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MINA on Songwriting, Multilingual Music, and Creative Collaborations · The Scene Projects

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  This program is part of the Scene Projects podcast network.
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  Scene Project features interviews with independent musicians, comedians, and artists
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  from across the Midwest.
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  Become part of our community and support local art wherever you are.
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  Welcome in to another exciting episode of the scene.
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  I am your host Bubba Starts, with me today is UK recording artist, Mina.
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  Mina, welcome to the Thank
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  you for having me.
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  Oh, it's absolutely my pleasure.
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  We featured one of your songs on our other show, unsigned spotlight recently with AJ
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  Waller, and I absolutely loved it.
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  But before we get into the music and your budding recording career, I'd like to know a
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  little bit about you.
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  So give us a little bit of your backstory.
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  So I'm Mina.
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  I'm from The UK.
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  I'm actually half Asian, so I'm British, Thai, and Filipino.
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  And I personally just like to write from personal experiences.
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  I like to sort of all my feelings put into my music.
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  So for me, music's very personal, and I hope to share that with everyone else.
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  And that for me, I'm a songwriter as well.
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  I same thing.
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  For I I know a lot of people I I live here in the Midwest in The United States, and we have a
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  lot of people that inside of our group that are from, you know, not from Nashville, but work in
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  Nashville.
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  And Yeah.
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  A lot of them are, you know, writing songs that they want to connect with an audience that, you
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  know, sometimes there'll be a a personal, you know, effect to that.
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  But for me, all of my songs are just a bleeding heart.
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  Right?
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  Like, it's just me pouring out my emotions onto a page or or telling a story right out of the
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  book of my life.
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  So I really I feel you in that aspect.
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  Thank you.
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  So being, you know, are you multilinguistic as well?
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  A little bit.
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  I mean, when I was younger, I could speak a lot more Thai and Gaelog.
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  I feel like I understand a lot more than I can speak because I think being in The UK in a
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  predominantly white area, I sort of didn't really need to use my other languages, but it
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  is very useful when I need it.
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  And I think that's probably had a big role in my music too because it's exposed me to other
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  cultures and more ideas.
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  Yeah.
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  And I guess musically, you know, I I know you said your dad is English, but but mother is
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  Thai.
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  Does she listen to a different kind of music and and like, I don't know even know what your
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  like traditional Thai music would be.
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  Well, my mom's more Filipino than Thai.
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  Okay.
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  So she I think Filipino is very well known for their music.
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  So I think she sort of had a lot of influence on me when it came to music.
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  Like, they they love their guitar.
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  They love singing.
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  They do love a ballad.
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  So I think growing up, I sung a lot of ballads, and that definitely influenced me.
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  And then with the Thai side, I feel like I don't really listen to as much Thai music, but
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  it's definitely very unique.
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  And I think some of the sounds I pick up is very interesting and sort of I go, oh, I quite
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  like that beat and I quite like that unusualness.
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  So so that is, yeah, very different.
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  But I would say that from the Filipino side, it's very American and ballady and, you know,
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  your sort of Whitney Houston's, Christina Aguilera's.
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  A lot of western influence on the Filipino side still.
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  A 100%.
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  Where, yeah, the Thai side may be.
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  So what what is Thai music like?
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  I'm I'm intrigued because I've only really been exposed to western music.
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  And even when I traveled in Mexico and being down there for a year, a lot of that was
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  mostly, like, band of music and very bombastic, but then also, like, pop music.
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  Right?
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  They love their big pop songs.
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  It's it's very unique.
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  It's it's so hard to describe, but it is very sort of even if when it's slow, it's quite
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  danceable because a lot of their music goes with traditional sort of Thai dancing.
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  I mean, you do get your more sort of k pop influences.
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  You get your sort of western influences, but it is just a very, very unusual style.
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  I think there's a lot of I mean, I don't know what the instruments are, but definitely some
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  very unknown instruments.
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  There's some strings, but it's not guitar.
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  It is it is how you imagine sort of like, you know, when you picture Southeast Asian
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  instruments, it's those type of sounds like you have like not like, almost a a glock glock and
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  you spill, I think they're called, but the it's not a glock and you spill.
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  It's, their version, and it's just very, very unique.
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  It's it's incredible to hear because it's so different, but it is very unique.
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  Well, and do you feel like all of these unique influences that you have are because of that
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  and because you yourself are like this melting pot of cultures that that sets you apart in
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  your sound and your style?
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  I I think so.
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  As I said, I do personally prefer I mean, I I remember going to the studio the other day, I
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  was like, I don't know what style of music I am.
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  Like, yes, I'm more pop and, like, dance pop, but I was like, I can't quite put my finger on
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  it because I've grown up with so much my dad, he played drums when he was younger and he grew
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  up with like NWA and he loves sort of Eminem, he loves like American hip hop.
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  So again, I've got a lot of those influences in my music, and I've got sort of like Afrobeat
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  type influences.
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  I've got pop.
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  I've got little hints in some of my songs.
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  You've got sort of like Asian hints.
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  I mean, I wrote a song and I sort of played the tune to my dad.
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  And my dad was like, that's very Shakira.
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  It's very like South American and it's I I can't put my finger on a certain style.
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  I think I just if I like a sound or something from a certain genre, I just try and include it
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  into my music.
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  And I think that's a good thing because it makes me unique.
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  A 100%.
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  We it's so it's so hard to be different these days.
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  Right?
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  Because there's so much out there now and nobody is just one thing that it all comes and
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  it kinda comes full circle back to you talking about writing from personal experiences.
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  Yeah.
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  Music kind of has that flavor to it as well that your unique human experience comes out not
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  just in the lyrics, but also in the feel of the music as well.
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  I think that's wonderful.
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  Musical dad, is mom musical as well?
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  Yes.
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  So my mom I mean, she's quite shy, but she has always grown up around music.
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  She's an incredible singer, but she would never like, I've always gone, you're a better singer
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  than me, but every time we've gone, you should enter this competition.
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  She's like, no.
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  No.
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  No.
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  I can't because she's quite shy.
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  I think, yeah, I've been quite lucky that I've had very musical parents.
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  Not to the point that they wanna do it as a career like I do, but just they I mean, my mom
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  always gets the karaoke out.
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  Like, anytime I've brought a boy home, they're forced to do karaoke.
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  And sometimes I would never see them again, but, you know, it's like, welcome to the
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  family.
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  This is us.
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  That's part of mom's vetting process for potential suitors is like, can you sing?
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  Yeah.
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  Has she ever turned a boy away that maybe wanted to stay, but he was such a bad singer
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  that she's like, no.
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  You can't hang out with him.
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  Not not at all.
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  Like, I've had it where they've left and she's been like, you know, they didn't even try.
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  Like, I don't care if they're a bad singer.
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  If they try, that's what matters.
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  And there's been boys where she's been like, I really like them because even though they were
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  like, I don't think I can do it.
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  They've tried.
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  They've given it a go.
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  They've got involved and she went, you know, like, you should be with people that, you know,
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  can be themselves and can really sort of embrace your culture and embrace who you are.
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  So
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  I your mother sounds like a wonderful woman.
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  I hope I get the chance to meet her someday and to sing some karaoke with her as well Because I
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  think it's so important.
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  What she's alluding to there is so incredibly important.
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  And what a great way to vet people in that way to see because, karaoke, it's so easy.
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  Nobody's nobody's good at karaoke.
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  Right?
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  Even me.
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  Like, I can sing, but even karaoke, you tend to be singing songs that you're not familiar with.
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  Exactly.
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  So you you have to even as a good singer, you can potentially, you know, be bad at karaoke.
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  Exactly.
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  You're you're there to enjoy it and embrace the moment.
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  You're not there to put on a performance.
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  Exactly.
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  How fun.
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  Let's talk about the music then.
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  So are you do you work with a producer that creates the music side of it?
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  Are you producing stuff on your own?
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  What's, what's your process like?
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  So I I started writing songs when I was at school because I was like, you know what?
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  I'm gonna give it a go with a guitar.
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  And they came out very cringey, and I remember at school everyone was like, you're like it's
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  given Taylor Swift.
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  And I was like, okay.
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  That's that like, she's successful.
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  I can take that.
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  But it also wasn't a type of sort of music that I wanted to make.
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  Like, I wanted to make pop, but not like that really, like, cringey bedroom pop.
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  I wanted to sort of make something that, you know, you hear in clubs and you can dance to
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  and is really empowering.
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  And then I spent years sort of thinking, okay, I I don't know how I'm gonna get to where I
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  want to.
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  I can't write music.
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  And I remember I even doubted my lyrics because the piano and guitar I was putting it to, it
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  just didn't fit the vibe I wanted.
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  And I think it just made me think I was just a bad songwriter.
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  And then I sort of researched locally studios, And a studio near me, after a lot of research,
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  I found this one place.
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  They do like an artist development program where they sort of help you film some covers,
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  they do videography, they sort of teach you how to become an artist, and they try cut they
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  teach you how to do as much possible from home.
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  And I'm really bad with technology.
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  And I went into the studio, and I was like, okay.
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  These are some lyrics.
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  This is sort of my influences.
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  This is the sort of music route I wanna go down.
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  And there was an amazing producer there, and he literally read my mind.
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  And we sort of were messing around with beats, and that's sort of how I do it.
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  I mean, I will sort of like, I'll come up with beats at home and them, and I'll take that to
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  the studio and basically go, this is what my idea for this song is.
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  What can you do with this?
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  And then we sort of have a whole creative process together.
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  So I'm very lucky I found that because otherwise I think I would really struggle
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  because music production is not my strong point.
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  No.
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  Nor is it mine.
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  I I'm very grateful that I learned to play guitar at a young age, and and I quickly found
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  how to make those things sound good.
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  But there's some songs maybe that I've written or that are are in the future for me to write
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  that maybe I won't have that.
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  Maybe they're not for guitar, and maybe they are pop songs and those things.
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  And I've never had a relationship with another human being that, took that without me
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  bringing, like, the majority of it to someone and being like you know?
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  Because when you write a song on guitar, you kinda the melody is in there.
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  The rhythms are already in there.
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  A lot of those things are very fleshed out, but I've never brought a song to someone and been
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  like, I kinda want it to sound like this and have them be able to kinda capture that and and
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  to bring that to fruition.
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  So that's gotta be so fun to to to hear it in your head and then have someone else kinda
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  create that.
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  It is it is incredible.
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  Like, as I said, Cam is so the producer I work with is called Cam, and he is just incredible.
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  Like, he even people I know who have worked with other producers and then worked with him
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  has said he is something else.
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  Like, he he can literally listen to any song and play it on guitar or piano.
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  I mean, guitar is his specialty, but it's like my debut song, Gotta Have You.
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  We were like, okay.
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  I wanna play around with maybe doing an acoustic version.
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  And I went, I don't know, like, how you're gonna play it on guitar.
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  He went, no problem.
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  And literally, two seconds later, was playing it on guitar, and I was like, wow.
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  Like, it he he really knows music, and it it makes my life easier because I can focus on the
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  lyrics.
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  But it is a teamwork, and he really listens.
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  So he'll have an idea, and I'll go, oh, I I don't like this, or I do really like this, or
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  and, yeah, it is incredible because you kind of it comes out better than you can ever imagine
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  because you think at home you've got these lyrics, you know what you want, but you're
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  like, how am I gonna get there?
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  And then someone kinda comes out with this and you're like, wow.
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  Okay.
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  Wow.
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  This this is becoming a reality.
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  Yeah.
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  It's magical, isn't it?
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  I I love I love being in the music industry for that simple fact, the creation.
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  The creation industry, I should call it, is more what it is.
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  Shout out the studio that you're working with.
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  And I I know you mentioned Cam's name and everybody, but for everyone else out there, I
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  think this artist development program that they have is so cool.
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  So for other UK artists that are looking to, you know, kind of accelerate their careers as
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  well, go ahead and shout the studio out.
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  We'll give them a little airtime.
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  It is called Chart House Studios, and it is based in Horndean, which is Portsmouth Way.
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  Again, if you're not from The UK, you might not be familiar with Portsmouth, but if you're from
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  The UK, you will be.
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  So, yeah, Chart House Studios.
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  Fantastic.
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  Well, a big shout out to Chart House Studios and this artist development program sounds like
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  an absolutely wonderful program.
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  A big part of what we do at the scene projects is educating the next generation, yourself
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  being included in that.
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  I'm almost 40 this year, so a lot of my, like, seeking out the, music career, and I still
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  write songs in that.
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  But, I I have a different role now, and that role is more of a mentor and a shepherd, if you
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  will, of younger talent.
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  We're So always looking for partnerships with incredible places like that.
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  So I'm gonna be looking them up and see if we can get Cam to come on the show and do an
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  interview with us as well.
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  I think that would be really fun.
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  Yeah.
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  I mean, I'm sure he'd be up for it.
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  I mean, they as I said, they're incredible.
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  Alex, who runs it, she, is a dance singer mainly.
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  I mean, she does all types of genres.
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  She's got an incredible voice, but she has had quite a successful career.
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  I mean, she actually got invited to the Miami Music Awards, but because of work, she couldn't
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  go.
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  So she sent one of the other artists from Chart House.
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  She's had songs played on Love Island.
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  She does stuff in Ibiza.
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  I mean, I think having someone that has had such a successful career, mentoring me has
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  really helped because, obviously, she's made contacts and you she's so passionate.
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  And as I said, as a studio, I think they would be happy to come and talk to you because they
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  are so passionate about the music, and they are so passionate like you about the next
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  generation being successful and getting where they want to.
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  Fantastic.
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  Well, Mina, I don't wanna keep you too long today.
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  So why don't you go ahead and shout out?
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  Tell us all where we can find more of your music.
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  If you have a website or any of that stuff, let us know now, and then I'll let you go.
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  So my social media is so Instagram and TikTok is Mina, m I n, a a, dot Saker, s a k e r.
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  It's the same on YouTube.
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  You can obviously find my song on all platforms.
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  It's called gotta have you, obviously, under the name Mina.
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  We have had technical issues with the website, so, unfortunately, it's not up and running at
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  the moment, but we are working on that.
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  Good.
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  Well, if you need help with that, we offer some services too, and we're always happy to help
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  other artists out there.
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  Mina, it has been an absolute joy to have you on the show today.
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  The music that you're making is absolutely wonderful.
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  I I really enjoyed having it on unsigned spotlight, and you keep sending them to us.
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  As you got them rolling out there, we wanna hear them, and we'll definitely keep supporting
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  you.
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  So thank you for giving me a little bit of your time today, and thank you for being part of the
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  scene.
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  Thank you for having me.