Exclusive Interview: Meg Myers Indie Rock Icon Is Reclaiming Her Voice Through Music

Meg Myers is making a powerful return to music. The rock artist known for her massive hits, "Running Up That Hill," "Desire," "Numb" and "Lemon Eyes," returns to the stage with an empowering third studio album this year. Meg Myers first broke into the scene when she moved to LA at 19 and recorded her album Sorry which spawned several top alternative hits. Earlier this year, Meg shocked the music world with the sudden release of HTIS (Hiding That I'm Sexual) and its eye-catching album art. Today, she releases a new single, "CHILDREN OF LIGHT II," an uplifting rock ballad that expresses the spiritual growth of one of indie rock's greatest female vocalists.

After years of debilitating addiction, Meg used her time in isolation during the pandemic to turn inward where she reconnected with her musical calling. She describes the new single as “alchemy and liberation by bringing light to the shadows.” With the coming new album, Meg wants listeners to “acknowledge things that have been hidden so we can see through the illusions that we have all been deeply programmed to believe about ourselves, and our reality, so we can take our power back.” 

"I’ve always been drawn to making music as a form of therapy, but until I had my awakening I didn’t fully grasp why I was doing it,” she says. “When I was able to step back and see my story from a higher perspective, I realized that everything I’ve gone through is part of my mission to do things differently and create something that helps others—especially the people who’ve experienced trauma and have this confusion about how to release it. I believe there’s so much healing potential in all of us, and now I feel empowered to help other people find that and learn how to let go."

Meg Myers goes on tour later this year with My Chemical Romance. Rain caught up with the artist on her new perspectives and what's in store on her upcoming album.

You said of "HTIS" (Hiding That I'm Sexual), 'It’s about taking off the mask, exposing the insecurities and imperfections, and allowing it all to be okay. 'HTIS' is an acceptance of my inner child and a re-connection to my sexuality by reclaiming the purity of it for myself.' Can you talk more about this?

I think many of us have been taught to believe our sexuality is tied to how others perceive and interpret it and for me that always made it feel really unsafe to fully explore and express. HTIS gives permission to just be ourselves and find our own unique meaning in our sensuality. Really, it’s about breaking free of shame and embracing our sovereignty and innocent nature and getting in touch with our true essence. 

In 2015, when you released your album Sorry in an interview you said, "I want it to make people unafraid to feel." Is this still true? Has anything changed?

Yes, it’s still very true. This is what music does for me personally and I feel deeply that my music is meant to help people process their stuck feelings and emotions so that they can awaken and unlock their true potential. 

Talking to Spin you mentioned on your last two EPs Thank U 4 Taking Me to the Disco and I’d Like 2 Go Home, '[The songs] are such an important chapter of my life that led me to where I’m at now,' you said. 

Explaining the difference between the two five-song projects. 'The first one was a really dark period, and then the second one was me heading into my awakening. I didn’t want to make it an LP because I don’t feel like it represents where I’m at right now in my life.' How were these important to your work then and where you’re at now?

Well, I wrote those songs during many different phases in my life. During times when I felt victimized, angry and limited. And also during times when I felt empowered and liberated, so that material carries a lot of transformation in it. All my material does, but that body of work, specifically, is really tapped into the warrior in me that finally felt brave enough to start expressing beyond my comfort zone. 

You talk about how you overcame addiction and have a much clearer sense of what you want to do. HTIS seems to address this in a very interesting way. In a culture where we live in these mini addiction loops whether it’s a phone or a vape…I think it’s messing with people’s alignment. What advice might you have for someone who struggles with addiction?  

My advice is to be gentle and patient with yourselves and to understand that you aren’t alone. We’ve been living in a really harsh society for quite sometime that has kept us looping, like you said. It has kept us running from ourselves and from looking at the truth.

When we feel lost or scared, the last thing we want to do is admit it or feel it. So, instead, we seek external pleasures to numb out and avoid the discomfort. But inside the discomfort is actually treasure. So, my advice is to be curious and open minded that there might be another way. 

Can you tell us about your newest single "Children of Light II"? What was your inspiration? How do you think this evolution of your music represents you now and how you relate to your listeners? 

I wrote "COLII" after the first layer of my awakening a few years ago. I was sitting at my piano in the presence of my ancestors in spirit. Tuning into their energy of resilience and deep wisdom. It just felt so good to write it honestly, I couldn’t believe how empowering it felt to let my channels open up and let myself express so freely.

I realized how much I had been holding my frequency down for so long out of fear of persecution. Hiding in addiction and unhealthy relationship patterns, for example. This song was one of the first I wrote off my 3rd album and I feel that these songs are a sort of guidebook in a way, to greater awareness and collective healing. It’s beyond me!

You’re going on tour with My Chemical Romance this fall. It’s very interesting to see this pop punk renaissance thriving with a new generation. Why do you think that is?

I don’t know but I love it! I’d say there must be a certain vibration this music carries that is activating to the souls of humanity and that’s something to pay attention to. I feel we are all wild youthful renegades at heart and this type of music gives permission to access those creative aspects many of us have been denying. 

Do you think ideas surrounding queerness are changing?

Yes absolutely, I think people are becoming more curious about their existence, and that naturally opens the doors to freer expression and ways of being that are beyond the norm. 

It’s really interesting because you talk about how you listened to a lot of pop music. For a long time people quickly pushed music like yours into some alternative space. But that’s all changed now.

If you would have told me ten years ago when I was listening to Grimes, for example, that she’d be mainstream, I would have laughed. Do you feel that momentum..that sort of wind in your sails that societal attitudes and perceptions are changing?

That the general public is generally more open minded? How does that feel for an artist like yourself who has fought so hard and so long for these ideals?

I feel that we are in the midst of a really profound shift on the planet and that the energies among us are supporting entirely new perspectives and that continues to accelerate. It feels like a breath of fresh air. Like, 'holy shit, I can be myself and keep creating out of the box music and people are really getting it and it makes the process a lot more enjoyable and the service work more meaningful.' 

I can see why you covered “Running Up That Hill." Your cover is so good! Really gives it a new life. Long before Lady Gaga, The Guardian described Kate Bush as "the queen of art-pop.”

Perhaps there is no single artist that has inspired so many successful female artists. Bush once said, “I've never felt I've written from a political point of view, it's always been an emotional point of view that just happens to perhaps be a political situation." Do you relate to this?

I do relate so much. I feel there’s no separation so it’s all intertwined and connected. When we unlock the depths of our own traumas and emotions we are also unlocking the depths of humanities and the reasons behind societies corruptions. This is why it’s so important for us to become aware of our projections and remember to always bring it back to ourselves. We don’t change the world externally first, we change it first from within.  

Your last album was in 2018 but you have had some great singles in between, “Breaks My Back." Is the album format still important to you?

It really just depends. For my third album, it feels important for it to be a body of work because the lyrics and music are all tied into one another as it was written during a powerful altering 3 years.

During those years I was dedicated to shadow work and creating a new sound. So, most of it was written at home on my piano, uke and guitar and that feels like it wants to be gifted as a whole. That being said, I can see myself playing around with other formats after this album drops. 

What has been inspiring you lately? What are you most looking forward to?

Lately my friends, family, Patreon community and my 2 cats have been really inspiring for me to be more vulnerable, to keep it real and to be more in the present moment. As an introvert, this is pretty surprising to me, but I’m finding so much more understanding and connection to myself and the universe through the support of my community.

I’m most looking forward to sharing my new project with my fans! They help me as much as I help them and I am so ready to see what we can all uncover together and how we can inspire each other to heal and to thrive. 

Instagram: @megmyers
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