Artist Profile: Mila Moon

Written By G.C. Bellchamber
Mila Moon plays an electric guitar in a recording studio

Mila Moon, the singer-songwriter from New Jersey, spent the early years of her musical journey in instrumental obscurity, but now, with the release of In Transit, she has fully blossomed onto the scene as a stunningly open and concise musician and songwriter, baring the soft vulnerabilities of her heart across finely-spun tracks. 

Growing up with her parents’ love of classic rock, including The Rolling Stones, The Who, and The Beatles, Mila eventually picked up her sister’s guitar in high school. Having always been attracted to music, and having played various instruments growing up, she decided to give the new instrument a try.

At the time, she was heavily into the Slowcore and Shoegaze scene of the 2010s; groups like My Bloody Valentine, Duster, and Slowdive had formulated her taste through her adolescent years.

Therefore, as she grew more confident in her instrumental abilities, she began recording demos of instrumentals onto her laptop in her room and, over time, began to upload these to YouTube. She somewhat quickly gained a following on that platform, and she began seeing her instrumentals being used for other artist’s songs across the internet.

Yet, there was something that left her dissatisfied with this experience.

“There were moments where  someone would use one of my instrumentals, and I'd be like, ‘Oh, that's not what I wanted this to sound like’. So I decided that I was going to start… to try singing over and see what happens.”

Recording her vocals on her built-in laptop mic, Mila took in the lo-fi scene wholeheartedly, releasing numerous EPs that showcased her budding songwriting abilities. Yet, these projects were still heavily rooted in her adolescent tastes, and, as she was exposed to some of the softer rock of the ‘60s and ‘70s, she found herself yearning for a spacier, more profound sound.

Combined with her growing confidence in her songwriting abilities, she decided to take the leap, and, with her 2022 record And I Wait, took a major step forward in her arrangements and execution of her lyrics. She describes that project as her debut insofar as it represents the first dive into her current sound.

“Back then, the subject matter of the lyrics…I was not really writing about anything real. I was really interested in the instrumental, and I would just kind of put words to it that sounded good, but it wasn't anything really based in reality. It didn't feel like songwriting; it felt like just putting words to music. As I matured in my process, it started to be more [rooted in] real things and trying to write a song.”

Her two subsequent projects, Clockwise and In Transit, show her continual progression into the realm of singer-songwriter bliss, showcasing her ability to frame various subjects and intertwine them harmoniously within the strummed and plucked progressions of her acoustic guitar.

On In Transit, Mila also recruited a host of collaborators to help her expand her arrangements, something she aims to do more of in the future. 

Now, as she plans her next project (which she hopes to record in a full studio), Mila continues to build out her unique and complex sonic landscape and, as she does so, is blossoming into an artist to watch in the coming years.

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