BEA MILLER ON SEEING MUSIC IN COLOR AND HER NEW ALBUM

BEA MILLER – The Untitled Magazine – Photography by Maarten De Boer. Bea Miller wears a Black lace snake embellished gown by GUCCI, black and gold glitter giant teardrop earrings by VICTORIA HAYES.

Musician Bea Miller is unstoppable. The songstress who sees music in color rose to fame after competing at the age of thirteen on the second season of “The X Factor” which resulted in her getting signed to Hollywood Records in 2013. Soon after, she released her four song debut EP called Young Blood. A year later, she released her first full-length album, Not An Apology, which debuted at the number seven on the Billboard 200. Bea joined Selena Gomez’s 2016 Revival tour and later that year joined Demi Lovato for her world tour as well as Nick Jonas’ FutureNow tour. In February she released the first portion of her 4 part, year long album project, CHAPTER ONE: BLUE, and in this June she dropped CHAPTER TWO: RED.

Check out our exclusive interview and photo shoot with Bea below and stay tuned for more from her full length, which she is currently co-writing and recording.

*Left Page: Bea wears a black velvet burn-out button down shirt by VICTORIA HAYES, black fur pom pom earrings by MADAME BALOGE. Right Page: Bea wears a Black lace snake embellished gown by GUCCI.*

UM: For our readers who are not familiar, can you fill us in on how you got into music?

BM: When I was 13, I auditioned for X Factor. At the time, I knew that I wanted to someday be a singer, but my family had just filed for bankruptcy and I saw that the winner of the show got a 5 million dollar prize. I figured that I could at least audition in hopes of saving my family while also doing something that I love.

UM: You came in 9th place on The X Factor. I would imagine it was an incredible learning experience? How do you look back on doing the show and the experience you gained?

BM: X Factor taught me how to be tough. It also made me realize that I should always stay true to myself and not become what other people want me to be.

*Bea wears a black printed gown and a black leather studded jacket by THOMAS WYLDE, black sequin ball earrings by MADAME BALOGE, sunglasses by GUCCI.*

UM: You have a new album coming out this year! What can we expect in terms of how it relates to your debut album Not An Apology?

BM: My music now is very different from my first album. I did not have much control over that one since I was so young, but I now write on all of my songs. It is very important to me that my music comes from me and is honest and relatable to who I am.

UM: The first part, “Chapter One: Blue” was just released with other chapters soon to follow. Can you tell us about the decision to release it in parts?

BM: People do not consume music in full albums anymore. The attention span is so much shorter now than and it is very difficult to have people listen to 12 songs at once. I also thought it would be cool to give my fans more of a real time update on what is happening in my life. So, I am releasing my songs closer to when I am actually writing them.

Left Page: Bea wears an embellished sweater by GUCCI, black star detail jacket by ANTHONY VACCARELLO, ruffled leather skirt by SAINT LAURENT, silver sequin ball earrings by MADAME BALOGE. Right Page: Bea wears a nude sheer sequin gown by FRANCESCO PAOLO SALERNO, nude patent leather jacket by THE ROW.

UM: Each chapter is named after a color, on June 2nd we heard “Chapter Two: Red” and will hear “Chapter Three: Yellow” in August. What is the meaning behind the colors and how does it relate to the music in each section?

BM: I see music in color, so I paired all of the songs I wrote by the color I saw when I listened back to them. The songs in each chapter are lyrically similar and emit similar emotions. The songs in “Chapter One: Blue” were all written around the same time when I was feeling really sad and lonely. I think we all hit low points and this was that time for me. “Chapter Two: Red” were songs I wrote when I was finally starting to feel better. I was still a little angry, but empowered from the anger to make my life better for myself. “Chapter Three: Yellow” will be lighter-not to say that once things get better they stay that way, but once you face and conquer one problem you are better prepared for the next.

*Bea wears a Black lace snake embellished gown by GUCCI, black and gold glitter giant teardrop earrings by VICTORIA HAYES.*

UM: How does the album come together as a whole? Is there a particular message you want to get across?

BM: The message I want to get across is that in the same way you can create any color in the spectrum from the three primary colors, you need to experience all kinds of emotions in order to be the best version of yourself.

UM: Do you have any rituals for writing new music? Are there specific influences you revisit?

BM: Essentially my music is just my diary. All of my songs are influenced by what is happening at that time in my life.

*Left Page: Bea wears black suede strappy shoes by CESARE PACIOTTI, black vinyl wrap waist blouse, yellow sequin paillette pencil skirt, copper and black ball bead earrings,* *and gold plated brass eagle knuckle ring all by VICTORIA HAYES. Right Page: Bea wears a black printed gown by THOMAS WYLDE, black sequin ball earrings by MADAME BALOGE, sunglasses by GUCCI.*

UM: I understand you have big visual plans for the album. Can you tell us about that?

BM: I am making music videos for every song in order to allow people to see what the songs are actually about. We all interpret music to be relevant to our own lives, which is powerful and important, but the visuals are just to show my perspective of the songs. I wanted to take it a step further so in each chapter where one video ends the next video begins. Making it all one cohesive story.

UM: Any tour plans?

BM: Working on that! I am doing a few shows in California at the end of June that you should check out!

6/26 SF – Great American Music Hall

6/28 LA – Troubador

6/29 Anaheim – The Parish @ House of Blues