SOUND STYLE

Noah Cyrus on perils of the public eye

One of the biggest breakouts of this year’s South by Southwest Music Festival was 18-yearold Noah Cyrus. She’s the youngest sibling of superstar Miley and came into the fest riding high off a few buzzy singles and a recent spot opening for Katy Perry on tour. She hyped her polished pop songs at high-profile showcases around town.

We caught up with her down by the river during the fest on March 15 for an installment of our Sound Style series. She was thoughtful and down-to-earth, graciously pausing to accommodate a group of star-struck tweens who ran up for a photo op while we talked about her music, her laid-back street style and the pressures of growing up in the public eye. American-Statesman: In this series, I talk to female artists about how the idea of image plays into their art, and I’m so interested in talking to you because you’ve been dealing with people scrutinizing your image your whole life. What was that like for you growing up? I mean, you get a haircut and some blogger in the Midwest has an opinion about it.

Noah Cyrus: Usually that blogger would have been Perez Hilton. He always has something to say about me, but I’m not going to point fingers at just him, because I hate when he does that to me. A lot of people would have something to say, especially when I was a young girl. I felt like that was unfair, and I still feel like that’s unfair.

You’re still so young.

I mean, it was like, I had braces young. And my first bang haircut and stuff like that. People … they felt like they could just say whatever they wanted about me and about my appearance when I was only, like, 12 years old or 8 years old. It was crazy. People always had something to say about me. … They would comment things about me on Instagram at 12 and 13 years old, when I’m not even comfortable with my body yet. And they were just adding more discomfort.

How did you learn to deal with that?

Honestly, it was just music. Music made my confidence boost a ton, and, like, gaining fans. And just learning to have thick skin … forcing myself to have thick skin, and that’s when I honestly learned to not give a (expletive) at all.

Does it drive you crazy that people always compare you to your sister?

Not really at all. It comes natu-

Actress and singer Noah Cyrus poses for a portrait during South by Southwest on March 15. Cyrus has been in the public eye pretty much her whole life.

ERIKA RICH FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN PHOTOS “I’m kind of moody. So I wear dark colors most of the time,” Noah Cyrus says. She describes her look as “a little more street style.”