Sej Miles is a life-long local musician and songwriter, having started performing in a church choir when she was only three years old. She started piano lessons when she was five, after being inspired by her father, who was a professional utility musician. Sej’s passion for music is apparent. When asked about how she finds inspiration, she responded, “A lot of time the music will come to me, and it won’t be a particular thing I’m looking for necessarily. It comes to me, I don’t go to it.” She reflected a moment and then admitted, “’Music is just something that I’ve always intrinsically understood, I don’t even know how. It’s just something that’s always moved me.”
Sej has recently been offered incredible and rewarding opportunities abroad, and decided to take advantage and spread her wings to travel. I sat down with her to discuss her time in Wichita Falls, and she had quite a positive perspective.
“I was born here, and I think that in life, we have growing pains with the place that we’re raised. You’re working yourself out in a place with buildings and places that you’ve been, and everyone knows everyone, especially if you’ve been in Wichita Falls as long as I have (over 30 years). So, finding yourself in what feels like a fishbowl, you start to fight the environment. I would say for a long time I couldn’t find myself so I didn’t find the outlet to perform here, and I didn’t find it anywhere else either. I did perform for the church and do
music ministry for a season in my life, but coming back here and reckoning with myself brought me to what I like to call ‘falling in a crack in the city’. I thought Wichita Falls was this one way, and reckoning with myself brought me to the arts community, which was like a whole different world.
“I would say that I associate Wichita Falls with being real. It’s made me real, it’s made my music real, and it’s given me an appreciation for the other musicians here. I don’t know if it’s like this anywhere else because I’ve never performed anywhere else. But for the most part, everyone supports everyone, and everyone is trying to work towards the same goal and they’re aware of that. There is limited competition in my opinion. Competition is not really a thing so much as the danger of comparison. I think being here has taught me to be myself, even if I’m still learning what that is. Just being who ever I am in the moment. It’s been all love. This place has really made me love the journey that I’m on and love wherever it is I end up, but this is definitely where I started. I have a lot of good feelings about starting my beginnings here.”
We wish Sej the best on her travels, and know that wherever she is, she will be spreading her love, positivity, and heavenly tunes to anyone lucky enough to be listening.
-Charlie Roberts
