Mirah channels her inner disco diva

Despite averaging one release a year since her debut EP Storageland in 1997, US indie-folk singer Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn (Mirah for short) has never visited our shores.

The singer-songwriter’s small but loyal band of Australian fans must be experiencing the sort of withdrawals only rivalled by Madonna’s Antipodean devotees.

“It’s nothing personal, that’s for sure. I was planning a solo world tour for myself in 2001, and then September 11 happened, so it got put off,” the openly gay 36-year-old explained from her home in San Francisco.

“I’ve definitely had contact with Australian fans and musicians over the years. But I sort of manage myself, but I don’t always do the best job,” she said sheepishly.

With that in mind, Mirah will approach this tour as something of a retrospective.

“I have over 10 years and almost that many albums under my belt, so I’m taking some gems from the catalogue.

“I’ll have a pared-down band, which I’m sure Australian audiences are used to — it’s so hard to get a bunch of people over there. But I spent the first six or seven years of my career only playing solo, so I think the tour will hark back to those days. And they were great days.”

While she may have started off solo, in recent years Mirah’s made a habit of unusual collaborations. Not many artists can list a concept album on the life of insects (2007’s Share This Place: Stories and Observations, a project with Spectratone International) on their resumes.

“I’ve been working on a lot of different projects in the last few years. A concept album, a remix album — I love doing it, and I learn so much. You know what, I like people,” she laughed.

The remix album, 2006’s Joyride, sowed the seeds for Mirah’s latest release, a 12-inch disco version of Gone Are All The Days, the opening track of her latest album (A)Spera.

“Hearing what people did with the remix album gave me a broader scope of ideas for my music. It made me realise, I’m not just one person, I’m so many different people. And I wanted to have fun. I’ve joked about doing a whole disco album, changing all my songs to disco.”

And perhaps she will: Mirah’s always forged her own path. It’s for that reason she decided very early on in her career to be upfront about her sexuality.

“I totally understand why some queer artists don’t put it in bold at the top of their bio — when I’m described as a ‘lesbian singer-songwriter’, it sounds so dorky.

“But I realised early on — from when I was having a meeting about my first album coming out — that if I didn’t make [my sexuality] part of who I am in a public way from the very beginning, people would keep misunderstanding me and my lyrics.”

info: Mirah plays the Red Rattler on October 21. Tickets through Moshtix.