Mitski Miyawaki

Mitski by Ebru Yildiz for "Working for the Knife" (2021).

Mitski Miyawaki, known professionally as Mitski, born Mitsuki Laycock, was born on September 27, 1990 in the Mie prefecture of Japan. Before settling in the United States, Mitski lived in thirteen countries, including (but not limited to) China, Malaysia, Turkey, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. She refers to herself as "half Japanese, half American but not fully either." While attending Purchase College's Conservatory of Music to study studio composition, Mitski self-released her first two albums, Lush (2012) and Retired from Sad, New Career in Business (2013). Her senior project at Purchase originally involved the creation of these albums. Bury Me at Makeout Creek, her third studio album, was made available in 2014 via Double Double Whammy after she graduated. Her critically acclaimed albums Puberty 2 (2016), Be the Cowboy (2018), and Laurel Hell (2022), the latter of which reached the top ten in multiple countries, were then published when she signed with Dead Oceans in 2015. She was named the "best young songwriter" in America by The Guardian.

## Early Life

Mitski's family settled in Turkey for some of the time she was in high school though she did not complete her senior year, explaining in an interview that “I realized I had all the credits needed to graduate...I went to the principal’s office and just asked for my degree. So I graduated early.”

When she was around 16 and living in Japan, she was working with a pop idol manager who gave her songs geared towards creating a cute, J-pop image. On a WNYU radio interview Mitski said:

> "At a certain point I just turned to him and said *"all these songs you're giving me are really bad, I don't wanna sing any of this,"* but then he said '*'well, can you write any better?'* and I couldn't [...] it wasn't until years later that I actually started writing, but that moment stuck with me"
>
>

Citing the experience as the first of two things that encouraged her to write music, the other being the realization that "nothing else made me happy and I just had to buckle down and do it."

## Career

Mitski initially enrolled at Hunter College in New York as a film student. She then transferred to Purchase College's Conservatory of Music and studied studio composition. At Purchase, she wrote, recorded, and self-published her first two albums *Lush* and *Retired from Sad, New Career in Business* as student projects. She chose her stage name as a shortened version of her first name (Mitsuki) and her mother's maiden name (Miyawaki.)

She then joined the prog-rock band Voice Coils as a vocalist while working on *Bury Me at Makeout Creek*, released on *Double Double Whammy* asher first album on any record label.

She signed to the label Dead Oceans in 2016, and has gone on to release *Puberty 2* and *Be the Cowboy*, both to critical acclaim. In 2019 Mitski announced a hiatus from music and went on to explain on Twitter:

"Y'all, I'm not quitting music! Me? Quit music? I've been on non-stop tour for over 5 years, I haven't had a place to live during this time, & I sense that if I don't step away soon, my self-worth/identity will start depending too much on staying in the game, in the constant churn."

"I don't want to make art like that, especially when you're offering your valuable time and hearts and money to it, so I hope you'll have me back whenever that is, or if I start over then I start over."

In 2021 Mitski returned after two years with the announcement of a new single *Working for the Knife* released on October 5th alongside a music video and tour dates. On the 9th November Mitski announced her sixth studio album *Laurel Hell* as well as the second single *The Only Heartbreaker* alongside a music video. Another two singles would be released leading up to the album; *Heat Lightning* on December 7th 2021 and *Love Me More* on January 12th 2022 alongside music videos. *Laurel Hell* was released on February 4th 2022.

Eight months after finishing Laurel Hell's Summer tour Mitski's newest single *Bug Like an Angel* was announced via email on July 23rd 2023 and set to be released 3 days later alongside a music video. An album announcement was also made for her seventh studio album *The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We* to be released on September 15th 2023.

## Discography

### LPs:

Self-Published:

* *Lush* (2012)
* *Retired from Sad, New Career in Business* (2013)

Double Double Whammy:

* *Bury Me At Makeout Creek* (2014)

Dead Oceans:

* *Puberty 2* (2016)
* *Be the Cowboy* (2018)
* *Laurel Hell (2022)*
* *The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We (2023)*

## Other Work

Mitski featured in Emily Yoshida's 2017 short film *Sitting*.

She has collaborated with a number of artists including Allie X and Lucy Dacus.

## Awards and nominations

Since her debut in 2012 Mitski has accumulated 2 awards from 13 nominations, including winning Music Video of the Year for *Nobody* and being nominated for Album of the Year and Best Rock Album for *Be The Cowboy* at the Libera Awards in 2019.In 2022 she won the AIM Independent Music Award for Best Live Performer. In 2023 she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for her song *This Is a Life (with Son Lux and David Byrne)* for the *Everything Everywhere All at Once* soundtrack. Later that same year she was nominated for Best New Artist by the Gold Derby Awards and *Laurel Hell* was nominated for Best Alternative Rock Record and Creative Packaging at the Libera Awards.

## Trivia

* Mitski's zodiac sun sign is Libra.
* Mitski was eighteen when she wrote her first song, Bag of Bones.
* Her only explicit songs are Lonesome Love (which has a explicit label) and Drunk Walk Home (which doesn't have a label)
* According to her early website, Mitski was once described as "a little ball of angry efficiency" who "only know(s) how to have big feelings.”
* Her influences include Björk, Jeff Buckley, Johnny Cash, M.I.A and Japanese artist Shiina Ringo. On Björk, she stated "Björk opened up a world of music to me. Her music taught me how there are a million different ways to put sounds and thoughts together, and that music doesn’t actually have to sound like anything that’s been traditionally accepted as music."

## References

1. ↑ https://younghollywood.com/scene/artist-to-watch-mitski.html
2. ↑ https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/07/08/on-the-road-with-mitski *Note: Mitski's birth name is different than that which she uses publicly. Interviews (such as those cited here) use her stage name as her first name, and she made a personal decision to not use her father's last name. Thus, this wiki will use her chosen public name.*
3. ↑ https://www.imposemagazine.com/features/mitski-interview
4. ↑ https://wnyu.org/archives/10676
5. ↑ https://wnyu.org/archives/10676
6. ↑ https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwmusic/article/A2IM-Announces-2019-Libera-Award-Nominees-20190328
7. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20131126160919/http://mitski.com/about
8. ↑ https://eatsleepbreathemusic.com/2012/06/12/song-of-the-day-liquid-smooth-by-mitski/