DEIDRE: Freely Focused

posted by ashleigh

"Know what you're selling," are words I have heard repeatedly since my move to the city.  As aspiring creators, our hunger to try everything can so quickly dilute our effectiveness in actualizing one thing.  In a world saturated with young artists, it is so important to embark upon the creative journey with clear and deliberate intention in order to stand behind one's product and stand out in the market.  For songstress Deidre Muro, this focus boils down to three words: “Sassy, creepy, and fun" and, as long as she doesn't stray from this recipe, her music is interesting, original, and true to herself as an artist.  

DEIDRE in her "Classic Girl" music video

“Working with focus,” she admits, “that’s something I had a problem with when I was younger.  I can pick up a lot of styles and do them well, in terms of writing songs, but I had to find what it was that I felt was the most unique or the truest thing I can do, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

 

This concentration, however, did not come without a great deal of creative restraint and effort, and years of putting it into practice.  She recalls a vivid memory of her dad, also a musician, saying to her, “This is going to be the curse of your life: you have many talents and not one clear talent.  You’re going to need to focus.”  She took his words to heart and allowed them to guide her toward a clear definition of herself and the musician she would become.  While a student at NYU, she made the choice: rather than trying to learn the styles that everyone else liked or listening to all of the music that was “really cool”, she would seek out the oldest, most ghostly blues recordings she could find.  She realized that it was this music that excited her and this style that she wanted to adopt.  “Gypsy music seriously moves me," she discovered.  "This stuff gives me chills.”  And she dove into it.

With the Ladies' Recreational Dance Auxiliary

Headfirst, in fact.  When we met up to chat, Deidre was working on more projects than I could count.  In addition to developing the first album of her solo persona, DEIDRE, she continues to write and play with her band Savoir Adore, sing in her fiancé David's band French Horn Rebellion, act as project manager for the post-production work she and David generate together, and function as creator, choreographer, and performer of the Ladies’ Recreational Dance Auxiliary, the group she formed to dance with her at her solo shows.  (Oh, and did I mention she's planning a wedding?)  Wearing so many hats could easily water down an artist's potency, but Deidre maintains her focus by always coming back to herself and what it is that makes her tick as a musician: "My favorite thing that I've done for every single [DEIDRE] song is I try to imagine all the different female archetypes that have appeared in our cultural past and embody them - the femme fatale is my favorite of all time.  I love to write for the female villains.”  Her direction is her passion partnered with her guiding words: sassy, creepy, and fun.  "I want each song to be one of the three," she decided.  "Better if it’s multiple.  That’s my mission statement."

Deidre is proof of the power an artist can achieve by having a clear and concentrated "mission statement", as she takes the reins of her career into her own hands and decides for herself what kind of musician she wants to be.  Being focused doesn’t mean an artist can’t still explore, and no one should feel discouraged from remaining playful and open to organic creation.  Deidre actually finds that these “self-imposed limitations make creating really cool” and allow her to write songs more quickly than when she was creatively distracted, which “helps me to stay relevant to myself.” Now free of these distractions, she has found a love for the creative process so that, even in the exploration, she is satisfied more regularly.  "It’s so over-the-top fun for me," she shares, "it’s a dream."