Indie-Pop Artist Miya Folick Bares It All

Indie-pop artist Miya Folick isn’t the biggest fan of releasing her music online, though she realizes it’s a necessary evil nowadays. The L.A. creative, who is known for her vulnerable, raw lyrics and performances, prefers playing for people in person more than watching how her streaming numbers are doing (her songs have been streamed millions of times, for the record). But she clarifies that it’s always nice to hear from fans via the internet, especially if they share a personal note about how they connect to one of her songs.

For Folick, writing “is almost like a compulsion,” she says, as well as a cathartic process, even though she doesn’t allow herself to dwell too much on such temporary feelings of relief.

“I don’t know if it’s useful to me. I like to think that it’s useful to me, because that explains why I do it all the time, but I think part of it is a compulsion. I think there’s catharsis in the writing of music and sharing music live with people and live performance. But I don’t think there’s catharsis in sharing music on the internet,” she says. “The most emotional payoff I get is in the making of the music and sharing it live for people.”

A natural wordsmith, Folick takes a moment to mull the word “catharsis” in her mind, examining what it really means to her and her music before sharing that in her experience, the concept of using art to feel a certain way can be a little deceptive.

“The other thing I think is really interesting — and I think about it a lot — is while I do think catharsis is important, cathartic moments for me have often been misleading. What I mean by that is you can make a song about something that you want to change, and it will feel really good, and you might feel like you're resolved to make that change because you put it down in this song, but it very rarely leads to long-lasting change, in my experience,” she says. “Change, for me, happens slowly over time. Those big moments of resolution aren’t as meaningful as the tiny moments throughout the day that don’t have the emotional payoff.”

She’s quick to call catharsis “beautiful and important,” but adds that “the real way that I made change is making small changes every day that don’t feel that exciting.”

It’s that type of honesty and insight that fans and music writers admire most about Folick. Since releasing her EPs Strange Darling (2015) and Give It to Me (2017), followed by her debut album, Premonitions (2018), the singer-songwriter has recently been releasing singles from her upcoming album, Roach, which drops May 26. Folick will play the Fillmore Auditorium Tuesday, April 4, with Aly & AJ.

She’ll be sharing new tunes during the concert, and the lyrics of songs like “Mommy” and “Nothing to See” will strike listeners right in the feels. Folick calls her latest offerings “more honest” and “straightforward,” which required a different approach for her.

“I think that, even though I feel like my previous releases have been introspective, in certain ways they were a bit opaque. I don’t want to say overly poetic, but I think I looked back at some of my lyrics and felt like I was hiding behind poetry, which I think there’s a way of using poetry to be more honest, and then there’s a way to use poetry to be vague enough to make me feel comfortable, like I’m not sharing too much,” she says. “This record, I wanted the lyrics simpler, honestly, with the purpose of making it more honest. I’m not really hiding behind anything. The lyrics are very straightforward. That’s the main thing that separates this release from the previous ones, lyrically.”

While she stills gets butterflies before taking the stage, being so unguarded with her music and at her concerts has always been “pretty easy.”

“I don’t think I ever had an issue with that,” she says, adding that her writing process is more of a “flow” than anything once she’s in the studio, and her live shows reflect that.

“It’s definitely emotional. I like to get loud,” Folick adds. “As much as I downplayed catharsis as an experience, I do think it’s quite a cathartic experience, and that’s the feedback that I get: Watching the show is emotional and cathartic.”

As she sings in “Cartoon Clouds,” “It feels good to feel good.” But Folick also isn’t afraid to wear her emotions on her sleeve once she steps up to the mic.

“I definitely still get nervous, and sometimes I feel shy, but I think that my philosophy about shows is that it’s an experience, so whatever happens is part of the experience. It doesn’t need to be the same every time, and it doesn’t need to be perfect or a display of virtuosity,” she explains. “If I’m shy or I get scared, then that’s part of the experience. Allowing people in on that experience is important. Otherwise, it’s me having a private moment of fear rather than having an open moment of fear, which I think makes it a communal experience rather than making it my own personal experience in front of people. … My role is to let people into whatever is happening, even if it's that I’m nervous or angry. I think that’s part of the performance. Because I make emotional music, it feels kind of essential.”

Miya Folick, 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 4, Fillmore Auditorium, 1510 Clarkson Street. Tickets are $85-$385.