Meet Myke Adams

We were lucky to catch up with Myke Adams recently and have shared our conversation below.

Myke , thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?
Well for me, I think my overall optimism comes from a couple of different sources and experiences. I think growing up in a single parent household in New Orleans with not much access to things pushed me to want more out of the life I had. Combine that with the discrimination I received from being a light-skinned Creole living in a prodominately black neighborhood. Constantly being bullied, made fun of and periodically being beat up just because I looked different from everyone else. Those sort of things either add fuel to the fire and make you become resentful and hateful or make you strive to become a better version of them and yourself. At then end of the day, I just wanted to be accepted and loved. So being mean to others was never an option for me. Don’t get me wrong, I lived in a constant state of fear and depression that took me most of my life to heal from but I think the whole process made me a more caring, loving and optimistic human.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
One of my many positive experiences of me growing up in New Orleans was the culture. So much art and music! Just about everyone I knew was doing something creative. My dad played music, I had an uncle who was a painter and many family members were cooks and chefs.

I embraced painting and music from a really young age. Painting and listening to music on a regular basis. It was when I was about 8 or 9 years old I asked my parents could they buy me a trumpet the day after they had taken me to see Miles Davis. I played in the junior school band and later in high school joined the marching band. Later in my teens I started playing in a couple of punk bands. After college, I moved to Chicago and formed a funk/rock/jazz inspired band. After that ended in the mid-90’s I only jammed with friends. At some point I decided I never wanted to be in a band ever again. Being in a band for me was not always fun and a bit stressful. I also thought that I never wanted to play music again and sold all of my instruments. In 2005, I went back to school and earned my degree in film and tv and started working in the art dept on feature films.

In 2008 I moved to Los Angeles where I continued working in the film industry. But it was in March 2015 when I started to have the inspiration to make music again. By March 2020, and the start of the pandemic and a lockdown, I had purchased, multiple guitars, keyboards, synthesizers and drum machines. By that summer I had recorded a handful of songs, started a record label, found a distributor and began releasing new music under the name MA Jolie Fleur. It felt really nice to be creating music once again and as a solo artist for the first time.

But just as I was getting in the flow of being a solo artists, something magical happened. In April of 2023, I went to Hollywood Forever Cemetery’s Masonic Lodge to see one of my favorite songwriters, Emma Ruth Rundle perform. I had an extra ticket because a friend could not make it. So I gave the ticket back to the box office so that they can give it to someone. The show was sold-out. Just before Emma Ruth takes the stage, a woman, Tiffany sits down next to me. The only seat in the entire place. We introduce ourselves and then the show starts. After the show, I walk her to her car where we have a two-hour conversation about life, spirituality and music. By the end of the conversation we had decided that our meeting and the connection we had was fate. Three months later we formed our band, dead flowers bloom.

Never in a million years could I have imagine me being in another band. But our connection, the creative process our friendship is just so beautiful and loving. A true soul connection.

Tiffany and I are currently writing and recording music. We plan to release our first single later this Spring on my 39 au label.

I am also in the process of starting a new series of paintings. The third and final series on Black Oppression in American titled “Fear of a Black Planet.” The title taken from the rap/hip-hop rap group Public Enemy’s 1990 album.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I think the most important qualities, skills and area of knowledge for me is the practice of patience, that others the way you want to be treated and love others without judgement or prejudice.

My grandfather use to always tell me to, “keep your eyes and ears open, and your mouth shut.” So I’m always in perpetual people watching mode. lol

Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
Well, there’s not just one book that played an important role in my development. I would say the first book would be “Letters to a Young Poet” by Rainer Maria Rilke. This book got me through some rough times when I was doubting and questioning my validity as an artist.

The second book would be “All About Love” by bell hooks. I don’t even think I understood the difference between being loved and cared for. This book allowed me appreciate the sacrifices my mom and family made for me and my sister to have the life I have now.

The third book, which I didn’t read until 2015 would be “Daring Greatly” by Brené Brown. It taught me and showed me the importance of being and allowing myself to being vulnerable. And not just in close relationships. But in other connections I have with people. It also plays a huge part in my creative process.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
All images shot and produced by Michael Dunker, http://www.photographybymichaeljohn.com

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