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Nov 19, 2014 By Melody Lau Mia Maestro

Mia Maestro began acting in 1998 in the dance drama Tango and she hasn’t stopped since, continuing with a recurring role on Alias and a part in the final two Twilight movies, among others. The actress, whose latest role is the vampire slaying Centers for Disease Control worker Dr. Nora Martinez in the FX series, The Strain, has another passion, though: singing.

Maestro describes music as her first passion, but when her acting career took off, she had to cast her songwriter ambitions aside. Sixteen years later, Maestro is putting out her debut album Si Agua, a bilingual introduction to Maestro as a classical pop artist that’s being released via Arts & Crafts and Nacional. Using up her off-season time away from The Strain, Maestro is now finally able to channel her energies in storytelling off the screen and on to a record. Under the Radar recently talked to the crossover star about her new album, the upcoming second season of The Strain (which was created by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan and based on their novel trilogy of the same name), and how she was able to combine her two loves into one scene on an episode of the critically-acclaimed show.

Melody Lau: Have you begun looking at scripts for the second season of The Strain yet?

Mia Maestro: No, we don’t have scripts but we’ve had a couple of meetings with the writers, like the general outline of the season. We have vague ideas of what’s happening and of course you have the book, which we don’t go by strictly, but we know more or less the little things that are going to happen and there will be surprises as well. I’m going back to Toronto in November to shoot so I’m very excited.

I see that you live-tweeted The Strain when it was airing, do you enjoy interacting with fans while they’re watching the show?

It’s really fun, actually! It’s one of the wonderful things about social media these days. You get such close feedback from fans right away, moment to moment. It’s kind of the perfect show for doing that as well, I really enjoy getting comments and seeing how the fans see your character.

When did you wrap up the first season of The Strain?

We wrapped up on May 1.

So was the rest of your summer just spent focusing on your music then?

Yeah, for sure. This whole summer has been one hundred percent about music. I’m doing press for The Strain, but I also got the album ready and have been just doing press here and in Canada and also a lot in Mexico as well because the album is coming out through A&C [Arts & Crafts] Mexico.

Is it tough to balance both your acting and music career?

Not at all. It feels very natural to me. I don’t put too much thought to it, there’s time for music and for acting and everything’s going pretty naturally.

What came first: the acting or the music?

Definitely the music. I started singing when I was really young so that was my first love and what I wanted to do.

So did acting just happen to take off first?

It was not really planned. I started working as an actress right away. I went to my first audition and I got the part and turned out it to be a film that got nominated for an Oscar [1998’s Tango] and it just took off without much thought or a plan. The music got left on the side for a bit and only a few years ago, I started writing my own songs and I really started feeling the urge to sing live and put out a record.

Do you feel that there’s a different between acting in front of a crew and performing music for an audience?

It is very different, but I love it. There is of course a nervousness that you get when performing live, but I find that really thrilling and exciting. I plan on touring in the winter, while I shoot the new season of The Strain and I’m really looking forward to the performing side of releasing a record. I really thrive on singing live and it’s one of the things I love to do.

Do you think those two types of performances come from the same place?

I do, it’s all story telling. I think there’s something quite old and ancient about telling stories and I think it’s ingrained in our genes, just as two people would sit by the fire and tell stories. I think there are moments when you’re storytelling that can change people’s perspectives and lives and that’s what I enjoy the most as an audience member, being transformed by a story no matter how big or small it is.

Does acting influence your music and vice versa?

Yeah, I think both actually. There’s an ongoing conversation going on between the both. When I’m writing songs, I’m thinking about stories and I’m thinking about characters. Sometimes, if a song doesn’t come naturally to me, I will change characters and think of someone else and I think I have that tool being an actress. Being able to conjure up different voices comes naturally to me. Not being one hundred percent attached to my voice, I can be any character and any song can be sung by any character. It gives me a freedom, I think. As for acting, music can totally influence me and my characters. I always have headphones on when I’m on the set, especially for the emotional scenes.

What do you listen to in order to get into the character of Nora on The Strain?

I listen to a lot of Beethoven’s 7th symphony!

Interestingly enough, you sing a little in the season one finale.

Yeah, and that’s one of my songs! That was exciting to be able to do both things in one project.

Was it your idea or the writers’ to sing in a scene?

No, it was the writer’s idea to have Nora singing after the death of her mother and then I just chose a few songs I could sing and the writers chose that one.

Your new album was recorded in Iceland, correct?

Yeah, because my producer Valgeir Sigurðsson is from there and he has a beautiful studio there and the opportunity to go and work [his record label Bedroom Community] was exciting.

Nico Muhly, Ben Frost, and a number of other musicians worked on Si Agua with you. Had you known them before or did you meet in the studio?

I had known some more than others. I met a few through Valgeir like Thomas Bartlett and Shahzad Ismaily, but Ben Frost and I were friends. It was a mix of people I met for the first time and had relationships with.

Did those players have a lot of input on the music, or was it strictly your vision?

Oh, when you get that amazing group of musicians in a room, you just let them do whatever they way, you know? And of course Valgeir had some specific guidelines, but I’d pretty much present a song to them, along with some images or things that inspired me to write the song, and they could just create. I felt really blessed to have all these incredible musicians in one group.

Si Agua translates to “if water”—can you explain the aquatic influence on your album?

There’s definitely an aquatic element to the whole record and to the songs, not only from the lyric standpoint, but the feeling and landscape that’s imprinted in the songs. I feel quite connected to that element, it’s like a refuge for me. My mind calms itself when I seek solace in the water. It’s not that I was close to the water elements as much as songs were created with water in mind.

www.miamaestromusic.com