About A Girl

Meet artist, songstress, creator, and imagineer Moorea Seal.

1. Describe what you do
Well, i do lots of things! i am an illustrator, an artist, a musician, and jewelry designer. anything that there is to make, i want to make it! i sing, play guitar, write music, paint, draw, sew, and so on and so on.

2. Why do you do it?
Because i feel like i am made to create. i am a big mixture of over imagination, ADD, wanderlust and daydreaming. and i feel overwhelmed when i can't release all of the things i see and hear inside, so i use art and music to channel it all out to share with everyone around me.

3. When did you first know you wanted to make music?
I have always loved singing. i remember being four in my father's church in England and watching the choir sing, thinking, "ugh! i want to be up there singing too! why can't i be with the adults? i am mature enough to be singing with them!" But i guess i knew i needed to start actually producing my own music when i heard Joni Mitchell in junior high. so at 15 i finally got a guitar and immediately wrote a song a week later.

4. Can you remember your first ever performance?
i had been writing music for three and a half years before i shared it with an audience. i had sang one of my songs to a friend in high school and she didn't like it, so i completely shut my music off from everyone. but when i went to University of Redlands, my freshman year, there was a little musician-y talent show. and everyone loved it! two boys even came searching for me in my dorm that night to tell me they loved my music.

5. If you had to make a mixtape now what would it have on it
1. department of eagles: "deep blue sea"
2. bob dylan: "lay lady lay"
3. blitzen trapper: "Furr"
4. john vanderslice: "trance manual"
5. animal collective: "winter love"
6. john lennon: "oh yoko"
7. grizzly bear: "graceland"
8. the ruby suns: "kenya dig it?"
9. caribou: "melody day"
10. panda bear: "bro's"

6. How do you dress?
i'm ever changing in my style. generally it is pretty feminine. i am 5'9" and i feel like a monster if i wear anything too aggressive or masculine. but i do love heels so much. i like clothes that are quirky, girly but mature, a little sexy, sleek, modern and/or vintage. i don't like attention, but i love self expression.

7. What is the best thing about what you do?
the best thing about what i do is that i get to always be true to myself, pushing myself to be more vulnerable and creative. i am my own boss, and i can only blame myself if a performance isn't good, a painting isn't good, a song isn't full. though i am a perfectionist, and that is hard sometimes.

8. Who listens to your music?
a wide variety of people listen to my music actually! it always surprises me. from high school girls to men working in their offices, (i just got an email from a guy saying he loves listening to my music at work.) from hipsters, to the average joe. from my friends, to their friends, to their parents and siblings. one of my friends little sisters just choreographed her senior dance show to one of my songs!

9. Who would you like to see listen to your music?
anyone and everyone. i'm not in it for the money, i just want to share and speak words that people can relate to. i don't even charge for my album. donations are accepted though.

10. Who are your inspirations?
Joni Mitchell, as i said before. Animal Collective. most of my music is just guitar and voice, but i draw a lot from their experimentation with sounds. they layer sounds in ways i've never heard before, or after. i've been a huge fan for years.


11. Who are your heroes?
My grandmother. she is such a tough cookie and has done so much for so many people. she started the first 3 bilingual schools in the LA area. she has traveled all over the world. she is very progressive politically and socially. she cares deeply about peoples rights. and she is devoted to God.

12 Who are your favorite movie directors?
The Coen Brothers. I love "Oh Brother Where Art Thou." Michel Gondry.

13. Do you think you'll make music till the day you die?
of course! i can't force myself to write a song, they just show up and i have to release them.

14. What was your childhood like?
i moved to England with my mom and dad at age two. my dad was/is an Anglican priest. I lived in a beautiful little village called Helpston in East Anglia. i daydreamed a lot and spent a lot of time alone, wandering in the wheat fields surrounding our house. i loved it there so much, but we couldn't afford to stay so we moved to Northern California when i was 8. i was a very sad and bitter, excruciatingly shy little girl. poor parents!

15. What did you want to be when you grew up?
Age three/four: an owner of an orphanage. Until about 10, i planned on being all of these things: archeologist, museum curator, artist, fashion designer, hairstylist, interior decorator, architect, world religions historian, classical singer, pop star, actress, a mom, a wife, traveler and adventure-er.

16. What was your favorite book or story when you were little? Matilda by Roald Dahl. i could relate to her life so much. i still love that book.

17. What is your favorite song to go to sleep to?
"Magnetized" by Laura Veirs. all of her songs are so beautifully written.

18. What is your favorite song to wake up to?
"Winter's Love" by Animal Collective. It is a very special and meaningful song for me for a lot of reasons and captures every mood i feel all in one song.

19. What is your favorite item of clothing?
my dark patterned velvet coat that i have had since i was in junior high. you can see it in the main banner photo on my blog!

20. Tell me a secret
one time when i was 16, when i was hanging out after school talking to my friend, and this punk boy who i barely knew ran up to me in the middle of our conversation. He dipped me back and kissed me and i shrieked while being muffled by his forceful kiss. i did not kiss back. then he pulled me back up and said, "i have been wanting to do that for awhile," and then ran away. i was so mad. i did not count that as my first kiss because i didn't kiss back.

Listen to her music: Moorea Seal on MySpace Music

See her artwork: Moorea Seal Designs

Visit Moorea's blog: Rumination Reading Room