Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
A: I go by the artist name MILYMA I was born in Germany and raised in Switzerland. I think the most important thing that impacted me as a child was my classical piano training and the music,artists and their visuals I was surrounded by: Missy Elliot, Aaliyah, Timberland, Destiny’s Child.
Q: How are you planning on growing your fan base and sharing your music with the world? What message do you have for anyone who is about to discover “MILYMA”?
A: I tried to have a better knowledge in pitching and getting in touch with press as I’m releasing my debut Album independently and don’t want or hope that it’s going under.
Plus just the usual; using instagram, playing shows and hoping for good press and feedback. Also People sharing on social media is probably the biggest support I have right now.
My message would be just be patient with me because I won’t disappoint you.
Q: Who is the most inspiring artist for you right now? And where do you find inspiration for making music?
A: Since a long time and still is FKA Twigs.
I find inspiration in many things – I think I have more of an urge to make music if I’m in a big city. It’s noisy and my mind is processing the new things I see, I feel, I taste, I smell – the unknown really.
And if I’m in my home studio in Basel which is more quiet and where I don’t have a lot of new inspirations I think then it is mostly music and sound.
Q: Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your new single, “It And You”?
A: Definitely the space we recorded at which was special for me to be in a room only made for music. Music-studios remind me of a therapy-room, it is just made for something and there is rarely any distraction to do something else. So when you enter you know what to do and you forget the time and if it’s dark or light outside.
I probably was also inspired by London. I’m quite sensitive to my surroundings.
Q: What was the creative process like for writing and producing the track?
A: Riley (a Producer/Mixer/Engineer) and I were strangers at that time and we had our first session together in the Church Studios in London. I like to work with an empty mind, well you never really have an empty mind but not really having concrete ideas and just being inspired by the sounds of the synthesisers or other gears and instruments. So we just played around for one or two days and concretized the instrumental. Then I improvised the vocals over it, which were already relatively like the endversion. The last thing I did was write the lyrics and record them in my home studio in Basel, Switzerland.
Q: How does it differ from your previous music in terms of style and sound?
A: It differs from the structure of the Song compared to other songs I produced and wrote. It has more different chapters but those chapters are really clean and clear. The drums and rhythm are a bit unlikely for me but I had this in my mind and I really liked it.
Q: Were there any specific musical influences that played a role in shaping the sound of the track?
A: James Blake and clubbing in London.
Q: Who is your dream artist to collaborate with? (dead or alive)
A: Frank Ocean.
Q: What is your advice for people interested in pursuing music as a career or for those trying to enter the industry?
A: If you can move to a city which can push you and your career, try everything out you want, make mistakes and learn from them. If you can, risk it all (in a good and healthy way). Do what you can with what you have.
Q: If you could go back in time and give a younger you some words of wisdom, what would they be?
A: I think I wish I had earlier a better confidence in my music-making but it just needed that time to grow to be where I am now. I don’t know if I could have forced that. I think you need a certain time to get to know yourself as an artist but I was really restrained and private with my music. So probably just be more extroverted and outgoing – related to my music. And also to move away earlier, I felt a bit stuck in Switzerland.
