Looking Forward, Looking Back: Miya Folick Interviewed
“All the things that I’m going through and writing about right now will feel like ancient history in two years,” Miya Folick, reclining in her seat, says thoughtfully. “It’s like going through your old journal.”
The LA-based artist is at home, working on her next record ahead of a string of upcoming live dates. Among them is a headline show at Lafayette and a run of opening slots for Mitski in May, coinciding with the first birthday of her latest album ‘ROACH’. “With Mitski I’m truly a fan,” Miya beams. “I love her new album. I’ve been seeing all the videos [of her shows] on TikTok – I wanna see the whole thing!” She’s also optimistic it’ll be warm enough to swim in London’s parks by then, though the city’s leaden sky on the day of our chat is a questionable omen.
—
—
Mitski’s introspective storytelling makes for a natural pairing between the two of them; Miya’s previously collaborated with her on the ‘ROACH’ track ‘Bad Thing’, a buzzy tribute to hangxiety. Throughout the rest of the album Miya dives headlong into her own psyche, tugging at the threads of past relationships and body image, ageing and ancestry. Laying yourself bare for a future version of yourself – let alone audiences of hundreds of thousands of people – to one day pick over is a necessary condition of being a musician who writes from personal experience, but Miya isn’t intimidated by the prospect. “I think that I can trust that [future Miya] will still understand why I wrote this music,” she muses. “She won’t be judgemental or embarrassed by it, I think she will just have worked through the feelings more than I have – I don’t worry about what she thinks!”
This cycle of growing and reflecting isn’t new: she’s already the ‘future self’ she couldn’t have imagined in 2015 when her debut EP ‘Strange Darling’ was released; since then she’s seen the changes in her life reflected back in her music; “There are songs on ‘Strange Darling’ where I’m falling in love with somebody, but then fast-forward to ‘ROACH’ and I’m saying ‘why did I do that?’,” she grins. “It’s funny to see – and nice to remember – those good feelings. There was a point at which this was new and exciting. It was an unknown that I was stepping into, and I didn’t know how bad it would be. You’re watching a horror movie and you’re like ‘don’t go in there!’.”
—
—
Curating those musical timestamps of her life and loves is made all the more intimate by the fact Miya doesn’t write with any shrouds of imaginations – fantastical lands and hyperbolised caricatures held at a convenient arm’s length. She admits it’s an exercise she’s trying to practise more often, but for now the songs on the page are decidedly personal. “From what I’ve observed from my peers and friends, I think the process of writing and entering that state of flow or vulnerability is maybe easier for me than other people,” she notes, “but it’s not always easy. I can’t be a machine. I need to refuel: I need to read books; go for walks; watch movies; talk to my friends, read the newspaper – whatever it is that helps me feel connected to my life and feel like I have something to say.”
—
—
Tapping into that connection and emerging with a song – while “magical and transcendent” in itself – is still only the beginning of the life cycle. Once released her songs are courier to future Miya via innumerable live shows, her music and her relationship to it diverging and shifting with the evolution of time. “It’s important for me to have some honest connection with that song every night,” she says. “I don’t just want to play it; that makes me feel like a shell of a human.” Sometimes, she explains, that means therapeutic returns to childhood; sometimes it’s a far less visceral hook. “Sometimes it actually feels painful to perform,” she confesses. “That is pretty rare. Some nights it’s less about me connecting to the song and more about me connecting with the audience.”
Before she makes it to London she has a chance to connect with audiences at Idaho’s gargantuan Treefort festival – her first time taking the stage in the entire state. “I’ve heard Treefort is one of the best,” she grins. “I’ve heard such good things about it, so I am excited to play. It’s also fun to get to play for people who are not necessarily your targeted audience.” Indeed, the festival’s kitchen sink lineup – pulling both from local and international talent – all but guarantees new audiences won’t be hard to come by. For now, though, that’s all the thought she’s given to her performance there. It’s a month away – by then, even this conversation will be ancient history.
—
—
Treefort Music Festival runs between March 20th – 24th. Catch Miya Folick at London’s Lafayette on May 12th. Stay in touch with Miya Folick on social media.
Words: Caitlin Chatterton
—
