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Mia Rodriguez 

Interview: Pankhuri Bhutani

Photography: Giulia McGauran

Recently titled “Best New Artist” at the inaugural edition of The Sailor Jerry Rolling Stone Australia Awards , the eighteen year old Mia Rodriguez is back with her latest sensational release. “Billion Dollar Bitch” featuring the talented Yung Baby Tate comes after the TikTok trailblazer’s official signing with Atlantic Records and the success of her song “Psycho” reaching over 9.7 million global streams.

Mia creates quirky dark-pop that spans the divide between alternative indie and melodic mainstream styles. Inspired by a wide range of musical approaches, from K-pop to hip-hop, the 18-year-old Sydney-based singer-songwriter-musician began posting inventive videos on TikTok, quickly building a fervent fan following now exceeding over 2 Million.  

Signed as the first artist to the new City Pop Records label, Rodriguez unveiled her captivating debut single, “Emotion,” followed by “Psycho” which immediately catapulted Rodriguez to the forefront of Australia’s contemporary pop scene and further helped her transform into Australia’s next pop sensation. 

We recently had a wonderful chat with Mia in order to discuss insights into her music journey. 

Hi there Mia! Thank you for joining us on ReVamp! How are you doing amidst everything going on currently?

Honestly could be better, Sydney is in lockdown at the moment so I’ve been dying of boredom. At least it’s a good time to do music stuff!

You recently released your new track “Billion Dollar Bitch” with the talented Yung Baby Tate. Huge congratulations on that! What was the creative process like with the track?

I wanted a song that would really make anyone feel like a bad bitch! So, I made one. I also needed a bad bitch to jump on the track. So, I got my girl Yung Baby Tate! It was super surreal, first time anyone else has been on my songs. Unfortunately, we had to go back and forth online, travelling wasn’t an option because of covid!

You also dropped a phenomenal new music video alongside the track. How was the experience like working on the video considering everything going on currently? Did you face any sort of challenges?

It was super fun to film! I woke up feeling sick and in pain on that day though, I had to push through it all. Luckily you can’t really see the pain in my face on camera haha.

Where do you garner your major music influences from?

I listen to all sorts of music, so I don’t really have a specific influence. I just take note of certain things I like from my playlists and put them into a song. I do get a lot of inspiration from movies too. The vibe of a movie I like can be incorporated into lyrics and visuals!

Did your initial visualization of the track match up with the final outcome that you heard?

Definitely. It’s pretty surreal seeing the visualisations in my head come to life. That’s probably one of my favourite parts of being an artist.

What’s the one thing that your fans should definitely know about you personally which they might not get to know listening to your music?

Oh man, I’m actually pretty shy in real life. I’ve had to put my passion in front of that though, no time to be shy if I’m going to be a musician! My artist persona is very extroverted, so I channel my alter ego when I’m performing on stage or acting crazy in front of the set crew for music videos. I’ve heard other musicians and celebs say that too, it’s a thing you have to experience to understand, I guess.

Have you set yourself any goals for 2021? Is there anything on your bucket list that you really want to achieve by the end of this year?

I want to get out of lockdown! Haha.

Lastly, what’s next for you Mia? Any plans on your upcoming projects/collaborations?

I want to get the ball rolling and release a few more songs. It’s hard to communicate when there’s so many people on my team. So definitely fixing that up and releasing new shit.

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