I didnât know anything about Mitski Miyawakiâwho goes by her first name on stageâbefore I heard Bury Me at Makeout Creek in the fall of 2014, so I was startled to learn that she had two previous albums. (The most recent is named for a line in a Simpsons' episode.)
Her third LP opens with the type of gentle acoustic strumming you'd typically associate with a classic folk record, before one screeching guitar note quickly cuts in to disrupt that association on "Texas Reznikoff."
Yes, this is a record enamored of the distorted '90s fuzz sound that has been making a comeback in recent years, but what saves Mitski from being your typical young kid nostalgic for a generation not her own, is the precision of her insight. These songs contain astute observations about matters of the heart and wisdom beyond what you would expect from a 24-year-old.
The lyrics are poetic: "I want to kiss like my heart is hitting the drums," "If your hands need to break/More than trinkets in the room/You can lean on my arm/As you break my heart." Bury Me at Makeout Creek runs the gamut of romantic entanglement from the passionate falling to the chaotic, messy disintegration.
Originally released on Double Double Whammyâand recently re-released in April on Don Giovanni Recordsâthe record is not the only thing that has endeared Mitski to her audience. Her online presence is both a fan clubhouse and platform for social consciousness. She's always responding to questions on Tumblr and dropping little nuggets of common sense on her Twitter account.
you can go to shows alone! you can go alone talk to no one feel the music then go home. abolish the notion of going to shows to be seen.
â mitski (@mitskileaks) June 23, 2015
She's also hilarious.
the takeout I'd saved for dinner vanished while I was playing the show. to the sick fuck who ate my food I'll be calling your mom from HELL.
â mitski (@mitskileaks) June 22, 2015
And while a clever social media presence is only as good as its artist, Mitski's well on her way to establishing longevity. Sheâs already got a new record in the works with her longtime producer Patrick Hyland, but it'll be a minute before we get to hear it. She'll be spending 2015 on tour with Elvis Depressedly and Eskimeaux, and trying to release another album next year.
In fact, she's playing Seattle for the very first timeâwith both bands mentioned aboveâon Saturday June 27 at The Funhouse at El CorazĂłn.
When we spoke, Mitski was in her tour van, driving through Pittsburgh and listening to Vince Staples. (Probably because she is my spirit animal.) We talked about how she deals with annoying inquiries backstage, her definition of adulthood, and her rocking, hot pink bass guitar.
I wanted to let you know, it really resonated with me when you were talking about âcool art boysâ and âgear boysâ on Twitter. I started writing about music in my mid-20s, so Iâve always felt like I was playing a little bit of catch-up in the scene.
Itâs interesting when that happens at my shows because youâre here to see me play music. You even paid to see it, and yet youâre talking to me like I donât know anything. Itâs kind of wild sometimes when that happens.
gear nerd boys always made me feel lyk a sub-par musician 4 not knowing gear till 1 day I turned round + said can u write the music I write?
â mitski (@mitskileaks) June 7, 2015
I never learned abt gear growing up moving w/o a home/access to it unlike u 16yr old pieces of $uburban shit so I'm learning now so what
â mitski (@mitskileaks) June 7, 2015
The way I experience this as a writer is getting quizzed about B-sides.
Oh yeah, all the time. The really familiar feeling is asking questions, checking my knowledge. Are you using this gear? Have you heard about this gear? What does this gear do? And you can tell that they know the answer, but theyâre just asking you anyway and thatâs such a pointless penis competition. This is how big my dick is? You have a dick now? Itâs so pointless. At the end of the day, Iâm playing the songs, itâs not about the gear. The gear helps. Knowing about the gear and knowing how to manipulate the instruments help convey the message of the song, but at the end of the day itâs about the song itself.
How do you deal with these types of questions when youâre backstage?
Iâve started to respond, âOh, I donât know. Sorry, I have to go play MY show.â Itâs totally okay to not know any of this shit because the information that they highly value isnât the information that is the most valued. Just because they think itâs important doesnât mean it is the most important thing. You know things that they donât know and that is valuable to you.
all the Classics the cool art boy says u need 2 know were made for him by older versions of him. they don't care abt u; don't care abt them.
â mitski (@mitskileaks) June 10, 2015
I love that you choose to play a hot pink bass. Is that a conscious choice, a response to these types of dudes? I like to think of it as flaunting a signifier of your femininity.
[Laughs.] I have to say it wasnât conscious, in that I didnât buy it. It was a gift. But I chose to keep using it because of all the comments and because people say exactly what you just said.
I read recently that Bury Me at Makeout Creek is the album where you said, âFuck it. I donât care anymore. Iâm going to write what I wanna write, Iâm going to play what I wanna play,â and itâs gotten such a great response for you. Do you think thereâs a particular reason why people connect so strongly with this album?
The easy answer is itâs rock band instruments, itâs guitar songs, so more people relate to that. But, honestly? The third record is the first one I actually promoted. The first two records were my junior and senior projects in college. I made them, but I just put them on bandcamp and didnât do anything about them. I didnât play live. They were just sitting on the internet. Whereas the third one, I put out after I graduated college and I decided to peruse it because I realized [attention] wasnât just going to come to me. So, I went out and played a shit ton of shows and told people about it and sent it to blogs. I actively worked for it.
Was there ever a moment when you were making the album, when you realized you were onto something? Did you anticipate it being so well-received?
I donât think so. It was made in such little bits and pieces, I didnât have a studio or anything. One day, I would just track guitar for one song and then my time would be up in that certain place. Or I would just do vocals for certain songs and everything was so broken up into little pieces. I didnât really have a moment to think about the bigger picture. I was just so focused on getting each little thing done. While going to work and trying to be an adult and pay rent and stuff. So I donât think I actually had the space in my brain to think about that.
Itâs funny that you bring up adulthood. My definition of adulthood definitely does not contain the usual standardsâmarriage, kids, house. What does adulthood look like when youâre in a band and out on tour? How do you define it?
A few years back, I would have said not having to depend on anybody to live. But now that Iâm actually growing up, Iâm realizing that you heavily need to depend on other people to live and that doesnât change. In fact, that probably becomes more important as you get older. What I think today, and this might change tomorrow, is that being an adult is understanding youâre not the center of the world. Youâre just one little minnow in a big sea. And thatâs okay.
So youâre working on a new album? How are you going to do that in conjunction with the new tour?
I actually recorded the fourth album a while ago, in January. I just got a focused amount of time in the studioâtwo weeks at Acme Studiosâand banged it all out, because I knew that I wouldnât really have any other time to record with touring. I tend to work with my environment rather than against it. Now weâre at the point where Iâm on the road a lot, whenever Iâm back we mix together little by little, and kind of step away and come back to it so I can actually hear it with fresh ears.
Are you going to try and release it before the end of the year?
No. This whole year is going to be about touring for Bury Me. Before I put out my next record, I want to get more practice learning how to play bigger spaces and touring in the US and hopefully Europe later. I want to get that under my belt before I start anything new.
Do you feel itâs accurate when people call you a âbreakout starâ?
Itâs so weird to be called a breakout star because Iâve been alive for 24 years and Iâve had to deal with my own shit for 24 years. Iâm actually done, I donât want me anymore. Iâm old news. I still donât relate [Bury Me at Makeout Creek] to a breakout record because itâs been a very gradual process. I wouldnât have known how to promote my music and be a professional artist if I didnât have those little baby steps that those first two records helped me take. But I understand, to the public, this is the first time that a lot of people are seeing me.
I feel like a lot of young artists donât get to have that time period youâre discussing. Thereâs no gradual process, thereâs only the spotlight. Then, they sink or swim.
I totally agree. If I were asked to play Music Hall of Williamsburg right after I put out my first record, I would not have handled that situation well, even if I got through the show. I probably would not known how to perform, or fill the space. Iâm glad that I had that time to grow without anyone pressuring me to be bigger than I actually am.
Youâve been vocal about not liking certain interview questions. Whatâs your least favorite?
Thereâs the question of âWhatâs your influence?â but I realized thatâs probably just me. I still havenât really figured out my influences. But also, when things are way too personal and involve my significant other, because thatâs none of your business. I say, âNo comment.â I understand where that question comes from, because I have very confessional, revealing songs, but I like to keep that to my songs. I donât actually like to talk about it with people I donât know.
I think it makes sense to keep some things to yourself. I was asking that question because I was thinking about this ongoing trend of female musicians getting asked about their appearance, like that piece in The New York Times about St. Vincentâwho I loveâwhere all it discussed were her beauty tips. I wanted to read it, but I was also horrified by it.
With my appearance, itâs always surprising more than annoying. Itâs always like, âOh, I just remembered that Iâm being judged for my appearance. I had very blissfully forgotten for a second, but you wouldnât let me forget.â There was an article that said, âfamously underdressed Mitski,â and I did not realize that I was famously underdressed. I was wearing a shirt and pants.
you don't have to like my face for me to be good at what I do ÂŻ\_(ă)_/ÂŻ
â mitski (@mitskileaks) June 11, 2015