Draft:Michelle Blades

Michelle Blades (born July 22, 1990) is a Panamanian singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist recognized for her diverse musical style encompassing elements of indie rock, folk, and experimental pop.

Early Life
Born in Panama, Michelle Blades left the country at an early age, relocating to Miami to escape Manuel Noriega's dictatorship. Her family background includes salsa pioneers in Central America, with her uncle Rubén Blades achieving iconic status in the Salsa genre. Her father, musician and producer Roberto Blades, collaborated with the group Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Miami Sound Machine. The influence of her Cuban pianist and singer grandmother, coupled with her father's role as a producer and composer and her uncle's legacy in Latin America, further enriched her musical heritage. At the age of eighteen, she moved to Arizona, immersing herself in the state’s underground and alternative culture.

Musical Career
Michelle Blades is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist proficient in guitar, bass, drums, keys, and vocals. Her discography, spanning over a decade, reflects a fusion of sounds inspired by her diverse experiences and environments.

Blades moved to Arizona and started working with the local independent label River Jones Music, recording her first EPs and albums. Continuing in the DIY scene, she co-founded the band "North Dakota" alongside Emily Hobeheidarn and Mo Neuharth in December 2010, rooted in the punk and rock and roll scene. The band performed shows in Tempe and Phoenix, releasing their first EP in February 2012. Soon after, Michelle Blades ventured to France, signing with Midnight Special Records. Her solo career includes albums and EPs released during the 2010s.

Early in her move to Paris, Blades met Diego Puig, who became the guitarist and eventually introduced her to those who would become part of her band, "Los Machetes." She leads her live band, Michelle Blades y Los Machetes and has performed with them at Nrmal, Beyond Psych Fest, and others. She worked extensively with Midnight Special Records and released her first LP in France, "ATARAXIA," in 2015.

From late 2016 to the spring of 2018, Michelle played bass, synth, and contributed vocals with Fishbach for the "À ta merci" tour around Europe and Canada. The single "Ring," released in 2018 as a precursor to a now-released album, garnered over 400,000 plays, establishing Blades further in the indie rock scene. She has continuously toured around Europe, making multiple appearances at the Rock on Seine music festival and others.

Influences & Themes
Feist, the Canadian singer-songwriter, and the Riot Grrrl scene, part of the third wave of feminism she experienced in Arizona, became significant inspirations for her. Her musical style is also inspired by elements of 1970s progressive rock and psychedelia, garage pop, synth rock, post-punk, and off-beat experimentalism, including Cate Le Bon, Frank Zappa, Delia Derbyshire.

Michelle Blades consistently explores themes of cultural and personal identity in her art, drawing inspiration from her experience as a dual-nationality citizen and her nomadic lifestyle.

Nombrar las cosas
Blades's EP "Nombrar las cosas" reflects her growth as an artist, recorded over an extended period between Mexico and France. It marks her first full expression Spanish, covering a range of themes from love and solitude to societal issues in Panama.

Mi País Es Una Idea
In her single "Mi País Es Una Idea," Blades explores themes of identity, nostalgia, and cultural connection. The song reflects her contemplation on borders, the separation of her Panamanian roots, and a crisis of identity. Blades draws on the concept of countries as abstract ideas, using the Aztec reference "el conejo en la cara de la luna" to symbolize shared cultural experiences in Mexico.

Las Hijas (Original Score)
Michelle Blades expanded her artistic repertoire by contributing the original score for the feature film "Las Hijas," directed by Kattia González Zúñiga. The soundtrack features tracks like "Un ride en PTY" and "Cementerio de los aviones".

She is set to release her next LP recorded with her band in an analog studio in the south of France.