City Strut

Carmen Maria Mitchell has been an artist for years, but she has only recently found her voice. The northern California native recently dropped her debut single, ‘City Strut’, a dance-pop anthem championing allyship and community inspired by her own experience moving to Hell’s Kitchen. 

 

“I grew up as a competitive figure skater and a classically trained ballet dancer, so I fell in love with performing music storytelling at a really early age,” said Mitchell.  “I then went on to do Art and Social Justice at the University of San Francisco; it was a dual major. And that really sparked my passion for using art as a source for social change.”

Mitchell has a wealth of experience performing and even founded her own non-profit theatre company, Redwood Theatre Company, in her stomping grounds of Sonoma County in northern California. While she lives on both coasts to operate Redwood while working on other artistic ventures, Mitchell’s move to New York City is what inspired her to take the plunge into finding her own creative voice through her own art. 

 

“I've really been trying to uplift other artists' voices, and create opportunities and spaces for them to perform. So I’m kind of trying to find a balance now to find the bravery and the strength to create and produce my own art simultaneously. And that is where we are. I feel very flustered and my heart is racing still; it's very new and scary,” Mitchell said, before a quick chuckle. “And hopefully, it all sounds good.”

 

Mitchell’s artistry is rooted in traditional classical artistic expressions of classical ballet, figure skating, and classical music, but in writing music for the first time, she’s searching for liberation and inspiration through a more contemporary lens of indie and pop sounds. Above all else, however, Mitchell’s endeavor into music with ‘City Strut’ is the first step on a journey of self-discovery.

 

“My identity was based around being a storyteller and a performer,” Mitchell recalled. “It was telling stories that weren't mine and I did the best I could. And I did my best to be a chameleon and to try to fit myself into the cookie cutter of whatever project I was working on. So this is now the first time that I am finding the liberation of telling my own story.

 

Of course, I feel very exposed and apprehensive and I struggle with imposter syndrome regarding whether my music is any good, but it's been a joyous, liberating, and terrifying journey all at the same time.”

 

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FFO: Lady Gaga, Demi Lovato, Pink