Q&A by Brad Balfour
When young Michaela Eremiasova came to the United States from the Czech Republic, she already loved and had studied music. As she explained: “Music has been always my ultimate love, my soulmate since I remember. There was never an option for me to do something else besides it. Saying that, I love everything related to music from classical music, jazz, film music, to songwriting.”
But it was the chance meeting with Irish music — channeled through a fellow musician and composer that changed her musical life and led her to form her own company.
ME: Before I knew that I wanted to become a songwriter, before MotiVibes was born and before I met Elizabeth Breese, my dear friend and creative partner, I met this beautiful lady – Anna Wilcox. During my studies in Rochester, New York, we each attended an amazing festival there. It was focused on connecting three different forms of media: Sound, Dance and Visuals.
We started to collaborate. I wrote music and she did the dance choreography which she performed to my music. We created two pieces together and became good friends. That’s how I learned about Anna’s connection to Ireland and her passion for it.
Her beautiful daughter was learning to do Irish folk dancing. Sometimes, Anna and I spent Christmas together. I remember wishing even then that someday, somehow, I would be able to work with more artists. I hoped I could actually incorporate Irishness into my music because I find Irish music was charming and magical.
Q: How old were you when you came here?
ME: I came to the United States when I was 26 years old and was accepted for Jazz Composition studies at the Berklee College of Music. I was grateful to receive both a Berklee Achievement Scholarship and a grant from The Dagmar and Václav Havel Foundation (VIZE 97).
Q: Growing up in the Czech Republic, when did you first discover music?
ME: I grew up in Prague where I studied music composition (1990-95) at the Conservatory of Jaroslav Jezek. I got a Bachelor’s degree in composition and later a Master’s in musicology at Charles University. During my studies I wrote a few pieces for a larger ensemble in classical and jazz fusion style. They were recorded with Czech radio.
Q: Was it classical only or did you do pop as well?
ME: I was mainly focused on classical and jazz music while growing up in Prague. My interest in pop music began when I discovered the Jesus Christ Superstar musical. I was just eight years old and was fascinated, so I started composing songs myself.
Unfortunately, I was not good with words. Although I loved poetry, it was tough for me to use it for the songs I was writing back then. That’s why my focus shifted to classical music and later to jazz. I started living in the states in 2000 when I studied jazz composition at the Berklee College of Music.
Q: What’s the story of your moving here?
ME: I came here to the United States to explore jazz music as I was lucky to receive the scholarship so I could study at Berklee College with its renowned faculty. That’s where I met my future husband — a Colombian composer — Jairo Duarte-Lopez. He introduced me to the Eastman School of Music. Later, in 2005 I applied and was accepted along with him for PhD composition studies. I graduated in 2011 and we moved to Los Angeles, California.
By the time we’d moved to California, my husband and I had already composed music together for both Discovery and National Geographic Channel documentaries. We also wrote the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball theme.
During the Rochester period, in 2005, my husband and I had the opportunity to orchestrate a musical, The Future of the American Musical Theater, composed by renowned Broadway veteran Charles Strauss. In 2008 we wrote and recorded an orchestral TV sports theme for Toronto Blue Jays which was then broadcasted for several seasons. In 2009-2010, we had the opportunity to create music for several documentaries produced by television network National Geographic and Discovery Channel.
Rochester is where I met some wonderful artists and my future collaborators, mentors and friends. Stephanie Maxwell was among them. An animator and filmmaker, she was on the Rochester Institute faculty at the time and a co-founder of the festival. That event proved to be the perfect occasion for connecting with greatly talented people.
Anna Wilcox and I also collaborated with Linda Starkweather, another incredible artist and a beautiful person. Together we produced a piece called “Confluence” which reflected all three forms of art. Anna created a moving choreography, Linda focused on introspective visuals and poetry and I contributed the music. It was one of those incredible collaborations that brought us together as close friends.
Q: So this established a connection for your future.
ME: Yes. Anna and I produced another piece, “Comma,” after I learned about her connection to Ireland, her Irish heritage and her passion for Irish culture. I still remember my warm impression from the time when I saw her beautiful little daughter Lila (now a young adult) performing a certain type of Irish folk dance.
Anna revealed to me that our most recent collaboration, “May the Road Rise Up to Meet Us” — based on my piano piece “Journey” — carries some elements of Irish folk dance music. I’ve always thought of Irish culture as being poetic and inspiring.
Being an artist is a rewarding experience by itself. Every new project has its unique qualities and challenges while offering a new source of inspiration. I find that creating music takes me to different unknown places which become new ways to grow.
Saying that, it had been one of my dreams to work on a project deeply related to Irish culture. It felt really great when my husband and I composed music for a TV spot for the movie Brooklyn. That 2015 film starred Saoirse Ronan and was adapted from Irish writer Colm Tóibín‘s novel of the same name.
Q: So Anna and her taste for Irish music was an inspiration. What do you especially like about Irish music?
ME: It’s centered on unique rhythmic patterns and modality.
Q: And when/how did you get into song composing?
ME: That was during my time in Rochester. At first, I mainly focused on both classical and film/TV music. Later in Los Angeles, I shifted gradually towards songwriting after meeting Elizabeth, my great friend, partner, and co-owner of MotiVibes Music. I feel like I’m completing a circle: starting with songwriting and ending up with it, too. That’s all thanks to Liz, not just because she’s great with words but also because I feel like we are truly connected as people.
Q: What’s the difference between creating music and your own company?
ME: There’s not much difference except that in my own company everything feels more “official.” We — Motivibes Music—- do what we love to do, from creating our own projects to working on those of others. At the end of the day, it’s all about having a real connection with each other and real feelings. I, for sure, perceive music that way.
Q: So when was Motivibes Music actually born?
ME: 2014 is when I met Elizabeth. She wanted to take some piano lessons and so she connected with me. We very quickly became close friends as we discovered that we vibe really well together. Not long after, in 2015, we decided to team up and founded MotiVibes Music.
We’ve always felt like a dream team. I dream things up and Elizabeth translates my musical story into words. Over the years, we’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with many other artists and visionaries like Brian McKnight Jr., Keif Brown, and Nastasia, among others. We also had an opportunity to compose songs for movies, like our title song for the short film Verge. We recently composed “Between Forever” for a feature film of the same name that will be released this June.
Q: You hadn’t originally planned on opening your own music company?
ME: I had no idea of creating my own business back then. I was pursuing my doctoral studies in music theory and composition. I already had a passion for music but wanted to work on my craft. Music has been always my ultimate love, a kind of soulmate — whether for classical music, jazz, film scoring or songwriting.
Eastman School of Music was not only a perfect place for higher education with an outstanding faculty and highly talented students. It also provided a great environment for wonderful connections and music opportunities.
Q: What about your recent projects?
ME: Currently, we are Gold Artists with Bentley Records. We’ve enjoyed a distribution deal with them since June 2020. Through Bentley, we’ve been distributing our music all over the world including in the booming Korean market.
Bentley’s offered us involvement in a variety of projects including a travel- and tourism-boosting project for the Maldives Islands. It’s to include some well-known artists along with local Maldivian talent. We’re also preparing for more collaborations including projects for Netflix and Billboard.
[The label] has just released a song in the Contemporary Christian genre. It’s performed by Jackie’s Boy — a wonderful singer-songwriter who’s gotten four Grammy nominations and sold over 18 million albums. He also won a Grammy in 2011 for Madonna’s best remix recording “Revolver” featuring Lil Wayne.
This new song is called “Back To Love.” In our horribly divided culture with the political Right versus the political Left, even as we all deal with the pandemic and its repercussions, I’m proud of the song’s message. Its point, as the title says, is that it’s time for us to put divisions and animosities behind us and come together. It’s time to get back to love.
Honestly, I’m tremendously proud of our new song. I consider it genuinely special and Grammy-worthy.
To view the video go to: https://youtu.be/EDlK5ZO-7Z4