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Miriam Christine, Malta’s Brazilian from Gozo, became big news in Malta when she represented Malta at the Eurovision Song Contest. Like several other Maltese contestants that opportunity established her reputation as an artist of quality. Miriam Christine has moved on from her Euro experience and has recently released an album that is attracting rave reviews. ‘Little Zee’ has been described as “an amazing collection of heartfelt songs oozing real soul.” Check out www.miriamchristine.com. MaltaToday caught up with her this week.
Much has been made out of the fact that you originally came from Brazil, do you feel Brazilian in any ways? At the same time you are also Gozitan, a strange mix?
It’s a very strange mix! It’s quite weird that from such a big country (Brazil is the same size as the USA excluding Alaska) I ended it up living in tiny Malta and to top it all it had to be Gozo! When I went to Brazil last year it was one of the best experiences in my life. Brazil is a fantastic country – the people, their music, culture, and the place are all great. I felt that I had a lot in common with most Brazilians – I love football (watching it not playing it!), I like to watch television (when I get the time) and Brazilians adore television (for example, sometimes in a poor house with no flooring you’ll find the latest model TV set), and above all, I love music and dance like all Brazilians.
Few Maltese have ever 'made it' internationally, what are you doing to improve your chances outside Malta?
It’s a very tough business and now even more than ever. We are working very hard on promotion abroad. It’s very tiring and most people don’t realize what it takes and what it involves to try to break abroad. A lot of people think the music business is just glamorous and fun, but believe me, there’s more hard work and sacrifices and stress involved! I am not expecting anything huge at this point. I am doing my best and I’m just waiting to see what happens. I don’t want to be older and look back and realize that I never “tried.”
Your new album 'Little Zee' has been widely acclaimed, can you tell us from what the more momentous songs derive their inspiration?
I am very happy with the response people had for the album. It has definitely made all the hard work worth it. I love all the songs on the album, but ‘Little Zee’ and ‘Mystery Mama’ mean a lot to me. ‘Little Zee’ is a semi auto-biographical song and it’s about overcoming prejudice and becoming stronger. ‘Mystery Mama’ was written just a month before my husband and I were flown to Brazil to find my natural family and every time I listen to it, I still get shivers down my spine – it’s a very special song to me.
What sort of music do you listen to these days?
My idol is Alicia Keys so I listen mostly to her, but I also listen to Macy Gray, Mary J Blige, Aretha Franklin and Joss Stone.
You have produced some top quality videos, are you happy with the coverage they are attracting?
I am very happy with the response I keep getting about the videos. I have to say that I am very lucky to have all the help and support from my husband (who is a film writer and director) because otherwise it would be impossible to keep shooting a music video for every song! I also get a lot of support from various friends who help out every time we are working on a new video – it’s a team effort really. The videos have helped a lot in the promotion of the album and also in the promotion we are doing abroad.
Do you see a possibility that Maltese musicians, singers etc could live by musical career alone? What can the authorities do to help?
There are already some musicians who live by their music alone, but I know that it’s very tough. Our country is very small and our resources obviously are very limited. The music market is very small; there aren’t a huge amount of clubs where we can perform with a band; there aren’t enough shows throughout the year; all of these factors make it extremely hard to just depend on the music. At least, I feel that things have improved a lot these past five years, but it’s still not quite enough. One of the possibilities could be to leave our shores and try our luck abroad, but if here there’s a hundred musicians trying to make it, out there there’s millions! I think luck plays a big part in the whole situation. Though I do think that only if you work hard you’ll get lucky. As for what the authorities can do to help... that's a whole discussion in itself that we don't have space for in this interview... although I wouldn't claim to have all the answers.
You have been appointed ambassador for EU campaign against discrimination, how did this come about and what have you done in your role?
It came as a very nice surprise. I was contacted by Media Consulta, who are taking care of the promotion of the campaign all over Europe, because they thought that due to my background, I was the right person to do this. Up till now I have spoken about the campaign during some shows I participated in. We are planning to promote the campaign on television and radio very shortly as well as in other select performances.
What are your future plans?
I am concentrating on the moment – we are working very hard on promotion both locally and abroad. I don’t want to build my expectations too high, but I just want to continue working at this pace and see what happens. Maybe with a bit of luck…
If you could change three things about Malta what would they be?
I would like to have cooler summers because the terrible heat has started to get to me! Also, I wouldn’t mind having a white Christmas; I love the snow. The first time I saw snow I was in Germany and it was in the city. The first patch of snow I saw (which was very small and quite brownish in colour) I got so excited that I started jumping up and down on it like and idiot! I got quite a lot of stares from passers-by! The third thing I would change would be the roads.
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