Keira Moran Wants You to “Give It a Try”
Rising Electropop Artist Isn’t Afraid to Say How She Feels
Keira Moran got her start as a singer/songwriter at her 3rd grade piano concert in a Music & Arts store, where she debuted her hits “Halloween” and “Chicken Burrito.” Even though these compositions received rave reviews from Keira’s parents and grandparents alike, she is happy to report that her songwriting career has only grown since then.
I've played piano since I was 4 years old...” Keira says, “...and sometimes when I was practicing my dad would yell from upstairs, ‘sounds good, what song is that?’ As I got older, more often than not the answer was ‘oh nothing, I'm just making it up!
That encouragement led Keira to pursue composition which then led to songwriting. However, it wasn’t until high school that she got serious about her hobby.
I started working with a coach, reading all the songwriting books, and going to conferences. That was a very exciting time because things were happening so fast.” Keira remembers. In June 2011, Keira won the International Smashtune Songwriting Contest for her song "When I'm With You." The grand prize was a trip to the Kauai Music Festival where she met her first songwriting role models, Jason Blume and Ralph Murphy. Keira's debut album "Wondergirl" was released in November, 2011. She was subsequently voted "Favorite Part of First Night Alexandria" and was awarded the 2012 Miss Nova Music Award. In August 2012, Keira wrote the score for the short film "American Financial" which won multiple industry awards. Keira was then a finalist in the 2013 "GrammyU Amplifier Center Stage Contest" and won the Gannett/WUSA9 "18 in America" Songwriting Contest. She toured the East Coast one summer and was even voted “most likely to be famous” by her high school peers. “I don’t think I was that popular in high school, I must’ve had friends on the yearbook committee.
In the midst of this excitement Keira applied for songwriting programs across the country to continue her studies at the highest level. After hearing back from different universities she narrowed it down to Tisch School of the Arts at New York University (where Lady Gaga attended when she was Stefani Germanotta) and the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. “Some of my family was pushing for me to choose NYU because it’s closer to home” Keira was born and raised just outside Washington D.C. in Alexandria, Virginia. “But at the end of the day, I thought the songwriting program in Miami was more catered towards what I wanted to focus on” Keira went on to graduate from the Frost School in 3 1⁄2 years, making the President’s & Provost’s Honor Rolls and Dean’s List, with a degree in Music Business & Entertainment Industries as well minors in Songwriting, Entrepreneurship, and Biology.
After graduation, Keira was offered a Teacher’s Assistant position at Frost as well as a full scholarship for Music Business master’s program.
When I first got the offer I was so excited and honored to be chosen!” Keira recalls. “But then I started to think about why I wanted to go to music school in the first place. I realized if I wanted to continue to pursue songwriting I had to leave academia and jump in head first.
A few months after finishing her undergraduate education, Keira left her alma mater, her job, and her partner at the time to drive across the country to the City of Angels. “I had wanted to live in Los Angeles since high school” Keira explains. “Then I stayed in LA my last 2 summers of college working for Graham Edwards, and that experience really cemented my love for the city.” Graham Edwards is the songwriter, producer, and musical genius behind some of your favorite throwbacks. He was in the songwriting trio “The Matrix” that crafted Avril Lavigne’s first hits including “Complicated” “I’m With You” and “Skaer Boi.” These chart-toppers earned him 2004’s ASCAP Pop Songwriter of the Year and several Grammy nominations. Since then, Graham has worked with world-dominating artists such as Rihanna, Justin Bieber, and Shakira.
In 2019, Keira decided to start fresh by releasing a series of electropop singles. She debuted “All the Right Things” in March 2019: a collaboration with Grammy-nominated engineer Tito JustMusic (of Ariana Grande’s “Dangerous Woman”) and Grammy-winning engineer Mike Bozzi (of Childish Gambino’s “This Is America”). Keira’s newly released summer bop, “Give It a Try” was mastered by Reuben Cohen whose credits include "Happy" by Pharrell Williams.
The transition was to electropop was important to me because I want to make music that is as close as possible to what I actually listen to on a daily basis.” Keira says. “My new single ‘Give it a Try’ is a super fun summery track that I would listen to while getting ready to go out with friends, or while driving down the 405 with the windows open. I'm a very positive, upbeat person and I want that to be reflected in the songs I release.Keira’s newest release explores the relatable conundrum of wanting to be “more than friends” with a pal.
I wrote this song to say ‘what are we waiting for?’ In my opinion, sometimes it’s better to ‘give it a try’ with someone, even if you’re not sure it will work out in the long run. If you don’t, you’ll never know what could’ve happened! And, it’s cheesy but, maybe the person you are waiting for is the person who’s been beside you.
Keira is currently living in West Los Angeles writing songs for artists and producers around the world. She hopes to one day meet her role model, Ryan Tedder, in person rather than merely spy on him from a distance at the Melrose Farmer’s Market.
Though she was featured in recently released Lifoti's January/February 2020 issue 11, you can check it from below link's for your country:
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