Mia Joy Releases New Ethereal and Synth-y Single "Haha"

Interview by Sydney Ha!

When I first moved to Chicago in 2016, Mia Joy was one the first artist I saw perform. Joy creates music that is warm, ethereal, endlessly layered, and beautifully expanding. I got to (virtually) talk with Joy about her new single “Haha,” her sonic influences, self releasing, and her upcoming album.

How would you describe the single in a few words? 

“Haha” kind of has this satirical underlying tone of feeling… It’s about depression and … seeming and presumably being more well off than you actually are. So some of the lyrics are about insomnia, taking care of your body. It’s just one of the songs on my album that isn’t about heartache, but about depression. It’s also funny because I feel like it’s one of my poppier, more catchier songs? So I really liked the juxtaposition of having the song named “haha” and it actually being about really darker things but it being lighter, which seems to be something that I keep doing… It’s just a little hint into my personality of being a goofball and seeming really funny. People all the time when they meet me are like “oh you’re so bubbly and funny and warm” and I think that’s hilarious to me because … that’s just a first impression. 

Sonically what can someone expect?

The record version of “Haha” is really similar to Heaven Forbid where it’s very ethereal and synth-y. There’s a synth bassline that carries the song and makes it really catchy and the vocals are really soft and airy, but it’s a little bit poppier than when i play it live. I feel like when I play it live I have a raspier kind of [tone], I definitely bring the anger of my depression into the live version of the song so they’re very very different. I think that’s the fun of being able to make studio magic.

Was it intentional to have haha be performed differently than the recorded version?

I wrote the song two years ago after a pretty major break up and I kind of was just sick of writing songs for someone else about someone else and this was kind of my song about how i was doing and how I was dealing with it…It started guitar driven and it kind of escalated to this really beautiful place because of Michael Macc [of Pallet Sound]. I gave him some influences and ideas, some production that I wanted to hear… I could never compare myself to Cocteau, but obviously, that's always my inspiration. It feels more in that direction the older the song is getting. 

I hear a lot of artists talk about how songs change meanings the more that you play them and the more that time passes. I think the meaning stays the same but I think it’s changing in sound as in where I am now sonically 

What draws you to a song? What have you been feeling yourself drawn to lately?

…I have been thinking about this a lot. I think first and foremost I’m always drawn to vocals. I feel like I'm always trying to learn from other really impressive vocalists. So that's kind of what draws me in first. And usually the style of vocalists will align with other [things] sonically that I like, like, jazzy, ambient, house… whatever I'm into at the time.

What made you feel like it was the right time to self release?

So I started writing this album in the summer of '18. And because I don't come from money and I'm the sole funder of my project, it’s taken a really long time to fund recording, mixing and mastering. And by the time we finished the album, I was doing what most independent artists do and shopping around for labels. That usually takes a long time if you're trying to find an appropriate fit for your sound [and a label] that you trust, etc. etc. And that was kind of the stage I was in before this [the pandemic] was all happening. I guess it's just a feeling. It's already been almost two years and I feel now is the time to self release and take this project into my own hands. I just feel like it's time to share it. 

What’s the name of the album?

The name of the album is called Spirit Tamer, and that is from a poem I wrote a long time ago. 

The track that is called “Spirit Tamer” is just a vocal loop, so it's just this melodic, ambient vocal loop of five layers of my harmonies and I feel like it kind of steps [you] into the universe the rest of the album…It basically means entering my psyche, things that i'm battling with, things that are within me that, you know, "taming" all my spirits. 

Your last EP was titled Gemini Moon, does this album have any connections to astrology?

I'm a huge astrology buff and have been studying it since I was 13. Saturn is the planet of restriction and Father Time…life lessons you learned for a long time. I’m a Capricorn, so Saturn's my ruler. I'm always battling lifelong struggles and it's also another take on depression, learning how to handle that, balancing that, so yeah there's a little bit of astrology. It's funny cause my mom is super religious and does not like that I like astrology and I try to keep that a secret from her. So when I released Gemini Moon she was like, what does that mean? She was playing dumb and I was playing dumb. I just didn't want to talk about it with her and she's like "gemini moon?" and I was just like, "I like moons mom, okay!"

Do your parents listen to your music?

Yes, all the time. My dad is a musician. He's kind of how this all started. 

He always [sends] me screenshots… like, "hey I was listening to my own Spotify on shuffle and you popped up!” and he shows his friends. He's very very supportive of my songs [but] he's always like, I don't understand it, but I'm proud of you!

What kind of music was playing in the house growing up?

My dad is Santana stan number one. Loves Jimi Hendrix, loves the blues, he plays more than I do…And my mom is the reason I like really soft things. She loves jazz, loves smooth jazz,  she loves Sade, she loves Bossa nova stuff. And yeah, so much of me comes from that kind of soft ethereal stuff that she started me off on. 

When did you first feel like you started developing your own creative practice?

I was always singing since I was a baby. Always singing. And then I was in the Chicago Children's Choir when I was in 4th grade through 8th grade. And kind of in that time I started creative writing, like really just writing every day and writing poems and did that throughout high school when I became too shy to play music or sing. So yeah, writing was  my first love. And ironically, I just paired those two things together. And now I'm still writing, but I'm singing those words. 

What creative writing styles were you most familiar with growing up?

I think it started with Chicano literature because my mom was a creative writer, she's a poet. She's a writer. She's had a bunch of things published in the 70s and the 80s and my godmother's a Chicano writer [too]. Octavio Paz and Pablo Neruda, all those fools. That was kind of pushed on the me, but I love it. It's really romantic and beautiful and sad. 

When did you first start creating your own music?

I was a sophomore in college. I bought my loop pedal because it's the same loop pedal that Liz Harris of Grouper had. I just spent my college check on it. And so for about eight years I've been recording my own project…I started just demoing things in my bedroom. I was kind of in that stage for three or four years. And I would put everything on my SoundCloud if you want to hear old old songs. I deleted a lot of the embarrassing ones. I wish I kept most of them. But yeah, that's probably the oldest Mia Joy content on the internet.

For your last single there was a sword on the album art - visually does this single/album have similar motifs?

There is a sword to the cover of this single, generally the sword and my beautiful brown body is just a shield of protection. So Spirit Tamer [and] the sword are kind of, [a] big whole sort of metaphor for is just protecting yourself and shielding yourself from outside forces.

What music influences can you expect to hear in the album?

As a music nerd and someone who is kind of obsessed with music history and trivia there are definitely some homages to things and references to things. I have a song called “Old Man” that is about my dad that is also a hugely famous Neil Young song. And I [also] have this song called “A Freak Out on Leash” (which is a joke) which is another song that is really, really, really sad, but has a funny title. 

And it's not a cover “Freak On a Leash". I just like the idea of feeling insane but constricted. So I ran with that. So yeah, there's definitely bits of my personality and little cues that I'm a music nerd.

Any other references to expect?

There's totally [an] Arthur Russell cover at the end of my album. So, yeah, I think that doesn't need to be a secret anymore. The day that I recorded that Arthur Russell song was a very sad, very heartbroken time…Me and Abby [Santourian] and Michael just walked in the studio and we did two takes. So the trembling in my voice is all very real.

How long is the album?

It's 10 songs and a few melodic interludes.

How would you describe the melodic interludes?

Think of it as a sonic cleanser. 

It's not even something I'm cognizant of. It's just something in doing. It's a meditative thing that I'm doing in private. So it feels really vulnerable to put it on my record because I don't think people really know me publicly. So yeah, it's exciting because I feel like people are finally hearing my influences for the first time. Finally hearing what I sound like for real for the first time and these kind of meditative, intimate, private vocal kind of chants and prayers and harmonies that I do are just breaking up these kind of synth pop songs that you guys know me as, so that's exciting.