Mia Gladstone: A Peek Behind Her Music
From New Jersey but currently living in North Carolina, up-and-coming artist Mia Gladstone shares her hopes, dreams and inspirations.
(Anna Koblish)
Houston — After millions of streams and three musical projects and counting, Mia Gladstone — musical artist, writer and producer — said she isn't defined by who the world says she is but instead by who she says she is - an artist, compassionate person and public figure.
“I don’t feel like I can be categorized, and I don’t want to be categorized because I view it as a restriction. I don’t think I can be defined by anything,” Gladstone told YR Media. “I just want to allow myself to take whatever form is natural.”
Since elementary school, Gladstone made beats and put musical loops together, knowing that music has always been the career suited for her passion and talents. When asked about the purpose of her music, she explained it as wanting to build a sense of community, an outlet of representation, and use her music for collective healing.
There's individual healing and collective healing, she said, and she uses her music to bridge the two and "find a way to bring community” to healing.
As an R&B/soul and pop artist, she has gone on two tours, released three projects: Grow, CYCLE/S, and her most recent LOOPY, and toured the country as well as the UK and Europe. Her experiences inspire her work, Gladstone said.
It is important for her to be true to who she is as an expressive, fluid, and compassionate human being. As part of the LGBTQ community, an advocate for veganism, and having a passion for spirituality, these parts of her are incorporated into the music she shares with the world.
Her writing process begins with her journal writing almost daily or making a beat and then writing the lyrics. Fluidity, she says, is a part of her. She writes about what the world is longing for at the moment, gaining inspiration from the highs and lows of what life can bring.
After the release of her most recent album, “LOOPY,” in October, Gladstone plans to continue writing and producing music, releasing new music when she is ready.
“I don’t really live with any regrets,” Gladstone said. Her passion, she says, comes with a music community where she seeks to bring belonging and healing to society, above all else.