Mia Day has been releasing music since 2016, but she’s been writing music since she was eight years old. Her first full-length album, Gold, was released this November 2018. She has performed at multiple venues, including Folklife, Chop Suey, the Royal Rook, and the Vera Project. Mia chose the Central Library as the place that sparked her creativity.
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Why did you pick the library as the place that sparks your creativity?
During this last summer, I came here around three to four times a week. I would go to the poetry section upstairs and I would just read poetry all the time over the break. I spent a lot of last summer by myself. I stayed in Seattle and it felt like an adventure for me to come here since I live in West Seattle. I discovered a lot of really cool poets and because my writing is poetry in a way, it just seemed really personal to me. I take my lyrics really seriously and that’s what comes first when I make my music. I also just think that this is a beautiful place and there’s lots of really fun popping colors. It’s a very inspirational place.
When did you start singing and songwriting?
I mean, I’ve been singing since I was a little kid. I’ve never had any training or lessons. I just always loved to sing. I got to an age though where I was really self-conscious. I wouldn’t sing in front of others and I had some bad stage fright. I started songwriting when I was ten years old. It was always my dream to become a singer/songwriter and I was too scared to tell anyone. I got to a point where I realized that I had to tell people about it if I actually wanted to do it. I eventually started showing people my songs and I’ve just been songwriting ever since!
How do you like to start your day?
Last year I made a Spotify playlist called “Get Happy” and it was the most random playlist of songs. On an average school day, I’d wake up and turn on that playlist and just dance around my room. I have to listen to music to fully wake me up in the morning. Otherwise, I’m not excited about everything. And yeah, that’s pretty much how I start my day.
What has been your favorite show to perform?
I would say that my favorite show I’ve ever performed was when I played one song at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford. I did a study abroad program for high school students, so I was in England. It was one of the most beautiful and amazing experiences. One of my teachers there took a video of me, and whenever I’m feeling upset or I don’t believe in myself, I just watch that video and it honestly brings me to tears. I have a very special connection to that. It’s one of my favorite moments of my life that I’ve experienced so far.
What is the music writing process like for you? Is it difficult?
I go through periods of writer’s block. I haven’t really written a song for like two months, which is a little strange for me. At the beginning of the summer when I had a lot of emotional processing to do, I wrote a song every week. I just kept writing, and it was a really amazing experience. Writing, for me, is kind of just a conversation with myself. Whenever I’m out in public, I’m always thinking of myself through the eyes of those around me. Like how they see me. When I’m writing, though, I’m completely within myself. It’s just me and me. There’s no other presence that I’m putting myself into.
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Probably just that everything will be okay in the end. Life isn’t one steady line, and you’re never going to feel the same emotion your whole life. You will always be changing. That has really helped me when I’ve been stuck in long emotional periods and it seems like it’s never going to end. Also that nothing lasts forever, which can be seen as a good thing and a bad thing. I just think that there’s a lot of beauty in knowing that people are constantly changing and that’s a lot of hope for me. I can change at any moment that I want to.
How would you describe your fashion sense?
It’s all over the place! I don’t know. I guess I’ve always felt like I belong in another era. Ever since I was in third or fourth grade, I always used to wear like bell-bottoms and I used to wear the lining on pillow cases that are like beads, except I wore it as a headband. I also used to wear cowgirl boots with leather jackets. Right now though, I’m going through a huge eighties phase and I love wearing baggy clothes. I’d say my fashion sense is always changing but it’s always based around something that catches my eye from a different time period.
What are three things you can’t live without?
My pets! I have two dogs and a cat. I would also say these new shoes! The Nike Cortez’s. I’ve been wearing them every day. Finally, I would say my job. I work at Easy Street Records and it’s honestly helped me so much. Like, it’s something I look forward to and whenever I’m done working, I always feel sad. It’s so dorky but I love working and seeing my coworkers. It’s become another home for me.
Would you say that there’s a specific artist that influences your music?
I think that definitely goes through phases as well. Right now Maggie Rogers is influencing me so much. The first time I watched her Fallingwater music video, I think I watched it like ten times in a row. I think she’s so honest with her emotions, and that’s someone I want to be. I’m also really inspired by Rex Orange County because I think he’s really different. I think he’s really unique and that he combines so many different elements to his music. I also like that he’s not making music to be pretentious, he’s just doing it because he likes to do it and he has something to say. He holds a dear place in my heart. Also just as a person, I’m very fascinated with Billie Eilish.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
That’s a scary question. I fear my future a lot, just because I have had the same dream my whole life. It’s terrifying to think about a world where that doesn’t exist… I see myself making music and producing music. I see myself in collaboration with others. I see myself on my own in either New York or LA and surrounding myself with other artists.
What has been your favorite part about growing up in Seattle?
I love how the music scene is connected with so many different aspects. Honestly, it’s just different organizations like KEXP and Easy Street. I love how many record stores there are here. I really do love Seattle. I’ve always pictured that at some point in my life, I’d come back. I love all the different music venues here. There’s just a really unique music scene here and there’s a lot of really cool artists. I feel like I’m just finally starting to dip my toes in that and meet other people. I feel like I’ve kind of isolated myself in my art-making, but now I’m finally meeting other people and it’s so cool.
What is your favorite song that you’ve written?
That also changes and it’s usually like the most recent one. I’d say probably Conclusions, which is the last song on my album. It’s about coming to terms with pain and the loss of a relationship. It’s coming to terms with all the things you don’t understand and just accepting that it’ll never make sense. It’s also about accepting what you do know, from your own experience. I just feel like when you’re in a relationship, you have a double experience. There’s you and the person together and that relationship, and then there’s you in that relationship. And then severing that tie and recognizing your experience and what you know, and being able to move on. It took me so long to get to that point and I wrote it after a long night of crying. I wrote that song and it gave me closure. I don’t know, it was just a very beautiful feeling for me. That song is close to my heart.
What is a topic that is important to you that you think isn’t discussed about enough?
Honestly just having discomfort when talking about race and gender isn’t talked about enough. Especially for white people, discomfort is an important part of learning. That’s something that I learned during a school trip to the South last year, where we went to different Civil Rights monuments. I think that there’s a lot of growth that comes from the vulnerability of being uncomfortable. There’s a willingness to learn and be a better person. I believe that all white people are inherently racist and that it’s systematic. Making yourself uncomfortable and by taking feedback in the right way, you can really learn and become a better and less racist person. Being uncomfortable isn’t talked about enough, and especially allowing yourself to be uncomfortable in the terms of white people talking about race.
What was the last concert you went to? How was it?
The last concert I went to was Courtney Barnett last month at the Paramount, and she’s just amazing. She’s this punk, folk, alternative artist. I don’t know, she just doesn’t give a fuck. It was awesome. I loved it, but I also love all concerts that I go to.
What is your star sign? Do you feel connected to it?
I’m a Libra and I think that I do feel pretty connected to it. I think there’s a lot of truths. I’m a very indecisive and unbalanced person. I overthink things a lot as well. That’s all I really know about being a Libra though.
What was the last thing you ate?
A brownie!
What song off your new album was the easiest for you to write?
Probably this song called Carved Named Hearts. That was another song I wrote while crying. It just came out of me in like 45 minutes. All the lyrics had been building up inside of me and it just all spilled out. It felt so good after I finished writing it. I remember wanting to play it over and over again.
Which song that you’ve written would you say has the most meaning to you? Why?
Probably this song called Someday. It’s on my album, but I don’t really consider it a part of my album because I wrote it two years ago. I wrote it before I even knew that I was making an album. It’s just a song about my parents and wanting to give them what they’ve given me and to make them proud. It’s about being scared of my future and wanting to succeed but being scared to have a dream. It’s a song that has a lot of me in it. It’s not really about other people, it’s just about me.
And finally, how would you say you’re connected to Seattle’s teen art scene?
I would say I’m connected a lot through working at Easy Street. Just from seeing people and talking to them. I perform with a lot of teen musicians. I perform with Olivia Kurofsky a lot, just because we go to the same school together. My producer, West, he goes to West Seattle High School, and I’ve played a couple shows with him and his bands. I meet a lot of people just through asking them to hang out. What I’m really proud of myself for was reaching out to photographers and filmmakers this summer and asking them if they wanted to make a music video or have a photoshoot. I think just by being outgoing and also vulnerable, I’ve met a lot of really cool people.