MIIA

**Mia Virik Kristensen**, professionally known as **MIIA** (pronounced MEE-uh and sometimes stylized as **Miia**, and formally known as **Mia Virik Brubakken**) is a Norwegian singer-songwriter. She has begun releasing music for her upcoming second studio extended play (EP).

## Early Life

MIIA was born in Kragerø and is currently living in Oslo. MIIA started singing and gaining an interest for music when she was 5 years old. At a young age MIIA started performing on stages. Her songs about love and freedom combined with her raw voice sent her audience on a heartfelt journey. At 5 years old MIIA was also singing in the church choir and later she started taking singing lessons. She grew up listening to a lot of different stuff. Mostly jazz and pop. In March 2011 MIIA was at the Kragerø folk festival where she covered the Les Misérables song "On My Own". After this she joined a choir group in Norway called Singspiration. They would travel around and sing cover songs at different festivals.

## 2011-2014: In the Light of Love

MIIA was signed to her first label Position Music when she was 14 years old, but her career didn't start until she started recording music when she visited her uncle Joachim "J Ryggs" Rygg in the US in 2012. In L.A. they recorded a few pop songs together, which MIIA stated went very well. MIIA later came back during the fall of the same year and recorded songs for her first EP, *In the Light of Love*. After the release of the EP MIIA and her good friend Brandon Skeie recorded their own cover of Elastic Heart by Sia.

## 2015-2016: Dynasty

After a few years of struggling with releasing "Dynasty", because MIIA was not signed to a major record label, she finally got to released the song she described as a something in the middle of Sia, Lana Del Rey and Adele. "Dynasty" turned out to be a huge success for her as it quickly started gaining streams on Spotify and views on YouTube. She said in an interview with Musicbed that it was the different production that made it break through because it was different than the previous pop she released on her EP, *In the Light of Love*. After she released "Dynasty", Elephante remixed the song and included it on his album "I Am The Elephante". MIIA also filmed a music video for the song.

Following the success of "Dynasty" MIIA recorded her next single "Celebrate Your Life" and after that a cover of the Rihanna song "Sledgehammer".

Sometime in 2016 MIIA had a break with Position Music which ended their contract. MIIA needed time to focus on her university degree, so she had to move away and be less engaged with her music.

## 2017-2018: Beautiful Creature

Even though MIIA promised new music after "Sledgehammer"'s release, fans were kept waiting until 2018 when MIIA dropped "Beautiful Creature". She explained that she had been nervous about the release of the song and that the main reason behind the delay of the new single was that the music business was tough when you were not signed to a big label. MIIA signed to her uncle's label J Ryggs Records, which meant she did not have the connections she had before at Postion Music. Possibly related to MIIA not having a major label anymore, she recorded a cover of "I Dreamed a Dream" for her CV to demonstrate her abilities.

MIIA also participated in the Norwegian TV show "Muitte mu - Husk meg" (Remember me), which aired in November 2018. In the program MIIA sang a joik dedicated to her uncle Joachim "J Ryggs" Rygg called "Joachim Louhti (Joachims Joik)". This song remained unreleased until February 6, 2021 where MIIA officially released it on YouTube. It was also confirmed in the show that MIIA was recording her upcoming album, however on MIIA's official Facebook page it says that it is in fact an EP.

## 2019-present: Upcoming EP

MIIA participated in a radio show called Nova Nedstrippa where she sang acoustic version of her songs "Dynasty" and "Beautiful Creature" along with a cover of the Lady Gaga song "Always Remember Us This Way".

Later in 2019 MIIA collaborated with Mørland on his song "How to Lose Something Good". This was the last release her fans would get from her for over one and a half year until she released "Joachims Louthi (Joachims Joik)" in February 2021.

On June 26, 2020 MIIA posted a selfie on Instagram with the caption "*B for Bachelors degree🦉*", implying she got her bachelors degree, which was most likely in history since she talked about that on the Nova Nedstrippa radio program.

MIIA stated in the upload to "Joachims Louthi (Joachims Joik)" that she had doubted her abilities and that she even at one point thought about quitting music once and for all, but things got better for her and she set a goal to release new original music in 2021 that will most likely be included on "M2".

MIIA and the Norwegian artist Vaarin both started teasing a collaboration on Instagram on April 2, 2021. This song is confirmed to be on MIIA's next EP.

MIIA released "Oxide" as the lead single for her second studio EP on January 11, 2023. She stated, during the Zoom release party, that two more singles for the EP would be released in the future.

One of the upcoming singles would later be confirmed to be "Skin of a Fool" featuring Vaarin. The song was announced on April 17, 2023, and the release date is March 10, 2023.

## Discography

### Singles

 2013
 2016
 2018

## Trivia

* MIIA calls her fans "beautiful creatures" which comes from her song "Beautiful Creature".
* MIIA prefers cats over dogs.
* MIIA is a Ravenclaw and her patronus is a Siberian Cat.
* She is an active supporter of the LGBTQ+ community..
* She heavily supported the BLM (Black Lives Matter) movement in 2020 with updating her Instagram story and spreading awareness about it.
* In February 2020, MIIA joined a Norwegian handball team.
* MIIA celebrated International Women's Day by posting pictures of her friends and idols that inspire her.
	+ These idols were Nina Simone, Maruja Retana, Vaarin, Amanda Delera and Taylor Swift.
* Some of MIIA's biggest inspiration comes from Sia, Adele and Lana Del Rey.
	+ MIIA also covered "Elastic Heart" by Sia.
* MIIA speaks Norwegian, English and a little bit of Spanish.
	+ She understands Swedish and Danish.
* Some of MIIA's favorite artists are Joni Mitchell, Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, Rosalia, Chris Martin (from Coldplay), Lana Del Rey, Kacey Musgraves, Julia Michaels, Labrinth, Beyoncé, Monika Zetterlund, Chet Baker and Ella Fitzgerald.
* MIIA married Andreas Kristensen on September 25, 2021. The wedding gallery can be seen **here.**.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/MIIAMUSIC/about/
2. ↑ https://www.musicbed.com/blog/music/living-the-daydream-a-conversation-with-miia/
3. ↑ https://www.pressreader.com/norway/varden/20110307/284004713688706
4. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGvnL5IZWdXYMnF\_RKFtTfw
5. ↑ https://www.positionmusic.com/artist/MTQ0MTUtY2RlZjg0
6. ↑ https://www.musicbed.com/blog/music/living-the-daydream-a-conversation-with-miia/
7. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6lBD3OB7go
8. ↑ https://www.musicbed.com/blog/music/living-the-daydream-a-conversation-with-miia/
9. ↑ https://www.musicbed.com/blog/music/living-the-daydream-a-conversation-with-miia/
10. ↑ https://open.spotify.com/album/5a0tfBvMpXErrPwGqtT1QD?si=FhPwsYfvSzCi6-lflFzHmA
11. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/BBX9JvKth6d/
12. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-ZiKXrnvog
13. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbAfCwwMzTU
14. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqdT87g8OWE
15. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/BJHtuIdhmfm/
16. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/BH-eZRthU-K/
17. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/BqVLPShArkm/
18. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD74GZzJNQU
19. ↑ https://tv.nrk.no/serie/muitte-mu/sesong/2/episode/3
20. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrpurXSsyqo
21. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/MIIAMUSIC/about/
22. ↑ https://www.mixcloud.com/NovaNedstrippa/100519-miia/
23. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrpurXSsyqo
24. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CB5rJjEhTSB/
25. ↑ https://www.mixcloud.com/NovaNedstrippa/100519-miia/
26. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/MIIAMUSIC/posts/3516708765106641
27. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CK8bdegh\_qB/
28. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CNUyWRjBqov/
29. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CNUu0BjJ4j4/
30. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/Cown5gyKMCW/
31. ↑ https://www.mixcloud.com/NovaNedstrippa/100519-miia/
32. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CBIhlzTBcSH/
33. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CCCQff9BtV-/
34. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CA7WAJMBK7k/
35. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CBC1jf4h9DN/
36. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CBD9nR\_BWcZ/
37. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CBF6c2whwr7/
38. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/PILSHandball/posts/175815103844192/
39. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CMK1Sboh5vR/
40. ↑ https://www.nrk.no/vestfoldogtelemark/med-3-millioner-avspillinger-i-bagasjen-1.12902483