The incredibly talented and modest Mlee Marie Suprean has to be one of the hardest working musicians in Houston. Juggling five musical projects (including the fantastic Hearts of Animals) at the same time can’t be easy for anybody, but even while recovering from a nasty cough, Suprean still made time to talk to the Houstonist about what’s on both her mind and plate.

Mlee is an interesting name. Where did that come from?
My dad’s crazy brain. He wanted me to be unique so he made up his own little version of 'Emily'.

Are you a native Houstonian?
Yeah I grew up in North Shore and I finished high school in Friendswood for the last two years, so I’ve sort of lived on both ends.

When did you get your starts with music?
Well, my dad is a musician and so is my mom. They were both music majors in college. My dad was in lots of bands in the 80s but he never really went anywhere with it but he played around a lot in the 80s. He still plays music with me. He plays bass on Hearts of Animals tracks and plays some other instruments on some of my older recordings. So I just grew up in that environment, being around bands and live shows.

What kind of music did you listen to growing up?
I listened to a lot of Elvis Costello and Neil Finn from Crowded House. I listened to lot of Big Audio Dynamite. I love Big Audio Dynamite. Other weird stuff like Frank Zappa and some reggae, some classical. My parents would always quiz me on classical music on the radio station, made me guess which composer was which.

So what instruments do you play?
I play saxophone; that was the instrument I went to college with. I play everything else sort of halfway. I play guitar drums keyboard. I can play bass, but not really. I play whatever; harmonica, recorder. I can play things; I just never really develop a really good technical sense of them.

Is there any instrument that you’re curious to learn?
I’d like to learn the trumpet. I can actually play it a little, but I don’t really know what I’m doing.

You play with a lot of different acts. We just saw you play with The Freed a few weeks ago. What else are you involved with?
My black metal band called Vaarg…that’s just for show really; it’s more just an act than it is a musical venture. I’m in Oculus Sinister; I play guitar in that. The Wols; I just play a lot of different stuff in that band. Then I have my own little side project called Mlee Marie. I think that’s it right now.

Do you draw inspiration from the same thing for the different projects?
It differs. I mean, in The Freed, Wols and Oculus Sinister I more just do what they want me to do. I just know their music really well because I’ve listened to it for a long time. For Vaarg, I was really getting into black metal and I was just like “I want to do a ban d and I want to wear corpse paint and be silly on stage” so that’s basically what we do. With The Freed, it started out being improvisational, but it’s changing, shift-shaping a little bit. I guess the only difference between Hearts of Animals and Mlee Marie is, yeah, the different influences. With Mlee Marie it’s very quiet and folky. Hearts of Animals is loud and electronic. Hearts of Animals pulls from Big Audio Dynamite and Broken Social Scene; just really high-energy stuff. Mlee Marie is more Neil Finn and Elvis Costello; that kind of stuff. Bruce Springsteen. I’ll admit it. I grew up on the Boss.

You’re playing The Skyline Network's Hootenanny with The Dimes in a Kim Deal capacity with the Dimes as the Pixies. Are you excited?
I’m really excited. I love the Pixies. I didn’t start listening to the Pixies until late college. I couldn’t really say that they’re an influence. Maybe they are, I mean maybe all bands are. I just think they’re really great. But any great band is going to be an influence because you’re always striving for greatness and the timelessness that the Pixies had.

You have an EP (Lemming Baby) out. Any new releases in the works?
I really want to get Lemming Baby distributed, but I haven’t had the time to get it officially released. Before that even happens on CD, I have 7” coming out on Dull Knife Records, probably by January.

What makes for a good Hearts of Animals show?
The sound has to be just right because they’re so much going on with the stuff that I’ve recorded. It has to have the exact right sound, especially my guitar. It’s hard to get the exact crunch that I want. It helps if the energy from the crowd is good. I really like it when people gather around me because I’m the only person in the band. I don’t have energy from anyone else, so whenever I get a lot of energy from the crowd, it’s great because I’m totally exhausted after a Hearts of Animals show.

Decide for yourself what makes for a good Hearts of Animals show when Mlee plays tonight, Friday at Sound Exchange with Sunset and The Dimes. Did we mention it's a free show? Free.

Hearts of Animals, The Dimes and Sunset
Sound Exchange: 1846 Richmond Ave.
Friday, December 7, 2007
FREE, Doors @ 7 p.m.

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Photo: Hearts of Animals' MySpace