motel void

Mia Loucks is a singer-songwriter who has made a new album called Sisko Sisko Demos.

MOTEL VOID: Your parents were avid music lovers, and you grew up going to shows. What kind of shows do you remember attending?

MIA LOUCKS: My dad worked with a lot of country artists when I was a kid so I remember going to a lot of country shows like Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. Some other fun shows that come to mind were TLC and Blink 182.

MOTEL VOID: In an interview for Start-track blog, you mentioned that your most challenging time was when you realized being a musician would be your career, making the writing process no longer pleasant for you. You had to take a long break from music. When did this happen, and how did you find your lost passion again?

MIA LOUCKS: I was referring to a time when I was trying to make a living as a musician in my early to mid twenties. It’s funny because I found the passion again basically by parting with it. I think when I thought about music as something I would try to make a living off of, I could no longer really enjoy the process or separate it from how I thought it would perceived. It is a difficult thing to explain. But once I took a break and found a job I liked that was completely unrelated to music, I was inspired to write again!

MOTEL VOID: You recorded your album on an iPhone 4. It reminds me of my favorite record Carrie & Lowell by Sufjan Stevens, which was partially recorded on an iPhone as well. Is this the recording approach you prefer to continue using?

MIA LOUCKS: Wow I love Sufjan Stevens! Thank you 😊 My first release was a cassette tape with Related Records and at that point I had already been recording all my stuff on my phone just for convenience. Then I sort of got used to that and really liked the warm, DIY sound it created. I do think my taste is changing, though. I have been working on some stuff recently with more proper equipment and in Logic, so we’ll see.

MOTEL VOID: There is ‘demos’ in the name of your latest release. Do you plan to release other versions of these songs?

MIA LOUCKS: This is a great question and probably good for me to think about haha. Yeah, I think I wanted to leave the door open to possibly re-work and record the songs at some point. I think having ‘demos’ in the title also helps describe what the songs are and what I value, like raw-ness and spontaneity which can be messy.

MOTEL VOID: Who are your biggest inspirations right now?

MIA LOUCKS: I’ve been listening to John Roseboro’s album “Johnny” a lot. I also recently saw Marnie Stern play which was inspiring.

MOTEL VOID: Your plans for the rest of the year?

MIA LOUCKS: I’m working on a couple of studies right now on mental health, circadian rhythm and cellular aging so I’ll probably spend most days this summer working on that. I also am always writing and recording when I feel inspired. I hope to play some more shows this summer and plan another release soon 😊