Q&A: Mia Nicolai Makes Powerful Return to Music in New EP, ‘sharing space among the stars’
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY FAITH LUEVANOS ☆
Photo By Joelle Taylor
THROUGH THE ART OF VULNERABILITY AND A YEARNING FOR AUTHENTICITY—LA-based artist Mia Nicolai harnesses these attributes in her latest EP, sharing space among the stars. Nicolai is no stranger to music, but through her EP’s release, she has returned as a brand new person. Since her previous release in 2023, she has undergone life’s changes and has found new roots in Los Angeles, these changes being the fuel for the EP.
In sharing space among the stars, listeners can hear her classic pop sound, but are now discovering something beautiful that’s been hidden in the shadows all this time. The title comes from Nicolai’s realization that nobody knows why we were put here on Earth, and through kindness, authenticity, and community, only then are we able to discover our own reasons as to why.
Inspired by music icon David Bowie, Nicolai was astonished by his effortless capability to be himself no matter what social constructs were placed on his shoulders. She shared, “Even when I look at a photo of him, I feel empowered. It’s the ultimate idea of freedom.”
The Luna Collective sat down with Nicolai to discuss her return to music, the healing process she experienced from this EP, her evolution as an artist, and more. Read the full interview below.
Photo By Joelle Taylor
LUNA: I love the title of the EP. It’s very powerful, yet whimsical. Where did the title come from, and what does it mean to you?
NICOLAI: It came from one of the songs that's on the EP, called “sharing space among the stars.” In that song, we're talking about how nobody knows what we're doing here. I really love that whole topic of how no one literally knows what we're doing here on this planet. We're just sharing space among each other, among the stars. So that's what that stands for, for me. That whole subject is so important for my personal growth and journey, because basically it has been my lifelong journey to figure out how to free myself from the construct of any culture or feelings of people-pleasing through respectful ways. I love kindness, I love connection, I love community, but I also really love authenticity, and I love to be authentic myself, and I love to be honest about my own needs and wants and share them with the people that I love and care for, or even strangers. But that's such a tough thing in the cultural world that we live in, where that isn't always accepted. I wanted to emphasize, “Hey, we're just sharing space among the stars.”
LUNA: There was a large gap between your last release in 2023 and this new EP. During that time away, what were you up to?
NICOLAI: I was dedicating my time to a couple of things. It was definitely writing and producing this EP and then mixing it and mastering it, and then the most important part, finding the right partners to put it out with. It wasn't until February this year that I met Ella and Tommy, who I am releasing this project with and going to be releasing my next project with as well. As soon as I met them, I was like, “These are my people. This is my community. I should do this with them.” [Ella] is such a passionate person, passionate for my project, and passionate together as a collaborator. I just felt like I hit the jackpot, but it wasn't until I met them that I was ready to release it. It takes the right people around you to put out a body of work.
In combination with the last 10 years, I was quite nomadic, and I was jumping around the world from city to city. It had a lot to do with my untreated ADHD. It wasn't until this year that I started really treating my ADHD, and that also definitely has a lot to do with it, because it's really hard to focus on finishing things when you're thinking about, “Where am I going to be next week? Where am I going to sleep? How am I going to put the money together while I'm in a country where I can't work?” So, between “STUCK” and “chasing lullabies,” 2023 and 2025, I relocated to Los Angeles. I started treating my ADHD and really focused on healing. That started with teaching vocals online, and I got my visa renewed. It was a combination of a lot of things, but all in a positive direction.
LUNA: How do you feel the sound of the EP symbolizes that evolution you spoke of as a person and an artist?
NICOLAI: I think it symbolizes my freedom. When I listen to the EP, I'm reminded of all the moments in Bergen, Norway, where I worked on the EP with Vetle Junker and Eirik Aas. Every memory of that moment reminds me of freedom because I felt so liberated working with him in the studio, feeling like anything and everything was possible, and also being able to trust so much in him and his sonic ear and choices. [That was] also the first time that someone was saying, “Hey, I believe in you so much. Let's just do a project and we'll just see how that goes.” In combination with what I was mentioning earlier, it symbolizes the moment, also, of getting it right in my healing process. I think about this often, how grateful I am that at age 19, I decided I'm not gonna drink, I'm not gonna smoke, I'm not gonna do drugs, and I've just been living among those choices for the last 10 years, in combination with just being curious, being willing to figure out meditation and all these things that have helped me so much to become who I am today. I feel like I've been able, in this EP, to really connect those two sonically as well.
In “chasing lullabies,” there's this meditative thing throughout the whole song. I actually once took out that synth on its own and made a meditation on it. The EP stands for that feeling when you come to yourself, when you start to get it right. That sound of the raw drums, the ethereal vocals, but poignant lyrics, and the meaning of it all, stands for [the idea that] everything is possible. And it starts with this chapter. I've always said this is the chapter of my start.
LUNA: Can you walk our readers through some of the collaborators on this EP that helped bring it to life?
NICOLAI: Definitely Vetle Junker. He’s just such an incredible producer and musician. His ear is phenomenal. It was so liberating to be in his musical hands; since this is my first body of work, he could guide me through. “nothing compares to this feeling” is the song I wrote with him and Eirik Aas, and I understood this is the person who understands my sound without having to explain it to him. The other songs I wrote with other people over the last three years. “delicate heart” was written in 2022 with this amazing producer/writer named Inverness. “spend the night” was written in London in 2023 with Max Cooke. I remember this was also the first song where I wrote the melody on the piano before I sang it. I think that was because of the connection I had with Max, and how he kind of helped me get that out. Glenn Roberts had some finishing touches on the lyrics, which was really awesome and helped glue it together. “sharing space among the stars” was the first song I wrote with Norwegian people, Live Rabo and Kristian Tveldt. “chasing lullabies” was also written with Konstantin Kersting and Anu Pillai.
That's the biggest shoutout to all the people that I worked with on this project. Thank you for the safety to write these vulnerable songs, because I'm such an emotional singer, and I can't write unless it's my truth. The songs on this EP were chosen by truth.
LUNA: It seems like so much love was poured into this EP from all parties involved, which is beautiful. The cover art reminds me of David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust. Is that somewhere you pulled inspiration from as well?
NICOLAI: Oh, yeah. I can't explain what David Bowie does to my feelings, but there's something about him that when I even look at a photo of him, I feel empowered, as I'm capable of doing what he was capable of. And what that is, to me, is the ultimate idea of freedom. As an artist, he just did whatever he felt like. And that's something that I think today a lot of people struggle with, specifically because there's a lot of pressure with social media, and there's a lot of copy-and-paste in that sense. I was like, “Okay, it's almost like everything has already been done, in a way, so let me then borrow starters of the one and only person who makes me feel the most empowered.” It came together really organically, which is also kind of my brand, organic glam. I'm very European, and I'm very authentic in that sense. My face can't hide my emotions, so that's really organic of me. But then I love glam, and I love to dress up, and I love a makeup moment, and I really like a vision.
So, I worked together with Joelle Taylor, and she did the creative directing of the photo shoots. She invited her friend Blake Armstrong, who is an amazing makeup artist, and I didn't really know what was gonna happen. For some reason, I had chosen some crazy outfits at this amazing vintage place, Pechuga Vintage, and went for this Jean Paul Gaultier suit, that is the blue suit that I'm wearing. Blake just gave me a makeup look, and suddenly something woke up in me energetically, and I found myself doing poses and things that I didn't even know were in me. It was as surprising for me as it was for everyone there, but it was so fun, and that's why we decided to also choose these artworks that were more of that empowerment and fun, and then also, because that's definitely who I am. It touched something in me that I'm developing more towards, and really what I’m aiming for.
LUNA: Do you have any particularly fond memories while creating the EP?
NICOLAI: I would say my relationship [with] Vetle. The way that I view the process of making the EP, all I can think of is being in Bergen, Norway. The songs were written already, but they came to life. They were birthed when we were working on the sonic worlds in Norway, and there was just this friendship that existed between us, of inner childhood. We were eating, and I realized I probably wasn’t gonna make it on time to go to my flight to Paris. I just was like, “I'll just miss it.”
One of my memories is when he had his glass in front of his face, and his face looked really funny, and then I took a picture of it, and we were laughing. Then he took a picture of me with my glass in front of my face, and me looking really funny. And that's just how our relationship is and has been throughout the whole process, just goofy. That was, for me, also the first time to really feel that you can spend every day together and just be goofy and have fun and light, even when you're working on really painful subjects. I'm so fond of that experience, and I feel like it just helped me accept myself more, because I had this person that I looked up to as a musician and also as a human, because he's just so grounding, and we just made a perfect little duo to create.
I’m also fond of the idea of how I ended up writing some of these songs with people that I looked up to for years, and was able to get into a project with them. It’s the fact that someone said, “You know what? I'm gonna give you my time, and we'll figure out how it's all gonna look.” And because I didn't have a label yet, it was just me. I didn't even have management, and I still don't have management. I'm just doing it together with Ella Vos [and Tommy English]. They’re so independent, so self-made, and I love it.
LUNA: Any final messages for fans who are anticipating this new chapter?
NICOLAI: There’s a Dutch saying that I want to translate. Maak je borst maar nat. It literally translates to “make your chest wet,” and what that means is, get ready for what’s to come. This is just chapter one. Follow your heart, follow your joy. If you live life according to what feels best, everything around you will just become the best, because the people who feel the best are your people. Trust that if you feel good around a person, it's because they're good for you and you're good for them. That's something that this EP really stands for.
