We recently connected with Mia Rio and have shared our conversation below.
Mia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’ve love to hear an interesting investment story – what was one of the best or worst investments you’ve made? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)
During the 2020 Pandemic, I saw so many people falling into the claws of depression and I made a decision that I wouldn’t be on this train. So I spent most of that year getting creative, writing music, and producing an animated short film with the resources I had available within the limitations of lockdowns and curfews. I also made sure to be spiritually healthy during that time to endure it all. It turned out to be one of my best years because of that. I was so excited about the songs that I wanted to turn them into an album with the quality of radio-ready music. The pandemic put a hurt on many people’s pockets so I was trying to be wise with how I spent my money but decided to take the risk anyway and get all tracks produced with live instruments. That would have usually cost me a lot of money. An industry-established musician can cost you hundreds of dollars or more per song, but I wanted to do it right. This is when I found out that I could have that same quality sound done in my home country, Brazil, in a financially safer way as the currency exchange favored me. I got connected with producer Misa Jr., mixing engineer Dan Mezadri and mastering engineer Luciano Vassão, a wonderful team that works with great names in Brazilian Music. They brought top-tier musicians onboard such as Diego Jean Vicente on the drums and Tiago Moraes on the bass. Some vocal arrangement was done by Devin Brunel from Los Angeles, currently in France. The result speaks for itself. It was one of the best investments of my life so far.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
You’ll hear them calling me Mia Rio. I’m a Brazilian-American singer, songwriter, and actress based out of Atlanta, GA focused on bringing meaningful music to the world that not only brings you to life but that keeps you alive. A big focus of mine is also living a life that genuinely encourages and challenges people to the core. Christian Music and Inspirational Pop are what I’m all about. I was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but raised in the country’s capital, Brasília. I started this journey young without even knowing it was my journey. I performed as a child in church musical theater, became part of worship teams, church and school choirs, dance teams, and performed in street theater.
After being signed to a couple of indie labels, I’m releasing my first Worship Music album independently, to be released later this year along with a devotional book I wrote based on the lyrics of the album. If you head to the {PURE} store on my website, you’ll find t-shirts for men and women, of which some designs I’ve created myself. You just need to look for my signature by the t-shirt, and you’ll find my personal design.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
It’s seeing the messages I get from people not saying I have a great voice but sharing how my music changed their life, how a daughter found the strength to forgive her father after years without speaking to him; how depression left a teenage boy and how hope was restored in all sorts of people. This is what it fulfills me in my art.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
I think that, as long as there are people consuming junk, the junk will be available. If a great number of people choose to consume junk, then junk will continue to be prominent in our society. Problem is there’s such lack of self love that few people care about how the things that enter their ears affect them. They’d rather take the risk and then just cope with the consequences later. Science is out there with tons of studies about the effects of music in us but we all like to think we’re the exception to the rule when we just aren’t. We have to be humble about that and, if we love ourselves, we’ll carefully craft what enters our ears and eyes. If we don’t shape ourselves, someone else will. So as much as I’d love organizations, governments, record labels, and all the “powers that be” promoting healthy music and art in general in our society, what’s offered to the world is what the world chooses to consume. When a heart is broken, it’ll feed off of brokenness so it’s really up to us to change this reality as a whole, and love ourselves enough to care to change our art consumption choices. Then the art world will be forced to adapt to it.
Contact Info:
- Website: miarioonline.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miarioonline/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/miariomusic
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/miarioonline
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/miarioonline
Image Credits
Photos by Hakan Hupesiz