Graphic by Ella Sylvie
Rather than simply being a collection of songs, albums can be a way for musicians to design an entire universe of storylines within their lyrics and music. Creating themes that tie together multiple songs and writing lyrics that reflect nuance, growth and even contradiction is nothing short of musical genius. Listening to these albums all the way through is a way to jump inside the narrative world that the artist has created. Every listen to an album with this formula seems to give you new pieces of the story that you may have overlooked the first time — a kind of musical puzzle. Many of my all-time favorite albums follow this formula, from Green Day’s “American Idiot” to Hozier’s self-titled album. But it seemed to me that this way of writing albums was a thing of the past and that new ways of creating music have come and taken its place. That is, until I got the chance to talk to 24-year-old singer-songwriter Misao McGregor about their debut album, “Kid in the Corner.”
Misao was raised in a home where music was not just their lifestyle, but their livelihood. Their parents worked for the LA Philharmonic and as a child, they encouraged them to pick up an instrument and try their hand at music. While it may seem that because of this childhood, it was a given that Misao would pursue music, it wasn’t until they were 12 years old that they realized, “This is something I can do.” For Misao, writing music was a method to express and work through complicated emotions in a constructive and creative way, as well as challenge their preexisting boundaries.
In 2019, after graduating college with a degree in playwriting, Misao came back home to LA and decided to make an album. This idea had been burning in the back of their mind for a while, but it was only until COVID lockdowns that they were given a chance to focus on what would become “Kid in the Corner.”
Rather than simply write the music and have someone else produce the album, Misao was determined to keep the whole process true to their vision of what they had in mind. So, that was how Misao decided to produce the album themselves. They were lucky enough to have their parents’ grand piano to work with, but the rest was up to them to figure out. To get started, Misao invested in a solid microphone and DIY-ed their brothers’ old bedroom into a recording studio. They taught themselves how to use Logic, a music production software, through experimentation and trial and error. Hours of hard work went into the making of the album, and although the process was long, there was a lot to gain.
The overall vibe for “Kid in the Corner” was inspired by major moments in Misao’s life. One stems from childhood memories of Misao being driven around in their parents’ car. Their parents would have a number of CDs in the car and, in classic CD fashion, when you played one, you would listen to it the whole way through. To Misao, each CD had a distinct story to tell: “There’s a whole universe in an album.”
The heart of the album is also very much rooted in some of Misao’s high school experiences. Writing and reflecting on the trauma from their experiences during this time was paramount for Misao. Taking the time to relearn their own history and cope with it though music was a way to reclaim their trauma and not let it be “something that just happened (to them).” With music, it became something Misao could carry forward.
While writing the album, there were moments in which Misao had a conflict between what they thought people wanted to hear and what they wanted to share. They wanted to create something that would resonate with people. In this moment, Misao thought back to a sentiment they learned while studying playwriting in college: “The personal is universal.” Recalling this is what gave Misao the incentive to write songs and make the album for themself. “My personal experience is all I have to offer.” They explained that “(Playwriting) helped me figure out what I wanted the overall album to sound like, because I wanted it to be a story.”
With this album, Misao created something that is as much theirs as it is the listeners’ experience. Writing the album from a more personal perspective but giving it a universal narrative through its storytelling allows for the album to be adaptable to the experiences of whoever listens to it. Even the title, as Misao stated, is not entirely exclusive to them. “I can be that kid in the corner, I feel like that kid in the corner, but everybody’s felt that way at some point in their life.”
Taking the time to relearn their own history and cope with it though music was a way to reclaim their trauma and not let it be “something that just happened (to them).” With music, it became something Misao could carry forward.
Misao writing with the personal/universal approach has been definitely working in their favor and resonating with listeners of the album. When I mentioned to Misao that the most-streamed song on the album, “She Was Worlds Above Me,” hit 5,000 streams on Spotify, they were absolutely over the moon.
My favorite response of Misao’s was when I asked about what they wish for listeners to take from this album.
There was a moment of hesitation, but Misao began, “If they take anything away from the album, that’s incredible.” They explained that in their view, they love how an artist can make music with a certain intention and how the audience can imbue their own intention into it. A listener’s experience with an album, to Misao, is sacred: “It’s about whatever it is to you.”
Hearing Misao speak about their whole experience with music and this album had a level of honesty that I have not heard from any other musician. The entire album encompasses a story of coming to terms with your past and actively working on growing through the pain. With lyrics like, “I’m trying to be not what’s happened to me,” and “I could weather the weather and figure it out,” Misao is incredibly in touch with their experiences and emotions which clearly shows in this amazing body of work. Even in the more challenging moments of the creation process, they reflect on the experience with grace and love, knowing that these struggles all helped them get to the final product. Misao hopes that this album serves as a reminder that “Healing ultimately is possible but it is a lot of hard work and it takes a person’s commitment to do it.” To put it short, they hope it provides hope.
The storytelling of “Kid in the Corner” is nothing short of beautiful. The narratives of each song are portrayed clearly through incredible vocals and language, giving you all the feelings of the album wrapped up into one. However, the growth that this album represents within Misao is phenomenal. From learning to write and share music to being a self-taught producer, their story is something inspiring for any musician. Misao truly exemplifies what art is and what artists can be, and I can’t wait to see what magnificent narrative they pull us into next.