For her SXSW debut, miso808 welcomed her attentive audience with a multimedia spectacular. Pairing her electrified vocals with a short film made just for her performance, Mimi Li created a brand-new universe just for herself and those who chose to join her.
Coming from Shanghai by way of Los Angeles, she has spent the last year curating her perfect artist image: a y2k feminine fantasy. With her debut EP “bedtime stories mp3” bringing in a wide mix of genres and songs both in English and Mandarin, miso808 has hit the ground running. You won’t want to miss where she goes to next.
Read our interview with Mimi below.
DJ Duderanch: As a bit of an introduction, tell me your name, a little bit about yourself, and what song of yours you’d recommend to a first-time listener.
Mimi Li: My name is Mimi, and my artist name is miso808. I grew up in Shanghai, China, but I am currently based in Los Angeles. One song of mine I’d recommend… I think the banger of the EP is probably “misirlou.” It’s not the most fun one, but it’s sexy. My EP does sound pretty diverse, with a large range of sounds. My song “1001” is fully in Mandarin, and “Intuition” is a little bit more on the alternative pop side.
DJ: What does your songwriting process look like?
ML: I produce most of my music, so for me the songwriting part is very different for each song. Sometimes I will start with a little bit of a bass line I can build off of. For the first single off the EP, I had actually made this other track for a campaign I was hired to make music for and I made a version they vetoed. But I was like, “Oh my god. This actually sounds really cool, what can I do with it?” I had this really weird vocal sample in there I ended up repurposing and then reusing in “dazzling.”
“intuition” I made around four years ago when I first started to have a crush on this girl who ended up being my girlfriend for two years. We’re not together anymore, but the memory is very, very cute and sweet. That song, I reproduced it four years later.
Overall I think this project is bound together with the central theme of “bedtime stories.” All of these songs had a very different approach of how they came together, some developed with the story of the album in mind. I come from a filmmaking background, and when I was a baby my first dream was to be a writer. I think for me, I see myself as a multimedia artist, and it’s my dream in the future to work on projects that are multimedia and have different elements and mediums to it.
It was fun for me to be able to build this EP as very narrative driven. I wanted to use my filmmaking background because releasing music is new for me. Having it all come together for this project was really cool.
DJ: What made you go from filmmaking to making this style of music?
ML: Unfortunately, I am going through what a lot of bilingual kids are going through, where you kind of start to lose both languages. When I started writing music, around 12 or 13, it was initially to learn English. I really wanted to come to America for high school and be in a place where creativity is rewarded, and when I did I was able to make a lot of music. I wrote songs with my acoustic guitar when I was in my singer-songwriter era. Then when I realized I wanted to pursue music, I wanted to go to college for music. My mom said if I really wanted to do that, I should come back to China. This was before we really got to see a lot of Asian people doing music in America. It was before K-Pop was popular.
So I put music on the back burner once I was in college and decided to focus more on filmmaking. While I was working in development, that’s when I realized I wasn’t fully happy and it didn’t feel like I was working on my own projects. Every time someone would come in with their own music, I was always wishing it was my project I was listening to. I started making music again, and I realized I had to take this seriously. It wasn’t sustainable for me to juggle both careers. I had this coming to Jesus moment where I realized, I’m so young, I have no one else to care for, I need to make sure I’m taken care of. I need to give it a shot.
DJ: How long were you making music before miso808?
ML: To be honest, pretty much all of my life, but it’s something I only recently decided to focus on full time. I’ve been playing the piano since I was four years old, and I started writing songs when I was 11 or 12. In college I did a bunch of sound design and art, and even now I still make music for brands and compose for short films.
DJ: Since you had your start on piano, what was it about this genre of music that made you go in this direction for miso808?
ML: I did initially start off more acoustic, like a serious songwriter type. I had this disconnect where it was fun to perform, but I wasn’t really sure how to record my songs. I would go to these male producers when I was younger, and they would just record the guitar and my vocals for me. It would sound bad, not at all what I wanted it to sound like.
I started listening to, for lack of better word, more electronic music, music that was more heavily produced than acoustics. I listened to a wide range of music growing up, but I didn’t know how to translate that into the sound I wanted because I didn’t know how to produce. I only knew how to write songs. Non-male artists are often tired of waiting on male producers, so they learn how to produce. Totally the story of my life. I didn’t know how to describe the sound I wanted. Sometimes I didn’t even know. I figured out my sound while I was learning.
I don’t know how to define the genre of music I make, I just put an alternative umbrella over it. For me, it’s more about sounds that attract me and what sounds good together. I don’t think I will be fully happy making music that is easy to digest. There’s nothing wrong with that type of music, but I think I’m at this point, since I’m so small and new, where I have the freedom to try new things. I want to do that. It will feel more rewarding to me to really experiment and be bold with the choices I make.
Photo provided by Mimi Li
DJ: What is it like for you to be able to marry these two aspects of yourself, the American miso808 and the girl in Shanghai who started out on piano?
ML: This EP definitely has a huge nostalgia element to it. For the first time in a while, I felt this pure joy of creating. Putting out and marketing music can be such a headache, but I felt this immense joy that was very nostalgic of when I was in China. Just making music for the sake of making music and having a lot of fun with it.
For the longest time, I had this misconception that people in China didn’t want to listen to music I made because they wanted C-Pop. I don’t really make C-Pop by definition, but having gone back to China a few times recently I realized it’s not like that at all. A lot of people still love C-Pop, but at the same time you have this rising group of people that are looking for new sounds.
For my next project, I want to have more songs that are fully in Mandarin, especially after spending more time in China as an adult. Now that my frontal lobe is more developed I get to experience things a little differently. It’s been amazing to be able to marry the childhood nostalgia part with the skills I have now and my culture that will always be a part of who I am.
DJ: As someone who is more on the outskirts of the alternative genre, what does coming to SXSW and bringing not only Asian representation but alternative music representation onto the stage mean for you? What do you hope people can realize about Chinese pop from watching you perform?
ML: I hope people can see that Chinese artists are not just C-Pop. There are so many different sounds from the east. For me, I know I’m different than someone who was born and raised solely in China. Los Angeles is my second home, and I hope the Asian diaspora get to experience my shows. I hope they can come to see the visuals and the multi-disciplinary aspect of it. I hope they like what they see.
DJ: You showed me a really unique piece of merch, this old floppy disk you repurposed to display your website when you tap your phone. I love the way you’ve embraced this y2k aesthetic into your more modern sound and look. What made you want to go in this artistic direction for miso808?
ML: There’s something so pure about when people first started using the internet when we were young. This was before the kids became addicted to TikTok and doomscrolling, and we were just excited to connect with our friends online. I specifically picked the early 2000s Internet-era aesthetic, which is not quite what I lived through, because it has this beautiful nostalgia attached to it. I wanted to echo the same nostalgia in this EP, so that’s why I went with that aesthetic. Also it just looks so good and so cool!
Photo provided by Mimi Li
DJ: On the subject of TikTok, it has become such a big part of the music industry now, trying to get the algorithm to pick your song up and make it viral. Is this virality something you consider when you’re making music at all?
ML: Unfortunately no, but also fortunately no. I genuinely believe that if you make a song thinking it’s going to blow up on TikTok, it’s probably not going to work out that well in the long term. Making virality your main goal isn’t sustainable. Making sounds and art that people can connect to or think is cool is what will pay off in the long run. All the artists I look up to, whose career I find amazing, are people who have built a sound of their own, like Solange and Blood Orange. These are people that are composers, artists, musicians, and so many other things on top of this.
I’m going to keep crafting a lane of my own. I don’t know how much more sustainable that will be than TikTok virality, but hopefully the genuine content will pay off.
DJ: If virality isn’t your main goal, what do you hope to accomplish with your music? Where do you see your music taking you from here?
ML: I welcome a moment where I will hopefully blow up and generate a wide fan base, but the goal really is to have my own distinct lane. More than just in sound, but also in the multimedia aspect of it. To be able to share my music through my shows and performances with an audience that connects to it, that’s my goal.
DJ: Your day jobs include making music for brands, translating and, in China, working on your own immersive art exhibition. What does that balance between work and music look like, and do you ever wish you could dedicate yourself fully to miso808?
ML: Sometimes I struggle with the balance, and other days I’m like, “Hell yeah, I’m a jack of all trades.” There’s always those ups and downs, for sure. But I will say, I don’t ever wish music was the only thing that I had going on in my life. I think I would go a little crazy, because I draw inspiration from everything, especially from my friends of all different walks of life. It’s grounding for me.
On the days where I feel creatively stuck or untalented, to be able to have another outlet actually makes me appreciate music more. The creative burnout is real, and having these other outlets helps me get out of it. I think that balance is needed. Ideally I would want to be 80% creative, 20% other things. The key really is to not hate your day job.
DJ: What’s the most interesting thing that has inspired a song of yours?
ML: For instance, “crown” is this story of a princess who everyone thinks she has the perfect life. They think she’s so happy, but she realizes she is actually really unhappy. She drinks a red drink that turns her into her real self, which is actually a werewolf. It’s very silly and campy, but for me it was inspired by when I was working in film. Everyone thought I had this amazing job, but I realized it wasn’t fully what I wanted. It took me a while to be honest with myself and pursue something that was totally different from what I was currently doing.
I draw from my experiences. I never like to write songs that are 100% me because being vulnerable is really hard. When I’m writing something that isn’t fully real, it’s easier to write about more vulnerable experiences.
DJ: So what’s next for miso808?
ML: I am starting to work on my next project! Conceptually, it will be a continuation of “bedtime stories.” What comes after a bedtime story? Dreams! It’ll be about dreams and I have several concepts in the works.
There’s this beautiful story from the Chinese classics I’m drawing from, from philosopher 莊子 (Zhūangzi). In this story, he has a dream where he turns into a butterfly. It felt so real to him that when he wakes up, for a second, he thinks “Am I Zhūangzi or am I a butterfly who’s dreaming of this life?” He builds this whole philosophy questioning what we consider to be reality, and the liquidity of objects and substances. That is such a beautiful story, and a perfect continuation into the universe of miso808.
I think of miso808 as an internet best friend who invites you into her world. Sound wise, I’m moving more into acoustic and live instruments for this next project. I am really excited about this one.