good at turning everything into pop, while still letting me be myself.'"According to Interview, "the lovelorn facets of Myers' dark, intimate music might evoke Sinéad O'Connor or Fiona Apple, but there are also moments of tumult and menace that trace back to her teenage fascination with grunge bands such as Nirvana and Alice In Chains."
Myers is also a fan of Enya. She confirmed the song "Some People" follows Enya's lead.
Discography
Studio albums
Singles
Extended plays
''Daughter in the Choir'' (2012)
Myers' debut EP, Daughter in the Choir, contains elements of modern pop music combined with lyrical angst and rawness.''[Make a Shadow]'' (2014)
Videography
| Title | Year | Director |
| "Monster" | 2011 | A.P. Fischer |
| "Tennessee" | 2012 | Dave Seger |
| "Curbstomp" | 2012 | Trish Sie |
| "Heart Heart Head" | 2013 | Elliott Sellers |
| "Cold" | 2013 | |
| "Desire" | 2013 | Jordan Bahat |
| "Go" | 2014 | Robert Hales |
| "Sorry" | 2015 | Andrew Donoho |
| "Lemon Eyes" | 2015 | David Vincent Wolf |
| "Motel" | 2016 | Justin Nolan Key |
| "Numb" | 2018 | Clara Aranovich |
| "Jealous Sea" | 2018 | Clara Aranovich |
| "Running Up That Hill" | 2019 | Jo Roy |
Appearances in film & television
"Monster" played during the end credits to the Season 1 finale of Banshee."Curbstomp" along with "Go" both appeared in The Originals episodes "The Casket Girls" and "Alive and Kicking" respectively.
"Make a Shadow" appeared on Teen Wolf in addition to the film American Satan.
"Constant" appeared in an episode of American Idol in March 2019.
"Desire" appeared in the teaser promo for the second season of Hanna.