Born in Phoenix and now based in Berlin, Mija has spent over a decade refusing to sit still inside one genre. Originally mixing disco as a teenager, not out of devotion to the sound, but because it was slower and easier to learn on, Mija has spent the years since building a career defined by restless curiosity, moving fluidly between an array of genres including techno, hardgroove, disco and Eurodance without ever settling into a single lane. That same independent streak runs through everything she creates. Alongside production work, Mija also runs Never B Alone, a genuinely collective label where music is chosen and voted on by the artists themselves.
The multi-hyphenate’s brand new EP, Hard Disco, out now via Hot Meal Records, feels like the natural culmination of that restlessness, four tracks that treat disco not as something from the past, but as a sound that’s constantly evolving. Written, sung, produced and mixed entirely by Mija herself, the project arrives off the back of a big year on the road, a world tour that’s taken Mija from Asia to Australia since January, and finds her once again pulling disparate influences into something that feels, unmistakably like her own. We caught up with Mija to talk about the new EP, her instincts as a producer, her collective label Never B Alone and more…
Congrats on your upcoming EP Hard Disco, it’s sounding wicked! What made you want to make a disco-leaning record specifically right now?
Mija: I first came up as a DJ playing nu-disco, disco house, french house, and chicago house. So I really wanted to draw on those early inspirations to create something new that feels fun, fast, and high energy while maintaining the ‘soul’ of the genre.
In past interviews you have mentioned that you originally chose disco as a teenager because it was slower and easier to learn to mix on, even though you grew up on UK Hardcore and Happy Hardcore. Does Hard Disco feel like you finally bringing those two worlds into the same room?
Mija: Haha yes!! I really wanted to play dnb, but it was so fast and difficult to learn how to DJ. I also wanted to play happy hardcore because that was what I grew up on as a teenage baby raver. But happy hardcore can be a bit polarising and niche, and I didn’t want to box myself into just that. But I fell in love with house music because it was almost like an empty canvas. You can make anything into house music. So to answer your question, yes I do try to bring those worlds together occasionally. I think it comes out more in my DJ sets than anything.
You wrote, sang, produced and mixed the entire EP yourself. At what point in your career did doing everything solo stop being a limitation and start becoming the actual sound and identity of your music?
Mija: A lot of the music I’ve released has been done in solitude, especially in the beginning. When I was first learning how to produce I felt immense pressure to be taken seriously and to learn how to do everything on my own. I don’t feel that way anymore, but I’m glad I did at the time because it really forced me to become who I always wanted to be and helped me develop my own personal sound and identity.
There’s a real tension in this EP between something hard-hitting and something more melodic and inviting. When you’re in the studio, how do you know when a track has struck the right balance, versus tipping too far into one side or the other?
Mija: I’m actually the worst at knowing when to finish. I tend to overcook tracks a lot and then I’ll go back to the early versions to re-evaluate and finish the songs. It’s very tedious and time consuming but whatever. Hours spent are hours learned. And if I’ve learned anything it’s that simplicity is always best. Your first gut instincts/choices are usually correct.
The title track pushes your disco influences into something tougher and more club-focused than opener “Feels Good”. When you’re creating an EP like this, do you think in terms of a journey for the listener, or does each track just need to be true to itself first?
Mija: When I’m creating an album or anything that leans more emotional, I always think about the listener and the overall story that’s being told. However with this EP that’s not the case at all. My goal with this EP was to make fun and light-hearted tracks that can all stand on their own. But naturally, when you write a ton of songs within the same time period, they tend to share common traits that work well as a body of work. Some of the production may be different, but overall these tracks all share a similar energy that I was feeling during those months while writing.
Closing track “Temptation” is described as bringing a different shade to the project. What does that track represent for you, is it meant to resolve everything that came before it or leave things more open-ended?
Mija: Temptation is actually my favorite track on the EP. Sonically, it’s the best representation of where I come from. It’s heavily inspired by Chicago house and minimal tech. To me, it just feels so sassy and cool. And lowkey it goes harder on the dancefloor than you would think. I’m not sure if that’s because of the track, or simply the energy that I’m feeling and outputting when playing it. But either way it always feels good (no pun intended)
“On The Floor” introduced the project and received great early support. Did releasing that one first change how you thought about sequencing or framing the other tracks?
Mija: Actually this track wasn’t initially on the EP. I wrote On The Floor at the last minute, and it became a favourite among my label peers at Hot Meal. I think that’s why it stands out from the rest and leans slightly more into eurodance territory. But I felt like it was a really nice bridge between the worlds, so that’s why we decided to make it the first single.
You run Never B Alone as a genuinely collective label, where music gets voted on by the artists rather than decided by you alone. Hard Disco was made entirely on your own, start to finish. Do those two ways of working feel like opposite instincts or do they actually feed into each other?
Mija: I am a big fan of collaboration in all aspects of life. Whether that be art, music, or whatever you like to do – it’s almost always more fun and impactful when working with friends. I didn’t make this EP on my own with the intention of bragging about it, it just happened to work out that way. I really hit my stride as a producer this year and have just been in the zone, writing more songs than ever. But yea I think my manager is just really proud of me and loves to remind everyone what i’m capable of :’) shout out Jeffer, he’s been on my team since day.
Berlin’s club scene is famously more techno-coded than disco-coded. What’s it been like bringing something this playful and disco-rooted into rooms that are usually tuned for something darker and more minimal?
Mija: I’m very new to Berlin so I can’t speak with too much confidence here, but I feel like there may be a shift happening. Real raw dark techno will always be at the forefront of the scene, and I think it’s important that it stays that way for culture’s sake. But I didn’t come to Berlin to larp as a serious techno DJ. I came here by chance and ended up finding a community who shares a love for house, groove, funk, soul, and disco. But we’re doing it in a way that works in Berlin clubs by treading the lines between hard groove, hard dance, hard house, hard bounce, etc. That’s where I got the idea of ‘hard disco’ from.
Your 2026 world tour has taken you through Asia, the US, UK, Europe and Australia, different club cultures with very different relationships to disco, techno and Eurodance. Did playing to that many different rooms this year shape Hard Disco at all, or was the EP already largely finished before the touring began?
Mija: It actually did shape it quite a bit. I have been playing most of these tracks out all year, in different types of environments. Getting the opportunity to spin the demos out in real-time allowed me to test things out and see what works/what doesn’t. Ultimately I think keeping a simplicity in the tracks enables me to mix them into all different types of DJ sets regardless of where I’m at in the world.