New Yorkers watching “The Voice” should feel keen to cheer on Team Alicia: The voice coach now has the season’s two born and bred city performers left on her side.
Miya Bass, who was stolen from Adam Levine’s group, has found herself working under Grammy-winning performer Alicia Keys and alongside fellow New Yorker Johnny Bliss.
“We are like a family at this point,” the 29-year-old from Jamaica, Queens, says of her teammates. “(Johnny and I), we definitely bonded well and relate to each other in terms of that New York artist lifestyle — hustling, going from gig to gig.”
Bass and Bliss are among nearly two-dozen performers left in the season 14 competition (now 11 episodes deep), which features Keys, Levine, Kelly Clarkson and resident Blake Shelton as the judges/coaches.
Below, Bass and Bliss go head-to-head in a friendly-fire exchange to compare their sounds and share the unique stories behind their road to the reality competition show’s stage.
Miya Bass: From protector to performer
The Queens native was on track to be a protector of the city streets but longed to chase her dream of being a performer. Coming from a family of NYPD police officers (her mother, father, sister, uncle), Bass was at the final stages of the force’s hiring process when she resigned to sing full time.
“It’s a risk. No one wants to quit their job and see what happens, but it was rewarding,” she says. Bass had passed her NYPD exams and completed the physical training. She pulled the plug right before being assigned a precinct.
Leaving the rigid schedule of a police officer behind seems to have worked out well. She’s been able to pick up gigs around the city at York College, weddings and other events; she landed the lead of an 11-piece, New Jersey funk band, Funktion 11; and ended up on “The Voice.” Singing is currently her main source of income.
“When you’re an artist, you have to be free like a butterfly,” she adds. “I needed to chase my dream. Working with the NYPD would have put a limit on what I could do artistically.”
Raised by the gospel sound at Brooklyn’s Christian Cultural Center, Bass picked up a love of music when she joined the choir at the age of six. Her taste in genres evolved over the years, but a similar vibe remains. “I do pop, rock and R&B, but they all have a bit of soul,” she notes.
What sets her apart from Bliss: “Johnny is a powerhouse. I am the opposite. I have a soulful tone and a lower register … We can all sing, at this point, everyone’s amazing, but I think my looks and my personality sets me apart.”
Johnny Bliss: Finding self-confidence in sound
Like his fellow New York competitor, Bliss says he’s practically been singing since he was born.
“I know it sounds cliché when artists say that, but it’s true. It started at a young age, like two. It’s what I was shown as a child, so it really influenced me,” he says.
Growing up as a gay man in a conservative Dominican and Puerto Rican family in Washington Heights, Bliss’ passion for music quickly became more than just a hobby. “My Latin roots and the big voices I grew up on got me through my hardships,” he adds.
The 26-year-old says it was his desire to be a performer that helped him come out to his grandmother, who fully supports him, at age 18.
“Singing has always been my strong suit,” Bliss says. “Just knowing there were so many things I was weak with, like being gay and being overweight and not fitting the norm in New York — it was hard, but I always had my voice. It was my confidence. I knew if my grandmother accepts me, I’m good and I’ll sing and not worry about anything else.”
Bliss has lived most of his life in NYC, though he temporarily moved to Puerto Rico to live with his grandfather in his early teen years. He moved back to the city 10 years ago and hasn’t left since. “This is a city where you can come and be whoever you want and nobody says no,” he says.
Though he doesn’t have many gigs under his belt, he says he regularly frequents the Bronx karaoke scene and describes his sound as Latin pop. If he wins “The Voice,” he’s hoping to open a ballgame at Yankee Stadium with the “Star Spangled Banner.”
What sets him apart from Bass: “Miya has a crazy, crazy voice. She’s very R&B, but a commercial R&B. The way Beyoncé does her runs, that’s how Miya is. My sound is very Latino and unique in that way, so we’re completely different.”
