MICHAELA on her New Single, Female Empowerment, and Writing Like a Rapper (Interview)
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MICHAELA is calling, and you’d better pick up. London has another rising pop star enter the mix, armed with a new single that giddily gets you to the dance floor. In ‘Fight Myself‘, the young starlet is self-aware of her reluctance to dive into a healthy relationship. However, she’d better get used to great outcomes – this radio-friendly track sets her up for mainstream success. The British songstress has already accumulated over 5 million streams and is getting love from platforms including BBC Introducing and Capital Dance.
IndustryMe sat down with the newcomer as she bared all on her personal growth, her artistic methods, and her hopes for the future.
MICHAELA, please give an overview to our IndustryMe readers who might not have heard of you before.
I’m MICHAELA. I’m a London-based pop/R&B artist. I make catchy, pop, up-tempo music that you can dance to – and cry on the dance floor to.
That’s a great way of putting it. Has that always been your musical style, or has it evolved?
It’s definitely evolving. I really draw from personal experiences, and that has been the theme lately.
Do you write all your music by yourself? How does your creative process begin?
It’s interesting because I’ve been told that I write a lot like a rapper. It’s a lot of freestyling, if I’m honest. I go into a session, and a lot of the time, I have this concept, or I’ve got something going on in my life and I’m like, ‘Oh my goodness, let’s get this out.’. I talk to the people I’m working with. It’s normally producers that I work with because I write everything myself in the session. I just tell them what’s going on, vent it all out, and then we end up like, ‘There’s a song here, let’s bring ideas together.’.
From there, it comes together really quickly. It’s a rapid thing, and it’s normally the first thing that you end up singing. [Because] I do a lot of freestyle melodies, a lot of the time it’s the first one or the second one that you do that ends up being the one that we use. It’s very interesting. Even I couldn’t tell you exactly how it happens. It is just a natural thing – whatever feels the best.
Was that always your approach, or has that something that through time and practice came to be?
It’s interesting because I never really learned (about) songwriting, I never went to a school to learn. It was more you learn as you go. The more sessions I did, I’ve done over 500 sessions now in my life – a lot – and the more you do and the more people you meet, you kind of learn your own way that feels comfortable to you.
For me, it’s always been melody first. But I always have a concept [of what] I want to say in the session. I always want to tell a story or something about my friend or something about myself. I always make sure that I’m very personal about it. It’s nice when you’re singing it on stage to make it feel like yours. It feels like an experience that you are expressing.
When it comes to collaboration, do you change up or always work the same with someone else?
I guess it depends on who [it is]. Songwriters most of the time want to revolve around the artist, and they want to get into the artist’s head. So a lot of the time we talk about things, we have a little chat before, get to know each other a little bit, and then we bounce off ideas.
I’m very collaborative. I love writing with people, I love picking each other’s brains. It is lovely working with different people because you get a different angle on a song, sometimes you never would have thought about. I work with male producers [a lot] because there isn’t a lot of female producers, which is shocking. We need to find them. A lot of the time, the songwriter collaborators are females, and we talk about boys, heartbreak, dating, and things that are going on in our lives. We always get something great.
How did you come to be a music artist?
I did go to school, but it wasn’t (about learning) to write songs. [I went to] a musical theatre school to begin with. I had dancing, acting, (and) singing training when I was a kid. My real passion has always been to be an artist. Eventually, I did a year in college for like vocals in London.
It was more about understanding the industry, understanding what you’re getting into, the legal terms, all the stuff that you need to know because you can’t go in blind. I think a lot of people don’t realise how much there is to being in the music industry. There’s a lot of politics involved, a lot of business things you need to understand to protect your artistry and yourself as an artist.
Do you ever miss that musical theatre side?
I’ll never disregard ever going back to it because other artists do, like Ariana Grande, for example. She went back to the West End, (as well as) doing movies and musicals. I think it’s definitely an open door, because if that opportunity came up, I would love to be a part of it. But my main focus is the pop/R&B artist side of it right now. Maybe one day [I’ll be in] movies, because I think I’ve always had a passion for being in movies.
I can even see that in some of your music videos. You’re acting, you’re playing a full-on character in a role. It seems like a real passion for you.
I love it, I love it. I get inspiration from artists like Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, or Christina Aguilera in ‘Burlesque‘. They take themselves as an artist, and then they get put into a movie [and take on] a role. I think that’s really cool.
Congratulations on ‘Fight Myself‘. It’s a great track. Tell me about how that song came about and if it felt special or different from the others.
Kind of a wild one! I’ve had an interesting sort of start to being in the industry, and my journey so far. I left my ex-management two years ago [and] decided to go independent. I ended up finding a new manager, and we planned this trip to LA. (Furthermore), I was like – ‘I’ve always wanted to go and I think I’d write amazing music there.’. (You’ve) got to save up a lot of money because it’s really expensive!
This time last year, I went over to LA and had these great sessions booked, in one of which was with Diane Warren, which is kind of insane because obviously she’s a songwriting legend. She’s written one of the songs on my EP, which is wild! In the sessions that I had, one of (the songs that came out of it) was ‘Fight Myself‘.
I was speaking to this guy, and I wasn’t too long out of a (long-term) relationship, like five years or so. I was hesitant to let myself trust someone [again], and I kept self-sabotaging the situation. Anyone that would come my way, I would think, ‘They’re so nice, but nope, can’t do it. It’s not going to
happen.’. I was afraid of opening up again and opening my trust to someone again.
As it was all happening, I went into the studio and I was just like, ‘Guys, this is happening to me. I don’t know why I’m doing it. I’m fighting myself. I don’t know what I’m doing.’. [My producers] were like, ‘That’s a great concept, we should run with it.’ – so we did! The song was written within 30 minutes, and it was just whatever I was thinking. I guess that’s the good thing about going through experiences: you get very real stories through songs.
To go independent at that time, that must have been such a big step for you, whilst also going through that personal change. Is it cathartic to get it out into songs like that?
Honestly, yes. I had a lot of things to overcome to even get to LA. Honestly. It was a lot at one time. I broke up with my boyfriend, I dumped my label, and I dumped the management. I thought, you know what? This is not working for me. You have to trust that sometimes things that are
holding you down have to be let go (of) before you can really move forward. So, I think if I didn’t do that, then I definitely would not be in the position that I am in today, which is a blessing.
I’m so happy that I made those decisions because it was for the best. I ended up finding my new management, and things are going great [as an] independent artist. It’s not the easiest, because everything’s self-funded at the minute, but I know that it is just going to be for a period of time. And once things build and people discover my music and I start doing shows, labels will be saying, ‘Hey, what’s
happening?’.
Is the long-term goal to get into that major label space?
For sure. I think being the kind of artist that I am, it needs a lot of investment. The power of a label does
help, but I think it’s not essential. There is definitely room these days for independent artists to be [successfully] independent, and I’m definitely open to being independent for a while. [However] I’ve had people reaching out now that I’ve got the songs out who very much want to know what’s happening with my releases and my EP. So I guess when the buzz starts happening, people start talking and asking questions.
Independent artists may be reading this and taking inspiration. What would you say to artists, particularly young women, who may feel trapped and are thinking, ‘Should I take that dive? Should I trust in myself?’
I’ll be completely transparent. I was with a management (team that) were deemed to be one of the best in the UK. But personally, it didn’t work out for me. It gets to a point where you realise that maybe you’re putting in a lot more effort and time, and the energy isn’t matched on both sides. That’s fine – sometimes people are busy, sometimes the responsibilities aren’t in the right place.
[It’s] something you have to remind yourself of. At the end of the day, as an artist in the creative industry, especially as a woman, you are the one who is going to care the most out of everyone. It’s your responsibility to make sure you’re doing yourself justice, (and) not stick with something that you don’t think is benefiting you. It was a scary decision because I didn’t have a backup; I didn’t have [another] manager ready to go. But at the end of the day, you have to have enough self-belief to know that whatever happens, you’ll work it out and everything will work out for the best. That’s how I think, and it has worked out that way.
[I hope] that’s incentive for anyone that is currently not happy with their management or not happy with the label that they were with. You can get disappointed a lot in this industry. There are a lot of friends of mine that are also artists (who have) been through similar situations. It’s very common, so I wouldn’t beat yourself down because the bad periods don’t last. A year later, you’ll be like, ‘Thank God I did that because it’s a blessing in disguise.’.
You speak on ‘Fight Myself‘ about how you have to let yourself celebrate your little wins, which we as women often don’t do. Is female empowerment a through-line connecting all your music? Is this something that you’re putting into your EP?
Definitely. That’s one of the biggest things for me. I love connecting with the girlies and the gays. That’s where the main demographic is because they just get it. That’s a big part of my music and what I want to say. It’s all about empowerment, things being fair, (and) what standards to hold yourself to, especially in dating. It’s about not getting pushed over or taken advantage of. I’m very excited. There are a lot of great songs to come. ‘Fight Myself’ is the start of it, and it’s been so nice to have this sort of reception so early.
Sound-wise, you are R&B, dance, you’re a bit of a fusion of everything. Are you going to experiment with some slower songs too?
It’s a combo, I think. The Diane Warren song is a ballad-type song – a deeper, emotive song. The other ones are a mixture of up-tempo. I’ve drawn a lot of inspiration from the 80s and 90s in regards to production and sonic. Inspiration comes from The Weeknd, but then his inspiration comes from Michael Jackson. So it’s interesting how music evolves. My music’s a combination of The Weeknd production meets Sabrina Carpenter’s lyrics.
That’s a great way to put it. Do you feel you’re occupying a unique space with that in music at the moment?
I definitely think so. I don’t think there are a lot of female artists coming through right now, which is shocking to me. There needs to be, and hopefully I’ll be one of them.
Yes! Please touch on your musical inspirations. Are there any [artists] that fans would be shocked to know that you listened to?
My music taste is so random. I listen to Fleetwood Mac, Arctic Monkeys; Coldplay. Not that anyone would know, but I’m a big jazz fan. I listen to jazz probably more than I listen to any other genre. When I’m [working in] the pop/R&B space, it’s nice to get your head into a different zone. Especially because I’m writing music almost every single day. So, I put on some jazz, light some candles, (and) read a book.
Even if you think that [jazz] doesn’t influence you, probably somewhere, somehow, it is subconsciously, right?
It’s the romantic side of me. There’s something very nostalgic about jazz music, and it’s an era I kind of wish I lived in – the 40s or the 50s. Especially dating in that era, I would love to have experienced that today – to be courted by a guy. That would have been cool.
That could be a cool music video!
That would be good!
How involved are you with curating your looks and your music videos? I’m getting the vibe you’re a bit of a one-woman show.
If you’ve seen my TikToks, I do a lot myself. I do a lot of editing myself. I love to be creatively involved, I guess because it feels the most me. (However), I love to collaborate. If someone’s got an idea for me, I’m like ‘Hell yeah, let’s try that.’. But, in regards to my styling on a day-to-day basis, I just put my own things together.
I work with amazing creatives. On my recent cover art, I worked with a full female team, and we had this vision for it to be the office aesthetic, like office boss, chic vibes. Very business, don’t mess with us kind of vibe, you know? [It’s] the female empowerment thing again – I wanted a full female team.
I also see you dancing – you have got some serious moves in your music videos. Is choreography something that you take control of?
I work with an amazing choreographer called Briony Albert on a video that I have up on YouTube.
She [choreographs] Bebe Rexha, Camila Cabello. She’s really great. I probably will be doing more with her in the future. I love to dance, and I would love to have dancers in my shows – it’s part of the vision.
Where are you at right now with live performances? What shows have you done and what have you got lined up?
I have a show that I’m doing on September 5th. I’ll be at The Grace in London, supporting Jade Morgan Kelly. That’s my first confirmed show that I’ve done since signing my label, which was like three, four years ago now. I wasn’t allowed to do any shows [for a period], but now I am, and it’s so nice. I’m going to be starting rehearsals and getting the live show sounding beautiful, and then we’ll be ready to go. I’m so excited.
I’ve seen your socials, and you have gone viral sometimes for some of your song covers. You seem a acoustic sort of artist. But you can also ramp up and do the big Beyoncé-esque choreo stuff.
That’s such a compliment. With this first round of shows, I want to do something a little bit more vocal driven. Then I’ll probably build up to doing festivals. I’d love to get some dancers involved and do more of a choreo-based show, but I think for this first one, it’s going to be [about engaging] with the audience type.
I’ve got a cool band now that I’m working with. We’re going to start to put the show together with some of the old songs that I’ve released and some of the newer ones, and yet-to-be-released ones. So it’s going to be like a sneak preview! Whoever comes to the show is going to hear the unreleased songs.
How monumental has social media been for you in terms of your rise to getting followers and fans behind you?
The little tribe is growing, for sure. It’s really, really sweet. When you first decide to be an artist, you don’t think that one of the main things you’re going to have to do is make TikTok videos. I’m recording a lot of
the time, but then you have to put your videographer brain on, like, ‘Okay, how can we capture this? How do I want it to look?’. It’s definitely been another side of my brain I’ve had to [use].
I plan that side of it myself, as well – thinking about what kind of videos I want to film, what I want to say about the song, how I want to portray it. If I’m giving any advice, it’s don’t overthink it. Don’t be a perfectionist because there’s nothing real about being perfect. Just do it because life is very short. If you don’t put yourself out there, then no one’s going to hear you.
That’s great advice. Can you tell me more about ‘Matcha Meets‘ and what that is? How important is it for you to build connections with people within the industry – females in particular?
That came about very naturally. I’ve always wanted to do something where I can connect women together. I [posted] a few threads last year and was like, ‘Does anyone want to get together, have matcha, and talk music together?’. And it kind of went viral. I had about 500 personal DMs. I would love to be friends with everyone, but realistically, I’d be on two meets a day for the rest of the year! So I was like, let me make a platform for it so people can actually connect with each other.
It’s really difficult as well when you’re in a very specific industry. I don’t really meet a lot of girls or a lot of females outside my industry. So I thought, let me do something which connects people, especially in their 20s, 30s, and above. I feel it can be very difficult to make new friends, especially when you’ve made friends when you’re in school, and a lot of groups are already formed. Then I realised there were a lot of girls coming to the UK from other countries that have no friends because they’ve moved here for study or work.
I got so many DMs from people wanting to collaborate with me and do different things. So I hosted [my first ‘Matcha Meets‘] in Hyde Park. There were about 50 girls who came. It was so wholesome, everyone was making friends. Then I did another one more recently – a candle-making workshop with another lady that wanted to collaborate with me. She has a business in candles. So I was like, that’s so sweet. Let’s do it. Let’s collaborate.
It’s crazy to be discovered on the internet for something that’s not music-related, but also is bringing people together. People have made friends through me, which I think is so lovely. A lot of people know me through my music, and they want to be a part of a little group, which is really lovely.
On that vibe of like being open and social, are there any artists you’d like to work with?
There are a lot of people I would love to collaborate with. If Sabrina Carpenter gave me a ring and said, ‘Oh, want to do a song together?’ I’d be like – ‘honey, 100%’.
There are a lot of artists who I think are amazing, like RAYE. I would love to collaborate with her – also an amazing songwriter. I’m inspired by how she took her career away from doing a lot of dance music, which she was pigeonholed by her label to do. Then she broke out and said, ‘You know what? No. I’m going to do my own thing.’. I think that’s amazing.
The list is long, though it’s hard to think of just a couple [artists].
What are your future goals in general? I’m assuming it’s getting this EP out there and doing more live performances?
Shows are the number one [priority] because I haven’t done them in so long. So, to do a
bunch of shows and then potentially do a support tour with someone. Those are the main things that I
want to be doing more proactively. I want to go back to LA (to) do another writing trip, which I think I will do (at the) end of this year. I want to do my own merch line, and I can’t say what it is yet because it’s very under the radar. But, I have great plans for it.
I like that merch idea. Maybe you’ll have to do the ties. It’s becoming your thing.
Now, I’m not going to say too much, but you might have figured it out…
Quick fire round: what would be your dream venue to perform at?
Madison Square Garden or Wembley.
Wow. Go big or go home.
That’s kind of how we do things around here [laughs].
London or LA?
Oh, that’s too hard. [Both] for different reasons. Because of where my head’s at right now, I will say LA. But I love London. I’m a London girl, so it’d be hard to take me away from here.
The biggest moment of your career so far has been…
Being played on the radio several times. That’s kind of wild to me. I’m like ‘Whoa, wait a minute.’.
It doesn’t feel real. That part is weird, especially when they introduce you as MICHAELA. This is her song. And I’m like, ‘Oh my God, that’s me. Wait, what?’.
What’s your biggest ick in a relationship – a red flag?
Bad communicator. That’s never going to work with me. Nope.
Finally, everyone should tune in to MICHAELA because…
There’s a lot of music on the way, and if you’re not prepared, you’re going to miss being involved. You know you need to get on it.
Does it feel real when people tell you your streaming numbers, or does that just feel like numbers on a screen?
It feels weird, but at the same time, I don’t focus on numbers too much. I focus on doing what I love. If you focus too much on numbers, it can be a bit much.
MICHAELA is on Instagram, Threads, and TikTok. You can read more artist interviews here and stream ‘Fight Myself‘ below, or buy it.
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