MIA GLADSTONE Talks 'CYCLE/S' EP — TWENTY MINUTES LATER

Although you’re going to be stuck listening to MIA GLADSTONE’S CYCLE/S on loop—yes, it’s that good— the project proves that you're never stuck in the cycles of your own life. Mia’s music is upbeat and fun. The artist’s gift for writing unique and deeply personal lyrics makes her CYCLE/S EP the mental health/body positive/all around good vibes project you need to end your year on. I got the chance to ask Mia a few questions about the EP. Read our interview below.

WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO TITLE THE PROJECT CYCLE/S?

The project is about the cycles I go through in life. It's very analytical of the things I do and the tendencies that I have. I wanted to use the little dash, and call it CYCLE/S, because it leaves it open to mean different things. The name could refer to one big cycle or the many different cycles we find ourselves in throughout our lives. Sometimes I feel like I’m removed from the cycles in my life, but then I feel like I'm right back in them. It's a never ending thing.

WHEN DID YOU START WRITING FOR THE EP?

It’s been a long time coming. The first song my producer Danny and I did was “CHANGE THE CHANNEL” and that was three years ago. That was the first song we ever made together. “CHANGE THE CHANNEL” is upbeat and empowering, which is the type of song I typically gravitate towards writing when I’m working with someone who I don’t know that well. It’s something I can do and not be as vulnerable with. As Danny and I got to know each other better as the years went on, the songs that we made together got more and more personal. I've had a lot of deep conversations with Danny. The most recent song we made was “FOOD,” which is definitely the most personal song on the project.

WHAT WAS THE PROCESS OF MAKING “FOOD” LIKE?

“FOOD,” started with the beat. Danny made all the beats for this project, but I was in the room giving my input. I started freestyling over the track and we kept the original vocal, which was the “cover myself/respect my health” part. I liked the delivery and timing of it and then we built from that. The bridge lyrics go, “talk with your tits/let it all in” and I was like, “How am I going to deliver this?” Danny is somebody who very much likes to experiment when he produces vocals. I experiment when I'm alone, but it's scary doing that in front of another person. Danny was just able to take the vocals to a whole other level and unlock this weird character for me. I’m so happy with how the song turned out, but I was definitely so embarrassed in the moment.

THE LYRICS TO THAT SONG ARE SO HONEST. ARE YOU EVER SCARED TO BE THAT VULNERABLE IN YOUR MUSIC?

All the time. I was so scared to drop “FOOD.” I was never going to drop that as a single. It was always going to be a deep cut, but then the people I showed it to were like, “You should drop this.” It’s so very personal and the type of thing I'd be scared to listen to with other people, but that’s me, and it’s what I deal with on a daily basis.

THE PROJECT TALKS A LOT ABOUT DEALING WITH BODY IMAGE AND GENDER NORMS. DOES WRITING ABOUT THOSE THEMES COME NATURALLY?

When I write a song, I never think of the topic beforehand. I find that I am not able to do that. I'll just start writing about whatever comes to my mind, and then I’m able to pick out the themes after I’ve finished writing. With “FOOD," I never realized the correlation between my body and my relationship with food until I analyzed the lyrics after. A lot of the music I've made for the project feels that way—like something I realize in hindsight. Like, “Oh wow, my relationship with food is related to my appearance and how other people perceive me.” It's always after the fact, which is so interesting to me because I never realize it at the moment. It just happens that those are the things that are on my mind, more so than me being like, “Let me spread this message of body positivity.”

IS IT IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO INCLUDE POSITIVE MESSAGES IN YOUR SONGS?

It is. Sometimes I'll be in a phase of writing these self-deprecating or analytical things that aren't necessarily positive, and then I'll be like, “Empower yourself,” and I'll start writing positive things. It's just a loop I find myself in.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF WHEN YOU LOOK BACK AT THE PROJECT?

I'm really proud of the ending of “I FEEL FINE.” I’m excited about it lyrically. The song is called “I FEEL FINE,” but it goes into all of these reasons why I don’t feel fine. I connected the lyrics to a love interest, but it’s more about my tendency to self-destruct. The love interest was just a symbol I used to talk about how I distract myself from the things I'm battling within.

ONE OF THE FIRST LYRICS OFF THE PROJECT IS “PLEASE BE GOOD TO YOURSELF.” HOW ARE YOU GOOD TO YOURSELF AND HOW DO YOU HOPE LISTENERS ARE GOOD TO THEMSELVES?

I like that question. I think you can be good to yourself in so many ways. Self-care takes a different form in everybody. It can be something as simple as not looking at your phone when you start the day or drinking a big glass of water. It can be taking the time to do something that you want to do. I think a lot of people base their value off productivity and accomplishments, but it's important to know that you're valuable, regardless of what you're doing. You deserve to be good to yourself no matter what.

WHAT DO YOU HOPE PEOPLE TAKE AWAY FROM LISTENING TO THE PROJECT?

I hope people can be vulnerable with me. Me opening up about this stuff and doing it in an honest way will hopefully make other people do the same. Everybody struggles with body image. We all live such different experiences based on our bodies, so we don't think about what it’s like for other people in their bodies. It’s easy to feel alone because it’s something that we're not supposed to talk about, but I think it would be better for everybody if we were able to be open about what's going on in our lives and not judge each other so much. It’s all internal work that we should be doing, but it's hard. You see triggers, and then you start to judge other people, but you're really just judging yourself.

IT'S A CYCLE!

It is a cycle! I see that in myself. Recently, I've been trying to stop demonizing people when they wrong me. I try to remember that people are multifaceted and that we should just be compassionate towards each other and ourselves.

YOU CAN FIND MIA GLADSTONE’S CYCLE/S EP ON STREAMING SERVICES LIKE SPOTIFY AND APPLE MUSIC. GO LISTEN AND MAKE SURE TO SUBSCRIBE TO TWENTY MINUTES LATER FOR MORE INTERVIEWS LIKE THIS ONE.