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Ship & Anchor Pub

As the song says, “Breaking up is hard to do.” While local singer-songwriter Miesha Louie may not be a lovelorn crooner, she’s got enough experience to know that when it comes to the business of making music, as well as matters of the heart, Neil Sedaka speaks the truth.

“I moved to Calgary six or seven years ago after graduating from high school in Invermere,” she says. “My boyfriend Kenny, who’s a guitarist, and I decided to start a ska-punk band called Hogpuncher. We did pretty well for awhile there; we even opened for D.O.A. and Thor. But after a year and a half, Kenny and I broke up, and so did Hogpuncher. It was disappointing that we couldn’t go on, but in the back of my mind, I was always working on this acoustic project, and I’d keep going back to it.”

Storing up her emotional vitriol for future use, Louie moved on to bigger and better things. Romance blossomed again — this time, with guitarist-vocalist Matt Hagarty (Racing Home). Capitalizing on Louie’s forthright punk rock presentation and Hagarty’s post-hardcore riffs, the two built the band Bogart!, which garnered buzz in and out of the city. Once again, Louie herself proved to be the band’s hottest commodity, commanding respect and attention with her nonchalant grandstanding and smoulderingly sexuality.

“I’d always wind up dating guitarists, but not anymore — I’m done,” Louie says with a chuckle. “In the two or three years we were together, we managed to put out a CD with Meter Records and a vinyl split with Mongoose, both of which were really fun to do. Then Matt and I broke up, and the band was demolished. It’s really shitty that things had to end the way they did, especially since we were getting really good, and I was very proud of what we were accomplishing.”

Steeped in a bitter tea of disappointment, Louie’s latest “solo” musical effort, a shiny seven-inch EP with backing band The Spanks, is the direct result of her desire for a breakup-proof band. She’s recruited local music veterans Steve Elaschuk (Wagbeard, Falconhawk, The Neckers) and Brendan Tincher (The Neckers, Chixdiggit, Ronnie Hayward Trio) to help with the music, but by making herself the principal songwriter and creative force, Louie’s found the answer to the conundrums presented by serial monogamy and a penchant for dating fellow musicians.

“I’m so stoked to have my own record — it’s like the shit’s mine now,” she says. “I feel like this is the real deal. It’s a four-song rockabilly-blues confessional about real-life things I’ve seen and felt. I don’t have to name names, but the dirt is there for those who want to read into it. My songs are able to be a lot more personal now, because I’m not relying on anyone else. I have more room to explore and be spontaneous, since I only have a drummer, Justin Landstorfer, with me when I perform live. Justin’s a Spank, I’m a Spank — at the end of the day, no matter what I’m playing or who I’m playing it with, I still keep my own twist.”