Miki ratsula
Miki Ratsula | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | June 30, 1998 California |
| Genres | Indie pop, Bedroom pop, Dream pop, Alternative[disambiguation needed] |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, Songwriter, Producer |
| Instruments | Vocals, Guitar |
| Labels | Self produced/Nettwerk Music Group |
| Website | https://www.mikiratsula.com/ |
Miki Ratsula (born 30 June 1998) is a Finnish-American[1][2][3] singer/songwriter who grew up in southern California. [1] They are openly nonbinary and genderqueer, and much of their music discusses their queer identities, mental health, and queer love.[4][2][5]
They started posting covers to Youtube in 8th grade with a cover of “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele, originally gaining popularity through pop covers about the USWNT.[4] As their following grew, they began releasing their own, original music with two EPs (Every Shade of Blue in 2016[6] and EVERYTHING&NOTHING in 2020[7]) as well as a variety of stand-alone singles. They now have 332,864 monthly listeners on Spotify[8], had an original Christmas song atop Spotify's "New Music Holiday" playlist, and had a song chart on Spotify's "Viral 50" playlists in the US, Canada and Australia.[9]Their debut album is set to be released 23 March 2022.[10] Additionally, they are a co-writer on Zach Hood’s song “Flashbacks” that made Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist upon release, garnered 219k plays in its first week, and now gets over 100,000 daily streams.[11]
Early Life[edit]
Miki Ratsula was born in southern California on 30 June 1998. They have a younger brother they have always been close with, but beyond their immediate family and one cousin that lives in New York, all of their extended family lives in Finland.[12] They grew up playing soccer as their main sport and were always inspired by the USWNT. They grew up surrounded by instruments, and while they took some basic music lessons in middle school, they are mostly self-taught from YouTube videos.[13] Most of their early musical ventures were covers of existing pop songs, making many about the USWNT. In high school, as they got closer to the USWNT fandom, they also began exploring their gender and sexuality.[2]
Music Career[edit]
Ratsula’s music career has grown exponentially as they got out of high school. While studying music and psychology at San Diego State University, they began releasing their original songs on Spotify and SoundCloud.[1] They began doing live performances while an undergraduate, and they are doing their first national tour supporting Lauren Sanderson, an artist featured on Ratsula’s song “Suffocate”, in April and May 2022.[14] Even before their first album release, they have over 330,000 monthly Spotify listeners and have at least two songs with more than 5 million streams each.[8] They were also featured on Operation Every Band as a SXSW 2022 Top Pick.[15] Recently, they have gotten interested in producing and writing songs for other artists, working on 5 such songs in 2021 alone and marking a new direction in their career.[16][17][18][19][20]
Artistry[edit]
Influences[edit]
Ratsula has found inspiration in many different corners of the music world, especially through finding favorite songs to cover. Additionally, they were inspired by major artists like Adele and Ed Sheeran along with smaller artists such as Lewis Watson and Luca Fogale.[1] In particular, they were influenced by Adele’s lyricism, storytelling, and voice, and even as they have developed their own style, those components have informed their approaches to music.[13]
Style[edit]
In many ways, Ratsula’s music defines genre categories. Their songs are mostly pop, living in between indie pop and bedroom pop, but have strong R&B influences and often come across with a dream like quality that peppers in sounds and instruments from other genres.[21][1] They create soundscapes utilizing their voice alongside acoustic instrumentals to create a unique sound of their own.[13] They are best known for their simple but captivating covers, unique mash ups, and calming love songs leaning into everyday queer love.[1]
Subject Matter[edit]
Inspired by their love for their girlfriend Hope and a desire for queer representation in music, much of Ratsula’s music is centered on LGBTQIA+ emotions, love, and struggles.[22] They work to re-examine heteronormative long songs, both through gender-neutral covers and their own original pieces, creating love songs for the whole queer community.[21][1] They want to be the queer role model they lacked growing up and are deliberate about emphasizing everyone’s right to live as their authentic self.[2][13] Additionally, they are intentional about addressing issues of mental health and self-care, using their songs to explore the connections between self-love and external relationships.[3] For instance, their song “Second” is about anxieties before top surgery[disambiguation needed] and exploring how they feel about their own body and gender identity in relation to those around them.[13] Further, “Stones”, a song they wrote with fellow queer artist Brandon Rogers, was written in response to the anti-LGBTQIA+ stoning law in Brunei to raise awareness of the queer discrimination and help them process the anger and political helplessness it brought up for them.[2]
Personal Life[edit]
Ratsula is queer, trans, and nonbinary, and in some contexts, has referred to themself as genderqueer.[23][4] They use they/them pronouns and enjoy exploring more masculine presentation without being a trans man.[2][24] They got a lot of gender euphoria from cutting their hair off but have made clear that their aesthetic choices don’t define their gender nor make them a man.[2] They have been open about their journey to get top surgery[disambiguation needed] and recorded their progress on social media after the operation in March 2021.[23][25]
They met their girlfriend Hope online after she heard Ratsula’'s cover of Coldplay's Yellow on SoundCloud, and they dated online before reuniting in person. They have dated consistently as Ratsula’s career took off, and they got engaged in September 2021.[26] They now live together in California and have two dogs.[21]
Discography[edit]
Albums[edit]
- i owe it to myself (Mar 23, 2022)[10]
EPs[edit]
Singles[edit]
- "sugarcane (feat. Dana Williams)" (Jan 21, 2022)[27]
- "Missing June (Acoustic)" (Dec 31, 2021)[28]
- "i walked a mile in my room" (Dec 2, 2021)[29]
- "Suffocate (feat. Lauren Sanderson)" (Sep 3, 2021)[30]
- "reeboks" (Jul 16, 2021)[31]
- "second" (Jun 4, 2021)[32]
- "Make the Yuletide Gay" (Dec 4, 2020)[33]
- "Missing June" (Jul 17, 2020)[34]
- "The Letter" (Jun 26, 2020)[35]
- "Love in the Winter" (Dec 6, 2019)[36]
- "Thousand Lakes" (Nov 15, 2019)[37]
- "Wicked" (Sep 27, 2019)[38]
- "Stones" (Apr 19, 2019)[39]
- "Black Holes (Demo Version)" (Apr 19, 2019)[40]
- "Captivate (Acoustic)" (Dec 18, 2018)[41]
- "Captivate" (Oct 11, 2018)[42]
- "Body Language" (Feb 14, 2018)[43]
- "Hey Ya" (Dec 2, 2017)[44]
- "Wishing Wells" (Sep 28, 2017)[45]
- "Young Heart" (Aug 24, 2017)[46]
- "Crazy" (Jul 25, 2017)[47]
- "Sweet Disposition" (Feb 24, 2017)[48]
- "Somewhere Only We Know" (Jan 24, 2017)[49]
- "Talking Body / Into You" (Nov 14, 2016)[50]
- "Red (Demo Version)" (Aug 22, 2016)[51]
Collaborations[edit]
- "Beneath it All (feat. Dia Frampton)" by Jason Ross and Crystal Skies (May 21, 2021)[20]
- "Codependent" by Sophie Holohan (July 23, 2021)[19]
- "13 Missed Calls" by Zach Hood (April 23, 2021)[18]
- "STUPID" by NOAHFINNCE (March 17, 2021)[17]
- "Flashbacks" by Zach Hood (January 8, 2021)[16]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 "Queers You Should Know: Singer Songwriter Miki Ratsula". EveryQueer. 2018-03-10. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 "Unfiltered Podcast: Featuring Folk Musician Miki Ratsula". Instasize. 2019-06-26. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Glasse Factory - Miki Ratsula Shares Their Mental Health Journey in "i walked a mile in my room"". Glasse Factory. 2021-12-17. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Stories, Local. "Meet Miki Ratsula - Voyage LA Magazine | LA City Guide". voyagela.com. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
- ↑ "Miki Ratsula Takes Time to Breathe on". PopMatters. 2021-09-07. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Every Shade of Blue, 2016-09-04, retrieved 2022-03-04
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 EVERYTHING&NOTHING, 2020-01-10, retrieved 2022-03-04
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Miki Ratsula". Spotify. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
- ↑ "Miki Ratsula - Wasserman Music". artists.teamwass.com. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "debut album "i owe it to myself"". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
- ↑ "Zach Hood releases a nostalgic audiovisual for his viral debut single, entitled, "Flashbacks"". Bong Mines Entertainment. 2021-01-31. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
- ↑ "Miki Ratsula - The Letter Lyrics | Lyrics.com". www.lyrics.com. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 "Miki Ratsula on Discovering Self-Love, Navigating Queerness and Debut Album "I Owe It To Myself"". Unpublished. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
- ↑ "Miki Ratsula Announces First National Tour Supporting Lauren Sanderson". Nettwerk Music Group. 2022-01-26. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
- ↑ "Miki Ratsula - "suffocate" (feat. Lauren Sanderson)". Operation Every Band. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Miki". KMGMT. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 STUPID, retrieved 2022-03-04
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Zach Hood – 13 Missed Calls, retrieved 2022-03-04
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 ""Codependent" Production". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 s.r.l, Rockol com. "√ Rockol - la musica online è qui - Novità Musicali". Rockol (in italiano). Retrieved 2022-03-04.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 "QUARANTINE PROFILE: Miki Ratsula". The Photo Ladies. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
- ↑ "Miki Ratsula Delivers a Heartfelt Holiday Ode in "Love in the Winter" [Premiere] / Ones To Watch". Ones To Watch. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 "Q+A with Artist and Songwriter Miki Ratsula". re—inc. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
- ↑ "Miki Ratsula on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
- ↑ "9 months post op :)". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
- ↑ "got engaged in nyc and it was magic". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
- ↑ sugarcane, 2022-01-21, retrieved 2022-03-04
- ↑ Missing June (Acoustic), 2021-12-31, retrieved 2022-03-04
- ↑ i walked a mile in my room, 2021-12-02, retrieved 2022-03-04
- ↑ suffocate, 2021-09-03, retrieved 2022-03-04
- ↑ reeboks, 2021-07-16, retrieved 2022-03-04
- ↑ second, 2021-06-04, retrieved 2022-03-04
- ↑ Make the Yuletide Gay, 2020-12-04, retrieved 2022-03-04
- ↑ Missing June, 2020-07-17, retrieved 2022-03-04
- ↑ The Letter, 2020-06-26, retrieved 2022-03-04
- ↑ Love in the Winter, 2019-12-06, retrieved 2022-03-04
- ↑ Thousand Lakes, 2019-11-15, retrieved 2022-03-04
- ↑ Wicked, 2019-09-27, retrieved 2022-03-04
- ↑ Stones, 2019-04-19, retrieved 2022-03-04
- ↑ Black Holes (Demo Version), 2019-04-19, retrieved 2022-03-04
- ↑ Captivate (Acoustic), 2018-12-08, retrieved 2022-03-04
- ↑ Captivate, 2018-10-11, retrieved 2022-03-04
- ↑ Body Language, 2018-02-14, retrieved 2022-03-04
- ↑ Hey Ya, 2017-12-02, retrieved 2022-03-04
- ↑ Wishing Wells, 2017-09-28, retrieved 2022-03-04
- ↑ Young Heart, 2017-08-24, retrieved 2022-03-04
- ↑ Crazy, 2017-07-25, retrieved 2022-03-04
- ↑ Sweet Disposition, 2017-02-24, retrieved 2022-03-04
- ↑ Somewhere Only We Know, 2017-01-24, retrieved 2022-03-04
- ↑ Talking Body / Into You, 2016-11-14, retrieved 2022-03-04
- ↑ Red (Demo Version), 2016-08-22, retrieved 2022-03-04
External Links[edit]
This article "Miki ratsula" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Miki ratsula. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
