Rising pop star Audrey Mika caught up with Billboard from her home video chat to discuss how she’s keeping busy while social distancing, what inspired her fanbase’s name, how she ended up joining forces with rapper Kyle for her latest remix, and what it was like working with Saygrace and Tate McRae.
Asked how she is staying sane while social distancing during the current pandemic, Mika admits that it has been a bit of a struggle for her. “Just yesterday we were all screaming at each other, not in a fighting way, just screaming at each other…We were just going insane,” she tells Billboard.
“But I think another thing is that we’re just all together and that is enough to just keep us kind of okay, and we’ve been trying to cook…And we’re staying busy, too, doing livestreams, making music, as well.”
The 19-year-old singer singer also explains how her fan base came up with its name “The Paper Clip Club,” sharing that she used to wear paperclips two summers ago, and that people initially thought it was strange. “But that didn’t really stop me from wearing it,” she says. “And then people were connecting with the paperclips and it was something they were really drawn to, and it just became a thing.”
In the interview, Mika also tells Billboard how she wound up recruiting “iSpy” MC Kyle for the remix of her song “Y U Gotta Be Like That,” recalling that she was in the studio in January when she and her team began brainstorming possible cool collaborations for the rework. When her manager suggested Kyle, Mika was doubtful they could get him. “For it to actually come about and for it to work out was a complete dream come true,” she confesses.
On the subject of collaborations, Mika discusses her new track “Boys Ain’t S–t” with Saygrace and Tate McRae. “I’m really lucky to be able to be on this song with them and they’re some really dope upcoming artists and women in music,” she shares. “We also have a video coming out, and that was super fun cause I just filmed it on my bed and it was like this ‘quarantine style’ music video and it’s actually really cute, so I’m excited for that, too.”
You can check out the full video interview with Audrey Mika above.
