Mija (DJ)

Amber Giles (born May 30, 1992[2]), known professionally as Mija, is an American DJ, music producer, and promoter, originally from Phoenix, Arizona, who came to attention in 2014 after she played with Skrillex.

Mija
Mija in 2016
Background information
Birth nameAmber Giles
Born (1992-05-30) May 30, 1992
Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
GenresEDM[1][2]
Occupation(s)
  • DJ
  • music producer
  • promoter
Instruments
  • turntables
  • synthesiser
  • sampler
  • sequencer
  • personal computer
Years active2012–present
LabelsOWSLA Never B Alone[3] Fool's Gold [4]
Associated acts
Websitewww.hi-mija.com

Personal life

Giles was born in Phoenix, Arizona, where she was in a choir that toured France and Canada.[5] She gave up singing as her family could not afford it,[5] and she became a rave promoter aged 17;[2] she was a fan of drum and bass and happy hardcore, including DJ Hixxy.[6] She has often dyed her hair since becoming a DJ, including pink, blonde, and blue, but most often her "signature disheveled sea foam green hair".[7][8] She is into skateboarding.[6]

Career

As a promoter she booked Skrillex before he came to mainstream attention.[6] She lived with several DJs when she was 18,[9] and after briefly studying fashion she dropped out[1] and started DJing full-time in Phoenix in 2012 aged 19. Initially she played events such as weddings,[2] and later the Sheraton Hotel[5] and parties in Downtown Phoenix.[2] She moved away from rave and played more disco house,[7] collaborating with Eric Daily on Deux Yeux, a French house and nu-disco duo.[10] She got the name "Mija" (Spanish slang for "my daughter") as a nickname from her then-boyfriend.[5][11] Billboard listed her among "15 Female DJs You Need to Know Now" in October 2015.[12]

Giles describes her musical style as "fk a genre", not liking to be categorised.[1][2] Her manager is Jeffrey O'Neill of Blood Company[13][14] and her agents are Paradigm Talent Agency. Giles feels that she has been the equal of her male peers and that the male domination of the EDM scene is slowly changing;[8][9][15] she says "I don't think about it often -- only when asked in interviews".[7]

In 2015 MIJA started Fk A Genre, a tour & promotion brand that programs diverse genres of music into a single show. "It (Fk A Genre) gave artists free range to do whatever they wanted to do, and not what their normal fan base expected." [16]

In 2016 Giles launched Made By Mija, a fashion brand based out of Los Angeles, where she is the primary designer.[17] It features both men's and women's lines, as well as shoes and accessories.[18]

On February 26, 2020, Mija released her debut full-length album, Desert Trash, via Never B Alone / Create Music Group, with Mija's vocals, songwriting, guitar, piano and production.[19]

Breakthrough

In June 2014 she played at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Tennessee on the Burning Man art car Kalliope after being spotted at a local gig in Phoenix on her 22nd birthday the weekend before.[1][2] She played the "sunrise set" at 6 a.m. and Skrillex, who had been driving around in a golf cart as the silent disco was closed, came across the stage and asked to play a back-to-back set with her, though Mija is not sure he recognised her from when she had booked him in Phoenix. The set received significant attention, but Giles was unaware their sets had been recorded until two weeks later.[5][20][21] That August she played Burning Man[2][11] and then in September of that year she played TomorrowWorld in Atlanta on the Black Butter Records stage after winning a mix contest.[9][22] She began to learn production and organised a tour in Mexico.[5] Encouraged by Skrillex, she moved to Downtown Los Angeles in October 2014.[8][5][11]

Appearances

In March 2015 she played at Miami Music Week in Miami,[5] then in April she played Coachella.[6] That June she did a back-to-back set with Anna Lunoe in LA, before they performed in the Full Flex Express Tour around Canada over eight nights.[23] In August she played at the Shambhala[7] and HARD Summer music festivals, playing a remix of Major Lazer's Be Together.[24] In September–October 2015, she did a sick af. World Tour, ending in Asia supporting Skrillex's tour.[8][15][25] She was the only female performer on the lineup for the Road to Ultra in Singapore and the Philippines, closing the Philippines festival with Skrillex on stage.[8] She announced her second world tour "sick af. V2" from February to May 2016 of the US, Canada, Mexico and Australia.[26]

Releases

On Skrillex's label OWSLA, which she has described as being like a family,[6][9] she released "Crank It" with Ghastly featuring Lil Jon, her first music video.[2][9] She has also released a remix of Major Lazer's "Be Together",[2] and is planning an EP release.[5] In January 2016, she remixed "Come Running" by Darren Styles and "Middle" by DJ Snake.[27]

Regarding the release of her first full-length album in 2020, in interviews Mija described the project as a personal journey. "I needed to step outside of my comfort zone and into something that would become a catalyst for my next development as an artist," she said in a press release. "I wrote this album with the intention of stripping down all the excess and focusing on what truly matters to me; self-expression, realness, and the story."

Giles remains an independent/unsigned artist. She has released collaborations on labels, OWSLA and Fools Gold.

Discography
Year Artist Track/Album Label
2014 Aden X Claude VonStroke X Kill Frenzy "Whip It Down Girl (Mija Mashup)"Self-released
2014 Diplo feat. Angger Dimas & Travis Porter "Biggie Bounce (Ghastly x Mija Ass & Titties Mix)"Self-released
2014 Anna Lunoe "BBD V NBD (Mija Mashup)"Self-released
2014 Ghastly & Mija feat. Lil Jon "Crank It"OWSLA
2015 Major Lazer feat. Wild Belle "B2GETHER (Mija Remix)"Self-released
2016 Darren Styles "Come Running (Mija Remix)"Never B Alone
2016 Zimmer feat. Emilie Adams "Escape (Durante Remix) [Mija x Fan Fiction NXC Edit]"Never B Alone
2016 DJ Snake feat. Bipolar Sunshine "Middle (Mija Remix)"OWSLA
2016 Mija & Vindata "Better"OWSLA
2016 Massive Attack "Paradise Circus (Mija Remix)"Never B Alone
2016 A-Trak & Tommy Trash "Lose My Mind (Mija Remix)"Fool's Gold Records
2017 Mija "Secrets"Never B Alone
2017 Mija "Time Stops"
2017 Mija "That One Time [...]"
2017 Mija "Never B Alone"
2018 Mija "D!e [alt]"
2018 Mija "Notice Me"
2018 Mija feat. Kelli Schaefer "Bad For U (feat. Kelli Schaefer)"
2018 Mija "5AM in Paris"
2018 Mija "Never Forget"
2018 Mija "Falling ApART (again)"
2018 Mija "The Last Song I Ever Wrote U"
2018 Alice Glass "Without Love (Mija Remix)"Loma Vista Recordings
2020 Mija Desert TrashNever B Alone / Create Group

References
  1. "[Interview] Crankin' it With Mija". Only The Beat. February 6, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  2. Barna, Ben (August 25, 2015). "Band Crush: Mija. Introducing EDM's Next Superstar". Nylon. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  3. "Mija Launches Happy Hardcore Net-Label Never B Alone". Nest HQ. 5 March 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  4. "Mija". foolsgoldrecs. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  5. Ohanesian, Liz (July 22, 2015). "A Chance DJ Set With Skrillex Helped Make Mija a Rising Star of EDM". LA Weekly. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  6. Newhallmay, Theo (May 12, 2015). "Post-Chella Interview – Mija". Your EDM. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  7. Advincula, Christina B. (September 11, 2015). "What You Need To Know About DJ MIJA: Before she rocks Road To Ultra Singapore". Clozette Insider. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  8. "Mija: Green and Mean". Status. November 6, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
  9. Wan, Jasmine (September 15, 2015). "A Moment With... DJ Mija". Lifestyle Asia. Archived from the original on September 27, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
  10. "People's Imports/Party to the People". ReverbNation. April 28, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  11. M, Logan (December 1, 2014). "Artist Spotlight:Mija". The Well. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  12. Medved, Matt (October 3, 2015). "15 Female DJs You Need to Know Now". Billboard. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  13. "Mija". Blood Company. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  14. Fiction, Fan (May 2015). "Interview:Mija". Nest HQ. Archived from the original on May 30, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  15. Wycech, Olivia (July 28, 2015). "Skrillex Announces a Massive Tour Across Asia". Mixmag Asia. Archived from the original on February 5, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  16. "Mija's Fk a Genre Tour Will Cross Dance Boundaries, Defy Expectations". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  17. Ohanesian, Liz (14 November 2016). "In Just Two Years, Mija Has Built Her Own Dance Music Empire". L.A. Weekly. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  18. "Mens". Made By Mija. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  19. "Mija releases debut album Desert Trash" Check |url= value (help). Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  20. Medved, Matt (September 28, 2014). "15 TomorrowWorld 2014 Day 2 Highlights: Skrillex, Dillon Francis, Bob Moses & More". Billboard. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  21. "Download Mija's B2B Sunrise Set from Bonnaroo w/ Skrillex". 2014. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  22. "Mija". AM Only. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
  23. Orenstein, Carré (June 23, 2015). "Mija & Anna Lunoe in the Lab LA". Mixmag. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  24. "8 Tracks That Smashed Hard Summer". Mixmag. August 3, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  25. "Q&A: We Talked to Mija Before She Sets Out on Tour With Skrillex in Asia". Mixmag Asia. September 11, 2015. Archived from the original on September 22, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  26. "Mija Shares a New Remix of Darren Styles and Announces Her Second World Tour". Magnetic. January 22, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  27. Yau, Jeffrey (January 27, 2016). "Mija Gives Us a Colorful Flip of DJ Snake's 'The Middle'". Your EDM. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
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