Meet Mima Good

Hold on to your hats kids we are popping off with Mima Good today! This powerful pop songstress is an NYC treasure. Their latest release Hydra is a percussive groove explosion. Get to know the artist as we chat about inspirations, vocal styles, and their live show on Babytv.

A Self-Portrait by, Mima Good

Would You Rather

be hugged by a very sweaty person for too long, or ride an elevator with someone who is farting a lot? Why?

This is tough! Can I shower right after the sweaty hug?! Otherwise, I’d go with the farty elevator. It is a mask season after all.

Some Questions with Mima Good

How do you come to find your own unique vocal style as a solo artist?

I’ve been singing since I was a little kid. My voice took a long journey through many different styles- musical theater, rock, classical singing. For a few years I was being a bit of a chameleon vocally, adopting the styles of singers I admired. Then one day, I took a jazz voice lesson with Giacomo Gates and sang him an Amy Winehouse song. He said, “that’s all good and fine, but can you sing it like you?” He taught me how to sing the way that I speak. That is my #1 priority when I sing- to sound natural and feel honest.

If you could give yourself ten years ago any advice what would it be?

Ten years ago I was 17. Oy! I’d give myself a big hug and say, “Those boys in the band, they are not cool. They are super lame and gross. They smell very bad. Stop hanging out with them. Actually, just go to their house one more time, kick them in the balls, and then never speak to them again.”

What does your family think about your music?

My family is super supportive of my music! They always have been. They listen to everything I make and know every word. The secret suspicion that I don’t mention to them is that they would love anything I made, even if it was Kanye’s poopidy scoop song. But they do seem to enjoy it. My sister Melodie makes a lot of my visuals. Both my sisters make me feel like I have a bonafide entourage.

What was the creative drive behind your 2020 album “Hydra”?

I actually came up with the album title before anything else. I had just released my first EP and gotten a 3 of swords tattoo in it’s honor. That EP was a big accomplishment emotionally for me- I felt like I had conquered my biggest demon, but I noticed how other more generalized demons started popping up. Sexism at work, existential dread, inherited trauma… I thought of the story of Hercules and the hydra and it felt like a metaphor for all the shit that comes up in life, especially a life lived within a systemically oppressive society. I had just gotten heavily into production, so I began popping out the songs, the heads of the demon. I didn’t have a vision for what these songs would be like genre-wise or lyrically, I was really experimenting with my new production instincts and letting this title concept guide me.

What narratives do you gravitate towards in your writing?

I tend to write about things that are weighing me down, troubling me, even just annoying me. Happy topics feel corny to me. I wish I could write a love song I liked. Lately, I’ve been writing about capitalism a lot. And a little bit about God!

How did your live show go this past April on BABY tv?

April feels like 5 years ago! It went pretty well, it was a fun experiment with playing from my bed. There was a bit of a tech issue at first, and I ended up feeling extremely vulnerable in that moment, sitting in my bed trying to solve the problem. But I was happy with the virtual crowd and managed to feel a level of connection, which is so tough these days.

What was the workflow like on your upcoming album “Hydra”? Did it differ from your previous releases?

This is my first self-produced release, aside from my single “Holly Golightly” and my Britney cover. I produced a bit of the “Good Girl” EP, but a lot of people went into the sounds on it. “Hydra” is a true bedroom pop production. Every sound was recorded in my apartment, either at my desk (which is in my kitchen) or in my closet vocal booth. Friends sang in there, banged on pots and pans, Christopher McBride sweated through multiple sax takes in the middle of summer (the booth is covered in velvet and there is no AC… as it is a closet…) It was all very DIY. I learned how to mix for it. Thank you Youtube tutorials- I love that guy Whole Loops who has a puppet explain everything. I had a lot more fun making this one than my past releases. There was a general feeling of playfulness, of not knowing what will happen next. I mixed most of it while squeezing Play-Doh.

Any final comments? (This is your electronic soapbox for one last answer.)

In these unprecedented times…. Now more than ever….Lol. No really. This is the weirdest time I have lived through; I think it’s the weirdest time my parents have lived through. Everything kinda sucks. I for one am very sick of quarantine. It’s a creepy groundhog day where each time you wake up, things are a little bit worse. I don’t know if my album is at all relevant to anything you are feeling right now, but if you do listen to it I hope it does something for you. I hope it takes you on a strange, spunky little journey. Maybe you can forget your surroundings for 37 minutes. I love you thanks for listening!