Mizan
Song-writer and artist, Mizan makes the type of music that is self-declaratory with an imposingly rich voice, scant in glitz yet decadent in the exploration of the human condition. Although she’s been writing and composing music since she was very young, Mizan is relatively new to the the New York music scene. Immediately after graduating from college, the 24 year old musician moved to NY to establish a music career; one she had dreamed of ever since she started taking piano lessons at age 7. Now, Mizan essentially runs a one-woman business, although she collaborates with other artists, she always makes it a point to be in control of all facets of her art. Offstage, her community of friends who are filmmakers, illustrators, and digital engineers enable the signature simplicity of her videos and crisp quality of her music’s sound. The entertainment industry has its own challenges, namely resisting the ready-made molds. She credits her Ethiopian upbringing for exercising the foresight to opt out of frivolity. She says, “I’m not interested in being pretty or in being easily consumable. Not at all. In fact, everything I do should challenge people to understand me even if I’m not those things. I’m interested in making good, innovative, meaningful music, in being provocative, and in being honest.” Her first and upcoming EP, Dark Blue, is a telling description of her music personified in a color. Ethereal and nuanced, dark if for no other reason than it’s deep exploration of a shared human experience of ebbing and flowing emotions that are hidden under the surface of every day life. She’s been working on the EP ever since she moved to NY and is releasing it slowly one song and video at a time.