Without Role Models: A Q&A with Mitski

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about whether it’s going to be easier for Asian-American kids to grow up these days, since they’ll have more role models in the media.

Exactly, it’s important for there to be a variety. Saying Asian is just too broad. No one person can be representative of Asian people, which is why we need all sorts of Asian people to represent different aspects of being Asian-American.

We’re starting to see that with the TV show Fresh Off The Boat, but then that ties into how Asian-Americans see each other as trying too hard to be black or trying too hard to be white. Or you’re trying too hard to actually be from Asia.

With people of color, you have to try really hard to be something, and you have to stand up for that. You’re not allowed to just be a person with many layers… It’s a tough world out there.

Do you find that these issues inspire what you want to put out there with your music?

I don’t know, when I’m writing, I’m not thinking about who’s going to listen to it. I’m writing for myself, and I’m writing to purge something or express something that I need to express. Maybe my difference in background creates different influences, but I’m not really thinking about what I’m going to put out there.

There was also something you said on Twitter about how looking the way you do makes you want to make your music as pretty as possible.

You know, growing up not being considered pretty–as a woman or a girl whose only apparent value is their appearance–I just didn’t have that, but I wanted to be accepted and loved, so I figured out, “What other way can I produce beauty to be accepted and be loved?” I just worked really hard to make something beautiful with what’s in my brain.

And as an Asian woman, there’s even more pressure to be super hot.

Exactly, you’re not allowed to be a normal Asian person. You have to be a something, add an adjective, Asian person.

Do you feel more responsibility, striking out as this kind of underrepresented voice?

That’s a good question. The thing about being a person who’s trying to make a career out of being in the public, a lot of people want something from you, which is fine, but then they resent you for not being what they want you to be. You become a symbol, when you’re actually just a person trying to live your life. That’s not as understood when you’re just a face on a screen or a voice someone hears. That’s been hard, but I can’t be everything to everybody. But everybody expects me to be everything. It’s just a matter of deciding what I want to do and sticking with it. I’m allowed to change my mind at any time, but it’s easier to live if you make a decision that you’re going to do something and then do that regardless of what people think.

Since you’ve been on tour a lot, do you find yourself writing on the road as well?

It’s kind of hard to write on the road, just because realistically it’s a lot of traveling and doing things. There’s no moment to sit down and actually write, at least not with the kind of touring I’m doing. Maybe if you had a tour bus to drive you around and you could just sit there, you could write songs, but I don’t really have the capacity to do that right now. And honestly, when I’m on the road and in the car, I’m just on my phone doing emails and stuff, so there’s no real time to write.

What’s your writing process like normally?

I don’t really know. It used to be that I had to wait for a song to come and it would just happen and I’d write it as fast as I could. Now, because I’ve been doing it a while, if I decide to write, I can sit down and make time for myself and write something. It’s not always good, but I guess with art, not all of it is good.

How do you start a song?

It’s really elusive. Oftentimes it’s just a line of words and a melody to start with, then a bassline. It’s hard to say because it’s always different, but that’s usually how it happens.

Do you find yourself often applying your conservatory background?

Well, the thing about learning about music theory and arranging is that it doesn’t actually help you write the song itself. The song itself, you can’t really learn how to do it, you just have to figure out how to do it yourself. The conservatory background comes in handy when I’m arranging or I’m trying to structure a song or just actually make it so it can be a real song that’s cohesive. The conservatory background helps me figure out what instruments to play and stuff like that.

There was that point last year when everyone was trying to explain why pop songs work via music theory. What was your take on that?

There are a lot of different kinds of musicians. When I was in conservatory, I realized there are some musicians who do it for the theory, who get off on the theory and the math and the complexity. The meaning behind the theory is what they’re in music for. I respect that, but I’m just not that kind of musician, I learn theory to understand what I’m already doing, or I learn theory to help me do what I’m already doing. I don’t write chord structures that follow a certain theoretical stance, I write things that sound good to me and sometimes it theoretically works, sometimes it doesn’t, but knowing the theory helps me understand what I’m doing.

Where do you see yourself being in a year?

In one year, I would be on tour for my next album. This year’s just going to be about touring for this album, I’m just trying to get through this year. Then next year will come and I’ll figure it out when it comes.

Bury Me At Make Out Creek is out now on Don Giovanni. Follow Mitski on Facebook and Twitter for more.