Miranda's hitting all the right notes despite devastating diagnosis as a child

While studying an architecture degree after she graduated high school, Miranda Green was at a crossroads.

Her teachers told her she had to “fully commit”, but her focus was divided: “I was too busy trying to make a band and make music happen.”

Now a third-year student at the University of Wollongong studying a Bachelor of Creative Arts in music, Miranda has fully embraced her musical ambitions, performing as MIRAN.DA.

Miranda has always loved music.

As a one-year-old, she was apparently “addicted” to the Pink Panther theme song.

“I was on a car trip, and I made my mum sing that for six hours, and if she stopped singing it, I would start crying!

“I was just a very loud kid. There’s videos of me painting and singing at the same time and just being crazy.”

At age 10 she started getting more interested in singing.

“I started thinking about writing lyrics. Music came out as something where I could write about my experiences,” she says.

“I think as a kid, I was a bit lonely during primary school. I didn’t have many friends, and I had a lot going on.

“My lyrics weren’t exactly the best but they were getting somewhere. I had ideas, I just couldn’t articulate them at that time.”

In high school she joined a choir and in Year 8 she begged her mother for singing lessons.

But not long after, Miranda’s teacher told her there was something wrong with her voice. A doctor diagnosed a paralysed vocal chord.

It was devastating for the young singer. She was advised not to sing and only talk for 30 minutes a day.

Miranda thinks the problem may have stemmed from surgery she had between the ages of seven and eight, to address holes in her heart.

During the surgery, the anaesthetist measured high pressure in her lungs which was indicative of pulmonary arterial hypertension. However, Miranda says that at the time it was not diagnosed and the hypertension became a permanent problem.

Miranda believes the hypertension constricted her vocal chord, resulting in the paralysis.

She gave up on her pursuit of singing and distracted herself by doing a composition elective at school, while still hoping she would be able to sing one day.

“I made a song and that was the first time I really got into producing. I got a lot of good feedback from it, and it really spurred me on,” she says.

In March 2024, Miranda released her first single as MIRAN.DA – HEART SHAPED MAN! and has since become a member of the band The Fibs.

Miranda’s solo project sees her writing, producing and finally singing again.

In her sixth and latest song, gimme time, released in February this year, Miranda explores what it means to have an illness and be sick in hospital.

She says that the song is about “trying to understand that your friends, as much as you love them, don’t understand that and then having that space in between you, that gap, a lack of understanding, and trying to overcome that, move past it”.

She uses her music to overcome those feelings.

“I’ve always seen music as an act of connecting with other people. I feel like I understand other people’s experiences more since listening to music. It’s also a thing of being a safe place for people with similar experiences.”

Miranda says she’s inspired by artists such as Lola Young, Amy Winehouse and Kendrick Lamar for their outspoken honesty and relatability.

“I don’t want to lose my care for other things, like the environment and human rights,” she says.

“There’d be times where I would take time off to do music. I’d stop doing other things, and then I’d sit there and think, ‘Why did I do that?’

“I don’t have the confidence or the substance to make the music that I’m making if I’m not engaging in the world.”

For a time in Miranda’s life she wasn’t sure she’d be able to sing again but as she’s found her voice and made her choice to pursue music she says she wants to do it “more than anything”.

Miranda can be found on Spotify at MIRAN.DA and on Instagram @_._._greenie_._._