Mija challenges the status quo with hard-hitting drum 'n' bass and is making an Impact

Impact is a series dedicated to profiling raw talent that's about to turn dance music on its head. Next up: Mija

You know Mija, born Amber Giles: perhaps it's her head-turning, brightly-coloured hair, her nonconforming punk style or a DJ set of hers that has showcased her versatile, genre-defying musical tastes.

She first broke into public recognition in 2014 after playing a now iconic sunrise set at Bonnaroo, an annual Tennessee festival, with none other than OWSLA head honcho Skrillex. She'd only previously met the top-tier tastemaker after booking him as a local promoter in Phoenix, Arizona where she used to be based. Mija was then pushing a just-burgeoning DJ persona, so in a life-changing moment, Skrillex jumped on to play a spontaneous back-to-back set with her before she was nearly nixed from the line-up entirely. Later on, they reconnected and played again together at Burning Man, thus solidifying Skrillex's powerful stamp of approval on her skyrocketing career.

She's since broken past being simply labeled a "Skrillex protégé", going on to stand her own ground as a tasteful and brazen selector. Originally rooted in house and techno tastes, she's since broadened her sets to return full circle to her drum 'n' bass and low end-inspired sounds, playing at 160 BPM and above on a consistent basis.

Not one to be boxed into any one genre or role, Mija has continued to develop her DJ style while juggling her own fresh fashion line, exploring new mould-breaking events and tour concepts and working hard on rare, but exciting new originals, a few of which she's finally ready to unveil in her exclusive Impact mix.

As of late, your tour schedule has been wild. Tell me about some of your favorite places you've visited recently.

Asia is always one of my favorite places to go, especially Japan. The culture there is so different than it is here and everybody is so friendly. Kids are excited too, in general. Asia is growing so much. The other place that’s my favorite is Mexico City. I’ve been there twice now, but last time I did a club and a festival and I got to actually hang out in the city and explore a little bit, and my god, they are way ahead of the curve. They have great taste in music and their youth culture is thriving.

Asia is a little more EDM still, but that’s only because they only started hosting massive festivals. Before there were weird restrictions on dancing at music festivals and all sorts of stuff, but their level of excitement is insane. And Mexico City is totally mature, taste wise.

It’s easy to see your love of Asia. It seems like your style and vibe totally fit there.

I go to Asia and feel like the level of excitement they have. The way they love really fast, cute music brings me back to when I was a kid listening to happy hardcore, just really fast four on the floor, cute chipmunk noises. It makes me feel nostalgic when I go there and play for them. Everything in Japan is so cute!

That’s sort of surprising, since a lot of your style - both fashion and music - seems very punk.

You know what, though? Happy hardcore, to me, is punk. Back in the day, that was the underground music that we’d listen to, especially in Phoenix. To me even happy hardcore felt very punk rock and rebellious. All of our parents were like, “What the fuck are you listening to, this isn’t music.” It kind of coincides in that way. The way I grew up, the way I do things is a little more punk rock, the way I create things. So they might seem very different, but they have a lot of similarities.

What did you grow up listening to?

I grew up on punk music, like metal. That’s what my family listens to, a lot of ska and punk. I started going to raves when I was 15, so I was definitely still a child. I would listen to happy hardcore, drum ’n bass, all the bass music. That was a part of my childhood.

When did you turn your love of music into an actual DJ career?

It started out as a hobby for me. I was 18 and started playing some shows, some raves, house parties and what not. I was going to school and working my first job out of high school at this power and electricity company in Phoenix, which was very boring. I absolutely hated my life while I was there. I was trying to figure out any other possible way to make money without sitting in a cubicle all day, so I started doing other gigs like working little fashion shows in the mall, or outside of parks and in store fronts, or in hotel lobbies. Once I started getting gigs, like at the Sheraton Hotel, that was enough money for me to drop out of school and quit my job and DJ full time. Even then, when I was DJing full time, my career goal wasn't to be a touring artist. I was just trying to figure out how to make money by playing music for everybody.

You've come a long way from hotel gigs. You recently had two sold-out "Glitterball" shows in Los Angeles and New York, one of your newest themed events. Tell me how that came about.

The Glitterball concept is kind of funny, how it all came about. We were picking a couple different cities to do residencies in and New York was one, and the first show was House of Yes. We thought since House of Yes is kind of a legendary place, we wanted to do something with a theme that was cool. I have a somewhat recent and random obsession with glitter, so my manager just said, “Glitterball!” and it was perfect. We made a flyer that day, did an announcement two days later and it almost sold out on the first day. We were like, “Wow, people really like glitter.”

So it came from an organic love of glitter.

Exactly. I went to a party in Brooklyn a few months ago - a disco party with Arman Van Helden and Giorgio Moroder - and when I walked in they put glitter all over my face and I swear I didn’t take it off for like, a month. I never went through a glitter phase when I was a kid, until now.

You have a little bit of a background in fashion, which probably had a bit to do with you eventually launching your own fashion line, Made By Mija. How did you decide to create a line?

I was going to school for fashion before I dropped out. When you start touring a lot, all of a sudden you go from being a broke starving artist to having a bunch of money. I was like, “What do I do with this?” Some people buy cars, some people houses but I decided to buy a clothing line and make shit.

I never had great schooling on clothes or making clothes; I went to community college to do something to make my parents happy. However, when I was young, I always had sewing machines and was always cutting clothes, ripping things apart and sewing patches on things. My mom always brought me to consignment stores because we didn’t have a lot of money, so we had to be creative. It’s just fun to me, so I wanted to keep doing it throughout my life.

What are your future plans for the line?

We’re in the process of, not rebranding per say, but bringing it to the next level. My goal is to release different capsules that coincide with music I’ll be releasing as well as releasing individual and exclusive handmade pieces, like by me or me and my team, in really small quantities. Really intricate. I’ll do a really high end version and also an accessible version.

You also had your FK A GENRE tour, which is pretty self-explanatory in the name. Can you explain how it came about?

Initially, the FK A GENRE tour came from a mixtape I made when I first moved to LA a few years ago. It really inspired me to reach outside of what I’d normally do, which at that time was just house and techno. I wanted to throw myself into a different world, and it was extremely inspiring for me, so I wanted to do a tour behind it. I wanted to make shows where it wasn’t a Mija headline tour, it wasn’t about me - it was about the party and bringing people together from all different worlds that listen to different types of music and put them all in the same room.

We made it so they knew they had to show up early and stay late because we never announced time slots. We’d go through the night and have all these different styles of music. In Chicago, for example, we had Teklife come out, and they’re legends from there, you know? So having their fans come out mingling with Mija fans… there was a dance off in the middle of the floor, and it was a really cool experience. For the fans and for the artists as well, to meet other people that they wouldn’t normally get to meet and just share insight and ideas.

Nobody listens to one type of music. Everybody has different favorites or things they don’t even know about, so you can expose people to things they didn’t know about before, then you’re just expanding their musical taste. It’s easier to innovate when you have an open mind, listening to other things and getting inspired by things you wouldn’t normally get inspired by.

What would you say you’re most proud of today in your career?

Man… I guess what I’m most proud of are things that I can’t entirely talk about yet, because they’re happening now.

But I guess I’ll say the music that I’ve been creating for the past two years and the art behind it is what I’m most proud of. I’m proud of the world I’ve created around me with the help of my manager and my team, all the stuff that we do. We have so many crazy ideas all the time and just the fact that there’s not very many of us making it happen, I’m proud of. I feel grateful to accomplish.

Your brand feels very organic, very much you.

That’s because I am the brand. You can make a brand and make it a very specific thing, sometimes it works really well. But the other way you can do it is to just be yourself and hope that people like you. The only reason why I’m here to begin with is because it worked that way.

You are very in tune online and active on socials. Is it ever difficult to balance your fans’ opinions with your own creative thinking and process?

Totally. It’s always difficult to see other people’s opinions when they’re not in line with your own and on the internet, people are more comfortable doing that using not as nice words. You have to balance. When you’re online, take everything with a grain of salt and try not to be too serious.

But also on the internet, man, that’s where you find the kids that really believe in what you’re doing. If you’re able to make those connections with those kids and bring a little light into their life as well, that’s all part of the story! They’re going to keep coming back to you because they look up to you at that point, and as long as you’re there, kids have a strong appreciation for that.

Your last release was a track called ‘Secrets’ back in February that was very drum ’n’ bass. But, since your DJing style is so versatile, it's hard to know what to expect next from you. Anything you can reveal?

‘Secrets’ was my first solo release and definitely went back to my drum ’n’ bass roots with more bass-heavy stuff.

I have a soundtrack coming up next called ‘Time Stops’, three songs that I wrote and we’re doing a visual experience along with it. I’m collaborating with Ryan Farber, who I work very closely with, on the visual aspect of it. I’m really excited for that, it’s coming out probably early this summer. It’s more of a cute story line. Some parts are indie, some are more electronic.

I also have some collaborations coming soon. Gammer and I wrote a track that we’ll put out this month and Billy Kenny and I wrote a track like last week that we’re really stoked on. We’re trying to figure out when to release it, but it’s coming soon.

Movement is around the corner too, which I know you went to last year. Do you have plans for it this year?

I love Movement. I have an afterparty out there, but I’m trying to get out there as soon as I can because I love Movement. If I can I’m going to be there the entire time for sure. I’m doing the after party with Golf Clap, who I actually met there last year. They’re legends in Detroit. We’re going to have a big party with Billy Kenny, Eyes Everywhere will be there.

That’s the festival I always dreamed of going to when I was 20 years old. I didn’t even think I’d ever get to play, and after going last year, I want to go back every year. Billy Kenny and I also have the same birthday, which is almost the same day of our party.

Anyone you’re specifically excited to see at Movement?

I’m excited to see Heidi. I saw her this past summer in Europe and it was one of my favorite late night gigs I’ve ever seen, her back-to-back with The Black Madonna.

Tell me about the mix you made for us.

It’s really fun. It goes from a weird indie electronic mode into drum ’n’ bass, like a feel good drum ’n’ bass sound. This mixtape will be more of a listening mix than a party mix, really eclectic and tasteful, but of course it has moments where it goes in. I’m putting at least two of my own unreleased tracks in it as well as some stuff that I’ve already released. I’ll also premiere one of Ryan Forever’s tracks in here too.

Find tickets to the Country Club Disco x FK A GENRE official Movement after party with Mija, Billy Kenny, Eyes Everywhere on May 28 here

Valerie Lee is Mixmag's US Digital Editor. Follow her on Twitter here

Track List:

Josh Pan & X&G 'Nowhere'

Bjork 'Cover Me' (Dillinja Mix)

Nu:logic (feat. Lifford) 'Everlasting Days'

Utah Saints 'Something Good '08' (High Contrast Remix)

DJ Fresh 'Talkbox'

Bassnectar 'Basshead'

Traxman 'Blow Yo Shit' (Lenkemz Remix)

Mat Zo 'Mad'

Mija 'Secrets'

Mija & Gammer - ID

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs 'Garden'

Steve "Silk" Hurley 'Jack Your Body'

DJ Mike Gip 'Deep Inside' RMX

The M Machine 'When It's Gone' (Mat Zo Remix)

Tennyson 'L'oiseau Qui Danse'

Omniboi 'Bad & Boujee' Remix

Amine 'Caroline' (Lege Kale Remix)

Ryan Forever - ID

Netsky 'Puppy'

Underworld 'Born Slippy' (Nuxx)

What So Not 'Divide & Conquer'

The Frim 'Bassline Skanka'

Beth 'Don't You Worry Child' (Gammer Remix)

Mija - ID

Porter Robinson 'Sad Machine' (Pure 100% Remix)

Mija & Vindata 'Better' (Electric Mantis Remix)