Our Spotlight – Mikalyn. We sit down to chat with Mikalyn about the music and the journey to get there. The newest release Blame is out now so check it out.
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Today we have with us Canadian alt-pop recording artist Mikalyn! Thank you for being with us today. Would you like to give an introduction to our readers?
Hi, thank you so much for having me! My name is Mikalyn, I’ve been singing and writing since I was 7, and I’m an indie-pop singer-songwriter!
Was there a specific moment you fell in love with music or was it a gradual falling?
Growing up, music was always around me. Both of my parents come from musical families, so when I was 5 my parents put me into piano lessons. I’m really lucky to have such a supportive foundation, whatever I wanted to try my parents have always been behind me 100%. When I expressed an interest in singing, my dad bought me a microphone and my mom sat beside me when I practiced piano. I honestly don’t know if there was a specific moment I fell in love with music, because that love has always been there. Apparently, as a baby, I sang before I could talk and tended to gravitate towards music and always recite the lyrics. It’s just a part of me!
Your new single “Blame” is much different from the EDM hits you have become known for. Can you tell us the story behind that?
How I got into EDM is a bit of an unconventional approach – a Brazilian record label, Reven Beats, reached out to me a few years back to remix an old EP I had released. I said yes because the tracks weren’t doing much at the time. The producers that I work with for all of the EDM tracks are super talented, they take a song that is just piano and vocals and make it into a dance track. I’ve been releasing EDM tracks this way for a few years now, but still behind the scenes been writing songs like Blame. I felt like now was the time to show people this side of me, and I’m so grateful it’s been well-received!
The song serves as a beacon to those who have been in relationships that burden their wellbeing. How do you get in touch with deeply moving and emotional lyrics despite your young age?
I think there are a few different factors that help me get in touch with my emotions when I write. I’ve always been a very avid reader from a young age, which taught me how to put feelings into words. I’m a pretty emotional person, and when I was 10 I discovered that writing down my feelings in song form always made me feel better. When I write, I use my own experience but I also use the experiences of my friends. Even if I haven’t experienced it first hand, as a writer I like to get into their heads and see their perspectives. For Blame, I wrote it about my own relationship because I went through exactly what is described in the song. Most big life events I’ve had so far have manifested into many different songs, and will continue to!
With the music video dropping, how do you feel? How does the music video add to the message you want to convey?
I’m super excited for the music video to drop! I’ve been watching it over and over in preparation. It was super fun to film. The storyline follows me around as I walk around my apartment, and start to see things that remind me of my former relationship. I’ve hit a point where I don’t want to hold onto anything anymore, and every object brings up a different memory, so I put them all in a box to burn. It’s a visual manifestation of what the song describes, and burning the box at the end of the video represents letting go of that old relationship and starting a new chapter without it.
As someone also from Guelph, how does it feel to be such a big voice from a little town?
Guelph is such a great place to be as an independent artist! There is a really strong arts community, and I’ve met so many incredible people there. Being from Guelph gave me lots of opportunities that have made me into the artist I am today, with lots of open mics, fellow songwriters, and an amazing choir, Guelph Youth Singers. Everyone is really supportive, and it feels great to know how many people there has my back.
Obviously, when you began your career in 2018, no one could have predicted the last two years. How have you managed to keep so relevant over 2020-21 with no live music?
I wish I could show me when I was starting out where we’re at now! 2020-2021 definitely threw me for a loop, but luckily I was able to still do live streams, which was actually helpful because a lot of my audience doesn’t live in Canada. With fewer live music opportunities, I turned to writing a lot more and figuring out my sound. I was able to spend a lot of time learning, and I was a part of the Canadian Musicians Co-Op, which taught me a lot about the music industry. I can’t wait to get back into the swing of in-person events, and hopefully will have a band together!
Did your music overlap with school at any point? How did you juggle the two?
Yes, it has, and it still does! When I was in high school, lots of days I would need to leave early to get to a gig on time. I also went on trips to Los Angeles which would take me out of school for a week at a time, but luckily my school was very supportive and all of the teachers would accommodate the time missed. At the time, I wasn’t always the best at juggling music and school. It was just a lot of late nights and early mornings making sure I’m not letting anything slip through the cracks! Now, I’m studying music at University, so a lot of the things I’m learning are relevant to my music career, and it’s a lot easier to balance.
If you could summarize the essence of who Mikalyn is as an artist in one sentence, what would it be?
“Someone who loves harmonies, synths, and talking about basically every single feeling, but especially the emotional ones.”
If you were not a musician, what would you be doing right now?
If I wasn’t a musician, I would probably be in school studying to work in the music industry on the business side. I think I would likely go into Entertainment Law, or work at a label! No matter what I think I would be involved with music somehow.
Recently, you have accumulated over 2M streams on Spotify. How does it feel that your music is reaching such a big audience beyond Canada?
It’s honestly super surreal to me! Sometimes I feel like I need to pinch myself when I look at the data and see all the different countries my music is being listened to in.
Over the years you have done quite a few collaborations. Are there any that boldly stood out to you? If you could choose anyone to collaborate with now, who would it be?
I’ve been super lucky to collaborate with so many amazing people, it’s hard to just pick one. One that stood out was writing the song “Gone” with Murray Daigle and Bobby John because that song won a competition that brought me to LA and I got to record an amazing music video. Another impactful collaboration was my first co-write with Chris Grey, who’s now not only one of my amazing producers and cowriters, but one of my best friends. In our first co-write, we were still unsure of each other and what our dynamic would be but we got along great and had a lot of fun! I think my dream collaboration would be with Marina because she is my biggest musical influence, or Billie Eilish because I love her music as well!
What is your music setup right now? Do you record from home or do you have a studio space?
I usually record at Chris Grey’s home studio, or at Phase One Studios! I’m not the strongest at production, but I have a setup that I can record rough demos on. I use Logic Pro, and I have a Nord 3 Keyboard and the Ed Sheeran Martin Guitar!
Is there an EP or LP in Mikalyn’s future?
Yes, there is!! My upcoming EP is almost finished, it only needs a little bit of fine-tuning and a name. It’s my favorite project I’ve ever worked on by far, and I can’t wait to put it out.
Thank you for joining us today. Before you go want to give a shout-out to any person, organization, or charity of your choice?
Thanks again for having me, this has been super fun! I want to give a shout-out to Dave and Elaine Shaw because they’ve supported me and my music for years and just made a huge move to the East Coast!
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