Mija (DJ)
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Amber Giles (born May 30, 1992), known professionally as Mija, is an American DJ, music producer, and promoter, originally from
Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...
, who came to attention in 2014 after she played with
Skrillex Sonny John Moore (born January 15, 1988), known professionally as Skrillex, is an American DJ, record producer, musician, singer. Raised in Northeast Los Angeles and Northern California, he began his career in 2004 as the lead vocalist of the ...
.


Personal life

Giles was born in Phoenix, Arizona, where she was in a choir that toured France and Canada.


Career

As a promoter, she booked
Skrillex Sonny John Moore (born January 15, 1988), known professionally as Skrillex, is an American DJ, record producer, musician, singer. Raised in Northeast Los Angeles and Northern California, he began his career in 2004 as the lead vocalist of the ...
before he came to mainstream attention. She lived with several DJs when she was 18, and after briefly studying fashion she dropped out and started DJing full-time in Phoenix in 2012 aged 19. Initially she played events such as weddings, and later the Sheraton Hotel and parties in
Downtown Phoenix Downtown Phoenix is the central business district (CBD) of the City of Phoenix, Arizona, United States. It is in the heart of the Phoenix metropolitan area or Valley of the Sun. Phoenix, being the county seat of Maricopa County, Arizona, ...
. She moved away from rave and played more
disco house French house (also referred to as French touch, filter house, or tekfunk) is a style of house music devised by French musicians in the 1990s. It is a form of Eurodisco and a popular strand of the late 1990s and 2000s European dance music sc ...
, collaborating with Eric Daily on Deux Yeux, a French house and nu-disco duo. She got the name " Mija" (Spanish slang for "my daughter") as a nickname from her then-boyfriend. Billboard listed her among "15 Female DJs You Need to Know Now" in October 2015. Giles describes her musical style as "fk a
genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...
", not liking to be categorised. Her manager is Jeffrey O'Neill of Blood Company and her agents are Paradigm Talent Agency. Giles feels that she has been the equal of her male peers and that the male domination of the EDM scene is slowly changing. In 2015, MIJA started Fk A Genre, a tour & promotion brand that programs diverse genres of music into a single show. "It (Fk A Genre) gave artists free range to do whatever they wanted to do, and not what their normal fan base expected." In 2016, Giles launched Made By Mija, a fashion brand based out of Los Angeles, where she is the primary designer. On February 26, 2020, Mija released her debut full-length album, Desert Trash, via Never B Alone / Create Music Group, with Mija's vocals, songwriting, guitar, piano and production.


Breakthrough

In June 2014, she played at the
Bonnaroo Music Festival Bonnaroo (or Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival) is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Bonnaroo has taken place at what is now Great Stage Park, a 700-acre (280 ha) fa ...
in Tennessee on the
Burning Man Burning Man is a week-long large-scale desert event focused on "community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance" held annually in the Western United States. The event's name comes from its ceremony on the penultimate night of the event: the ...
art car Kalliope after being spotted at a local gig in Phoenix on her 22nd birthday the weekend before. She played the "sunrise set" at 6 a.m. and Skrillex, who had been driving around in a golf cart as the silent disco was closed, came across the stage and asked to play a back-to-back set with her, though Mija is not sure he recognised her from when she had booked him in Phoenix. The set received significant attention, but Giles was unaware their sets had been recorded until two weeks later. That August, she played
Burning Man Burning Man is a week-long large-scale desert event focused on "community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance" held annually in the Western United States. The event's name comes from its ceremony on the penultimate night of the event: the ...
and then in September of that year she played TomorrowWorld in Atlanta on the
Black Butter Records Black Butter Records is a British record label based in London, England. Founded in 2010 by Olly Wood, Henry Village and Joe Gossa, the self-funded start-up went on to become an established tastemaker label, and one part of a camp of music-rela ...
stage after winning a mix contest. She began to learn production and organised a tour in Mexico. Encouraged by Skrillex, she moved to
Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) is the central business district of the city of Los Angeles. It is part of the Central Los Angeles region and covers a area. As of 2020, it contains over 500,000 jobs and has a population of roughly 85,000 residents ...
in October 2014.


Appearances

In March 2015, she played at Miami Music Week in Miami, then in April she played
Coachella Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music festival, music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valle ...
. That June she did a back-to-back set with Anna Lunoe in LA, before they performed in the Full Flex Express Tour around Canada over eight nights. In August she played at the
Shambhala Shambhala (, ),Śambhala m. (also written Sambhala): Name of a town (situated between the Rathaprā and Ganges, and identified by some with Sambhal in Moradabad; the town or district of Śambhala is fabled to be the place where Kalki, the last ...
and HARD Summer music festivals, playing a remix of
Major Lazer Major Lazer is an American electronic dance music and DJ trio, which includes record producer Diplo, and DJs Walshy Fire and Ape Drums. They were founded in 2008 by Diplo and Switch, with Switch leaving after three years in 2011. He was the ...
's '' Be Together''. In September–October 2015, she did a ''sick af. World Tour'', ending in Asia supporting Skrillex's tour. She was the only female performer on the lineup for the Road to Ultra in
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
and
the Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of 7,641 islands, with a total area of roughly 300,000 square kilometers, which ar ...
, closing the Philippines festival with Skrillex on stage. She announced her second world tour "sick af. V2" from February to May 2016 of the US, Canada, Mexico and Australia.


Releases

On Skrillex's label
Owsla Owsla (stylized in all caps) is an American record label and creative collective. It was founded by Skrillex, Tim Smith, Kathryn Frazier, and Clayton Blaha in 2011. Skrillex announced the label on August 17, 2011. The label's first release was ...
, which she has described as being like a family, she released "Crank It" with Ghastly featuring
Lil Jon Jonathan H. Smith (born January 17, 1971), better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, DJ, and record producer. Regarded as a progenitor of the club-oriented hip-hop subgenre crunk, his production and voice presence were inst ...
, her first music video. She has also released a remix of Major Lazer's "Be Together", and is planning an EP release. In January 2016, she remixed "Come Running" by
Darren Styles Darren James Mew (born 23 May 1975), better known as Darren Styles, is an English music producer, DJ, singer and songwriter from Clacton-On-Sea, Essex. Originally a member of the breakbeat hardcore group DJ Force & the Evolution, Styles found s ...
and "Middle" by
DJ Snake William Sami Étienne Grigahcine (born 13 June 1986), known by his stage name DJ Snake, is a French DJ and record producer. He was first credited with production work on several singles for other artists—including " Shut It Down" by Pitbull an ...
. Regarding the release of her first full-length album in 2020, in interviews Mija described the project as a personal journey. "I needed to step outside of my comfort zone and into something that would become a catalyst for my next development as an artist," she said in a press release. "I wrote this album with the intention of stripping down all the excess and focusing on what truly matters to me; self-expression, realness, and the story." Giles remains an independent/unsigned artist. She has released collaborations on labels,
Owsla Owsla (stylized in all caps) is an American record label and creative collective. It was founded by Skrillex, Tim Smith, Kathryn Frazier, and Clayton Blaha in 2011. Skrillex announced the label on August 17, 2011. The label's first release was ...
and Fools Gold.


Discography


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mija 1992 births Living people American electronic musicians Musicians from Phoenix, Arizona American women DJs Owsla artists American electronic dance music DJs 21st-century American women musicians American women in electronic music