Q&A: Mila Degray Makes Her Debut With "Ragdoll"

Q&ASpotlightMusic

May 26

☆ BY ASTRID ORTEGA ☆

BLISSFUL SWEETNESS WITH A HINT OF ANGST- Mila Degray, Miami born and raised artist, shares with us her new debut single, “Ragdoll,” a song about not truly being yourself when you’re around a certain atmosphere of people. Degray is entering the music scene with a good track and relatable lyrics that result in an instant save and the motivation to keep tabs on her to see what else she has up her sleeve.

“Ragdoll” starts off with a little noise as the melody enters. A subtly rough distorted guitar tune with embracing drums contrasting with her smooth and sweet voice. You’ll be over the moon with the song immediately. As you enter into the 0:56 mark, her vocals merge with the glaring instrumentals creating a perfect transition that you’ll hear throughout the song. It’s a song that just gets better every second of the way.

Her vocals will lead you to your own little world where you’ll find comfort in her lyrics that just seem oddly too relatable. But that’s what’s nice about it, it’s comforting to know that you’re not alone even with situations that involve how you see yourself and portray yourself. To Degray, “Ragdoll” is about saying goodbye to people who bring out another side of yourself that you never wanted to explore. It’s about being okay with not fitting into a perfect mold created by the people around you and realizing the toxic situations around you.

Listen to “Ragdoll” to be transported to the new sound of Mila Degray and read down below to get to know her!

LUNA: Congrats on your debut single, “Ragdoll”! What’s your favorite line from the track?

MILA: “Oh big deal but no one knows who you are” because it’s just a straight diss to the people who hurt me.

This entire track is so blunt and obvious that it almost makes me laugh thinking about them listening. I couldn't be myself around them and just lost myself for a bit. I literally secluded on an island filled with entitled rich people. So, like oh yeah big deal if I'm nobody then who the hell are you?. I really needed to humble them HAHA.

LUNA: How has creating in quarantine shaped the feel of your music?

MILA: I mean a lot of people would say it’s helped them be more open with their feelings but I feel like I've always been pretty open about how I feel. So, quarantine didn’t really change the feel of my music just because I've always been honest. However, it did motivate me to start actually recording, producing, and publishing my music because we had so much free time on our hands so why not?

LUNA: The track touches on the journey of finding oneself and losing yourself along the way - can you touch a bit more on this?

MILA: At the time, having a lot of friends was important to me. I just wanted to feel like I belonged somewhere. So, when the opportunity arose of having a group of friends, I tried desperately to fit in. However, I just happened to pick the wrong group of people who didn’t help me shine. They actually more or less dulled me out. I lost touch with my family and even myself trying to fit into what they thought was cool or funny.

LUNA: How have you seen your style as an artist evolve since you first got into making music?

MILA: Well I started recording and producing in my closet at the beginning of COVID so it was very very DIY and honestly kind of all over the place. I didn't know how to use garageband, much less produce my own music. But with time and experimenting I got the hang of it.

My old music style was extremely depressing and I would write about really personal and traumatic things in my life. Now my music is sometimes still sad but I want it to be empowering sad. I want to almost accept the fact that I’m sad.

LUNA: There’s a really fun edge to your music and the instrumental has a great power to them - sonically, what are some of your favorite elements about your music?

MILA: I think one of my favorite parts of my music is that sometimes it doesn’t make sense. I don't know anything about chord progressions or music theory, I kind of just press down on whatever strings capture whatever emotion I’m feeling and sing over it.

One of the producers I work with, Thorington, has definitely helped me bring my vision to life. Where my skills are limited, he is so talented and he can make my music sound a lot more powerful like I've always wanted it to sound. It really has an effect on the listener.

LUNA: What can you share about upcoming music? Any common themes or narratives?

MILA: I actually have an upcoming EP! Like ‘Ragdoll’, it touches on a lot of toxic situations/mental spaces in my life. However the situations are not only about people but myself as well. Sometimes you could be your biggest bully (even though that sounds kinda cringe). I want people to listen to my music and relate heavily to the things I sing about. I know so many people that have similar experiences but they feel that they can’t speak about them. I want people to feel empowered enough to once they listen to my music. I always say what I'm thinking. If I don't, then I feel like I'm breaking from the inside out.

LUNA: If you could collaborate with anyone, dead or alive, who’d you pick?

MILA: ALEX G, most definitely. He’s the only artist I can just sit and listen to without skipping. His music has gotten me through extremely difficult times in my life and just brings me so much comfort. His music will never get old.

LUNA: What’s something about yourself that surprises people?

MILA: That I'm REALLY talkative! Well at least in the beginning of knowing me. I just tend to talk a lot when I'm nervous and trying to make the other person more comfortable. People have said they never really expected that when listening to my music hahahaah.

LUNA: Now that “Ragdoll” is out, what’s next for you?

MILA: ANOTHER SINGLE. Then I’m releasing an EP in the summer that I am so excited and proud of. I've worked on it with so many talented and loving people. I'm so grateful and feel so loved by everyone I work with.

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