MIINA’s music is a journey, a cinematic blend of grooves, space, and emotion that invites listeners to sway, reflect, and move. Across her latest album, she explores self-discovery, embracing change, and standing in your truth, all while balancing heavy themes with irresistible rhythm. Whether performing in intimate rooms or touring on a 40-foot veggie oil bus, MIINA’s work connects deeply with audiences, creating moments that are as personal as they are universal.
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Where The Light Goes moves between grief, joy, urgency, and playfulness. Was there a moment in making the record when you realized what this album was really about?
MIINA:I think I realized what it was about when it was complete, and I was reflecting back on it and kind of listening to what had been created. Some of the songs were written a couple years apart, and so a lot happened in my life. I think by the time I was done with the collection as a whole, I kind of stepped back and was like, oh, there’s a lot going on here. And it’s just a bit of a journey of what I’ve gone through in the last couple of years, which is sort of all of those things. I think a lot of people are going through a lot of things all at once, quite often. So, it just kind of ended up being a bit of a full conversation in an album.
You described the album as an exploration of standing your truth, even when the world feels messy or absurd. What truths were the hardest to sit with while writing it?
MIINA: I think a big part of what was happening in the back of my mind during the creation of the album was sort of letting go of a chapter and starting a new chapter. I think it was the self-discovery aspect of it– deciding to be a bit braver and say no to some things and say yes to some different things. I think the album ended up being a bit of a pep talk for myself too, and hopefully that resonates with people.
Your music balances heavy subject matter with grooves that invite some movement. Why is dance or physical release important to how you process big emotions?
MIINA: I personally just love dancing. For me, movement is something that just naturally happens sometimes. When I’m at a show, even if it’s like a slow, folky, like singer, I’m swaying or moving; and I don’t notice it, it just means that it’s resonating with me. It’s having an emotional reaction, and that usually comes through when I’m interpreting music in a physical way as well. So, we started calling the music “sway” a while ago. Someone else was like, “Oh, I love swaying to your music.” And I was like, Oh, I wish that was just a genre I could tell people it is, because I just, I love when I see the audience just kind of going back and forth. Some of the songs you can dance to and some of them you can kind of just sway to, but to me that means that it’s resonating with people if it’s coming through in their movements, and that’s just such a good feeling when you see that happening, you see your art having that effect on people.
There’s also this cinematic quality to your sound, lots of space, texture, atmosphere. How do you know when a song has enough space?
MIINA: I think when I was a younger musician, and when I was playing with younger musicians, there was a tendency to just kind of all play really excitedly and make noise. And it was like, wow, cool, I can do this while you’re doing that. But I think that now that I’m a little bit more mature I guess, in a couple of different senses of the word, I’ve just really grown to appreciate those pauses and that space in music as a listener and as a performer. So to me, I’ve learned to know when there’s the right amount of space in a song. I think sometimes you can kind of conduct that, and sometimes it just sort of shows itself, when you’re in that creative space, and there’s just sometimes that aha moment when it clicks and you’re like, oh, that feels really good, just as is, let’s not overcomplicate that.
You’ve worked with director Matt Gladman multiple times now. What kind of creative shorthand do you kind of share at this point?
MIINA: Matt is awesome. He’s always keen to try out unique ideas. Quite often when I’m listening back to a song I try to close my eyes and just think: “What would I do? What would I want to see visually paired with this song?” And then I hit Matt up and I let him know, “Hey, this is what I’m picturing. What do you think?” And 99% of the time, he’s like, “Yeah, that sounds great. Let’s do it.” And he adds his own touch to it too. He’s just a really creative guy, and it’s awesome that we live close together too.
So, you’re once again touring on a 40-foot Greyhound powered by recycled veggie oil. What does choosing that way of touring say about your values as an artist?
MIINA: Yeah, I mean, it’s unique, it’s challenging, it makes the tour a little bit more complicated, but I think at the end of the day it’s worth it because it means that we’re carbon neutral. We save a good amount of money at the pumps, we can just fly by all the gas stations, and it connects us with a pretty neat community of people too– other people who are also running their vehicles on vegetable oil and doing other alternative things. So, we’ve met some really neat people this way. My music is centered around my values and my morals and my reflections on the world and I strongly believe that art has the power to influence and can be political, I love that. My art kind of does surround topics of environmental concern and climate action, and so it’s nice that we can kind of talk the talk as well through our decisions.
How does playing smaller intimate rooms shape the way your songs kind of land live?
MIINA: I love the smaller intimate rooms. I think that there’s just a really beautiful opportunity to have a very human experience together in a small room too, so I’m really not picky. It’s obviously fun to sell out a big room and have a wild night altogether, but some of my favorite shows have been in those really small intimate rooms where you can kind of make eye contact with everyone, and you can even have a bit of banter, and it just kind of feels a bit more grounded. So, we’ve really enjoyed kind of tailoring our setup and our sound to being appropriate in a smaller room, still having those sparkly moments with people. I’m really not picky. I’m happy either way. Small room, big room, medium sized room. It’s great.
What do you hope people feel walking out of one of your shows on this tour?
MIINA: I think that we’re all pretty aware of the fact that the world is pretty strange right now, and there’s a lot to be anxious about, both personally in people’s own lives and also on the big global scale. When I walk out of the show, I feel really inspired and motivated to live a little bit differently the next day, because I was impacted by whatever that that artist was putting out there. So I think that’s what I hope. I hope people will leave our shows feeling full of love, feeling stronger, and just a little bit more joyful, and that we’re connected to each other.
My last question, if you could give your younger self a piece of advice,what would you say?
MIINA: I’m trying to think of something really deep here, but I feel like ultimately it’s gonna end up being slightly cliche. I think I would encourage myself to just worry a little bit less about what other people think and I think I would also tell myself that you’re doing a good job and keep on keeping on and, all the things you worry about happening in the future probably aren’t going to happen. But yeah, I had spent a decent amount of time kind of being aware of other people’s emotions and maybe I guess a little bit of a people pleaser. And I think that, in this latest chapter of my life, I’m just kind of aware of how we’re all just kind of heads down sometimes trying to do our own thing and not really even thinking too deeply about what everyone else is thinking about. So, yeah, just kind of relax and enjoy yourself a little bit more.
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