Indie pop artist Mia Wray’s defiant new single Evidence based on real-life stalking terror
A quick walk home after a gig became a stalking nightmare for rising Aussie music star Mia Wray, who reveals how it changed her life. Warning: Graphic
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Rising pop singer songwriter Mia Wray has turned the terror of being stalked after a gig into a defiant testament to her strength with new single Evidence.
It was 11pm on April 9 last year and Wray had wrapped her set opening for indie rockers The Rubens.
Knowing the band and crew wouldn’t be finished packing up their gear for a couple of hours, the musician decided to walk the short, well-lit distance to her motel down the road, keen to get some rest before hitting the road again early the next morning.
“I just got a feeling someone was following me. And of course I denied it; you hear about this stuff happening to other people, this isn’t going to happen to me,” she says.
Wray stopped walking for a brief moment to gauge whether the man had targeted her. He walked past, stopped and waited for her to pass him again as she resumed her journey, confirming her instincts she was being stalked.
“I got to reception and it was closed because it was really late at night. So they left my keys in the little post box next to the reception, and he was about five, 10 metres away from me, just standing there, watching me,” Wray said.
“And I was pretending to be on the phone to my boyfriend, acting as if he was in the (motel) room waiting for me. But I think he caught on that I was full of shit … that didn’t scare him off at all.”
Wray froze as the adrenaline surged and her brain whirred, trying to process the options of fight or flight. Should she race for her room and risk him discovering where she was staying?
“It felt like when you’re a kid and you think there’s a monster under the bed, or you hear a noise, and you just freeze and you’re sweating under the covers,” she said.
She decided to walk around the motel carpark, still not wanting him to locate her room; he continued to follow.
“I think this is the scariest part, the (dilemma) of either being assaulted outside of the room where there was possibly a camera, or to open the door and he barges in and something happens in there, and it’s his word against mine,” the brave artist said.
Wray chose to quickly enter her room, fumbling to place the keycard in the power slot, lock the door and slam shut an open window.
She rang her tour manager and he and a band member raced to the motel, searching the area for the stalker to no avail, and then escorted her back to the venue to keep her safe until everyone was finished packing up.
She slept that night in one of their rooms with the lights and TV on, trying to convince herself the stalker had been lost, or perhaps had a mental health issue.
But when the motel managers called the next morning to report they had CCTV footage of a man trying to break into her room, she knew her nightmare had been very real.
Wray reported the incident to police.
“The police were so good. They knew of this guy, which was really disappointing they had been unable to charge him properly before, but this was the first time they had him on camera doing it.”
Even as she went through the legal proceedings – she says the offender was eventually fined for stalking – Wray didn’t talk about the incident with anyone, determined to continue with the tour, to move on, keep busy, and not let the experience tarnish the joy of her opportunities.
But several months later in a songwriting session with co-writers and producers Rob Amoruso and Pip Norman, what started as a sad ballad to exorcise the horrific experience from her psyche became Evidence, a bold pop track which now makes her feel powerful and in control when she performs it.
“Now I’ve got this great track that I hope can make other people feel seen and heard. And it’s probably the most satisfying song that I have to perform. And I’m so lucky that I could turn that around.”
Her strength continues to grow. The artist, who was championed by the late Michael Gudinski – “get on board!” he told everyone before he died last year – faced another life-and-death drama in March, just as her career was kicking off again after the pandemic shutdowns with new single ReRun.
She suffered a burst appendix a couple of days before she was due to head to the UK for her first-ever festival performance. A post-op infection returned her to hospital with a collapsed lung and it has taken five months to recover.
The rest of the year, however, looks bright, with the UK trip back on for songwriting sessions and then in October, she joins Vance Joy’s Long Way Home tour.
“It’s time for a new chapter, right? And I’m ready for it, going to the UK and then coming back for the Vance tour, it’s all really been the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Evidence is out now. For all upcoming tour dates, miawray.com
If you or someone you know needs assistance:
■ Lifeline on 13 11 14 or https://www.lifeline.org.au/
■ Beyond Blue 1300 224 636 or at www.beyondblue.org.au
■ 1800 Respect 1800 737 732 or www.1800respect.org.au
Originally published as Indie pop artist Mia Wray’s defiant new single Evidence based on real-life stalking terror
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