It is not every day that an artist is fortunate enough to be surrounded by inspiration. For Laura O'Reilly, growing up and living in the Urban Circus called New York City was just this. For as long as she can remember, Laura was going to movie and television sets as a spectator to her parents' professions – acting. It was an easy adjustment for Laura to begin to express herself creatively, but it was not until an interview with Def Jam recording artist Lady Sovereign in 2006 that the world was introduced to the persona known as Miz Metro. Despite her recent reinvention of name, it has taken over twenty years to form what the world now knows as Miz Metro – a distinctive melting pot of creativity, personality, and style. She is the singer and songwriter who has graced over 50 stages from New York to London, contagiously engaging her audiences with indefinable music and converting crowds to devoted fans. "But it isn't her sense of style that pulls in the audience. Her powerful, controlled voice blends with and rises above the music to bring her message of social change," explains ClubPlanet.com. It is her "fresh dynamic", as Chuck Taylor from Billboard Magazine puts it, that shows people a part of themselves that they never knew existed. After graduating from the famed LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts in 2004, Miz Metro had to decide how she wanted to focus her energy. After winning a national merit award from the Presidential Scholars National Foundation of the Arts, ranking her in the top 5% of young performers in the country, it was evident that Miz Metro's musical talent had started to get noticed. She wanted to continue to create her own reality so she moved out on her own at 18 years old. Later in 2004, she entered the Urban Word Poetry Slam Competition to test her skills in writing and to perform her song lyrics in front of an audience. Without any poetry-slamming experience, Miz Metro made it as a Semi-Finalist. The following year Miz Metro entered the same competition and was a Grand Slam Finalist, a title that only twenty of six hundred teen poets were able to claim. This was a clear sign to Miz Metro that she was skilled in connecting with an audience through her lyrics. Later in 2005, Miz Metro booked a principal role in a nationally aired MTV Starburst commercial. Not only did she get to appear in front of a nation of music fans, but she also had the opportunity to nationally showcase her own fashion designs. Never wasting a minute, at age 19 Miz Metro was simultaneously ringleader in organizing and throwing her highly reputable Urban Gypsy Circus loft parties in a 5,000 square foot space in SoHo, New York. Seamlessly melding interactive multi-media, live music, and "trash-art", Miz Metro and her Urban Gypsy Circus have partnered with Fader Magazine and world-renowned artist Q-Tip to successfully host high profile events. Miz Metro continues to establish her presence in the New York music scene. She has recently performed along side Ladybug Mecca, of the Grammy winning group Digable Planets, at one of the popular Mixtape Riot events. After attending this show, URB magazine wrote that Miz Metro's "rare voice" and style were something "never heard before in NYC." She also performed at the QN5 Record's "Sideshow: A Night of Singer/Songwriter Hip Hop" and has appeared on a compilation album alongside Chaka Khan, Sandra Bernhard, and Ben Jelen. Miz Metro continues to redefine her sound, finding influence in music ranging from jazz, soul, hip hop and pop to creatively infusing Romanian folk samples in her music. Miz Metro is carving her own path in the music industry and is taking all fans along for the ride.
http://2008.sxsw.com/music/showcases/band/70187.html