MIRI & Rory Darling

Hey Miri, please could you give me a brief introduction into what your work is about?

So first and foremost, I'm a music artist, a vocalist and songwriter. I've worked in music for many years which has led me to being a workshop leader/facilitator for various organisations. So for example, there's a wonderful charity called Girls Rock London. I've been on the well being team for some of their summer camps. I feel very passionate about mental health, I grew up in the 80s which was a time when there wasn't really any mental health awareness. So my work has kind of led me to that quite organically. I co-facilitate music sessions in mental health units and have performed my music in male prisons. I also run workshops called Find Your Voice. The idea of these workshops is to use music as an outlet, but it's not about being technically perfect. It's more about focusing on the core of our being and channeling our truth, using music or words as a way to process our thoughts and feelings.

That's great, thank you so much. Have you had people who have been really low or shut down and then seen them open up in your workshops?

Definitely. Just sort of having a safe place to go and having a place to turn up to and, you know, be creative, and be around music and have that freedom, it really makes a difference. And not just saying it's a safe space but actually making it safe is really important. So, yeah, I've definitely seen that happen during different projects, sometimes in an instant!

It's really interesting what you're saying about having a safe space. And not just as a throw away, you know, but actually making a safe space for everyone. Especially if people are going through very tricky life circumstances where safety has kind of been ruptured, having that can be a bit of a lifeline. I always think that change is most impactful when it's individual people who you touch through your actions, and that has ripple effects, so your work sounds amazing.

Ah, thank you. I hope so!

What do you think the importance of music is for peoples' personal development? Personally and for the purpose of social change?

Music itself is a vibration, an energy. It can resonate with us and connect to our hearts and uplift us. I've had days where if I've had a particularly tough time or feel like I'm finding life a bit difficult, it just takes one song that I need in that moment to nourish me. Sometimes it's good to just dance around your living room, especially through lockdown when we couldn't be around people. It's powerful. Music can connect, it can unify, bring us together, it can make room for conversations and give us freedom to express. And that is really important.

For me music inspires freedom, openness and connection. If I write a song about something that's going on in the world or in my own life, and I feel powerless, but I write a song about it, that can inspire or connect with other people.

And I guess what I'd say about personal development is, you can do music and you don't have to be doing it as a career. You don't even have to be able to properly sing. It's just being able to write your thoughts or feelings. That is development, you know. To me, that's growth. From what I've seen in the work that I do, and I've seen it in myself as well, it can build confidence. It's about learning to speak up and express yourself. That's very important in regards to our growth.

Music is something that everyone can relate to, isn't it? So in times of crisis and upheaval and war, it's something that connects us. I was wondering what your favourite bit of work you've done so far is?

Some of my favourite work has been in the mental health units. Sharing those moments with people there who are having a really tough time and just seeing the music connect to them. I also run a Find Your Voice vocal workshop for First Timers Fest, which is lovely. I really enjoy the work I do for Girls Rock London as well. The energy I've experienced working on some of their projects has definitely been life changing for me, and I've seen the impact it has. That's what I find so deep about it.

And what's inspired you along your way? How did you get into music?

When I was younger, I got interest from a music publishers. Before that I never thought I was "good enough". In those days, it was a cassette tape that was passed on by a friend of mine, a lovely, amazing, incredible human, who I'd have vocal lessons with. He actually told me I was going to go on and teach someday. So that kind of led me into the industry. Back then I was so focused on the music. I was young, and I was naive. It was my way of communicating. The only way you could be seen and heard back then to an extent was to be signed. So that was my goal. I didn't deal with my sexuality until my early 20s. I was quite repressed growing up through Section 28. And, you know, everything is repressed. I threw myself into my music because that was my escapism, because this heteronormative world, or this idea of settling into heteronormativity didn't excite me. But music did. So in my 20s, I signed to a management company and I was close to getting signed, but it didn't happen. Now I look back, and I'm so grateful. Because I didn't fully know myself.

So I think there was a point in my mid 20s, where suddenly music stopped becoming as important. But I kept going at it, I was working in a record shop, this cool hip-hop record shop. I was exploring the queer scene in Soho, going to these bars and clubs with friends, suddenly music didn't feel as important. And I put it on a back burner, but then, you know, it comes back around and it's always there.

I love music and it's within me, and that's not going to go away. I'm not going to stop regardless of whether I'm being accepted by other people in music or not. I just need to live it.

I think it's about whether you feel seen and heard by yourself. And the work you do sounds like you're allowing other people the space to feel seen and heard. And it sounds like you're very driven by how your life feels, as opposed to how it looks. I really admire that. Especially in the society we're in which really has such a kind of cookie cutter idea of what success is and what a good life is. It's really refreshing and actually very brave. Everything you said has resonated a lot.

That's beautiful. Thank you so much. That's good. I received that.