Myles Bullen is a Native American “soft rap art poet” from Portland, Maine. Music has helped him through the hardest parts of his life; he makes his music to help others in the same way. With inventive wordplay and powerful lyrics, Myles raps over everything from smooth jazz beats, to ukulele, or entirely a capella.
Myles collaborated with the Maine State Prison and the University of Maine to create Survivor Stories: a program that works with prison inmates on writing and performing music, an “act of harm reduction,” helping incarcerated people understand that their lives are worth living. He has also developed a version of the program for wardens. Even during the pandemic, Music to Life helped Myles with writing, looking for grants, and framing his projects in cohesive and digestible ways. To date, he has piloted the program, confirmed collaborators and a multi-year funding source. He says of MtL, “[I’ve] felt like [I’ve] had some accountability, [with] something to show up to every month… people who believed in me.”