We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mig Silva-Leon. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mig below.

Mig, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

While working on music to be released as singles can be really fun and fulfilling, getting to work on a long-form project like an album is really something else. For a year (or more) my life will just revolve entirely around the writing and recording and mixing of an album, and it can be extremely exhausting to work on 10-12 songs at a time. When I was working on my newest album, I had pretty much all the songs written and recorded in just a few months, about 15 in total. And then came what I lovingly refer to as “mixing hell” where I spend the better part of a year refining the mixes and masters of these songs and deciding which ones were gonna make it onto the record. It’s a different kind of exhaustion than working on singles to be released throughout the year, because you don’t get the steady payoff of releases and completion of a project. But I find a lot of joy in the labor of love that is putting together an album, my most recent album, “Lovely” is quite literally a labor of love as it is essentially an open love letter to my partner. It’s like putting together a fun puzzle, or planning out a date night, the steady and methodical work that goes into assembling the half-hour experience that is an LP. It’s something I do for myself as much as those around me, because, while I find personal joy in the process, it is ultimately the act of sharing that gives it meaning to me.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Mig and I’m a musician/producer from Kansas City. I’ve been obsessed with music for most of my life now and went to school for music composition at UMKC before I decided to shift into the world of popular music. I write and produce all the songs for my band, Saving Miles Lemon (and often get asked if I am the titular Miles Lemon, SPOILER ALERT: I am not) which I’ve been actively doing since late 2019. My goal in my music career is to become a better producer and songwriter and to have fun while learning what it takes to succeed in music! I just released my third album this year, called “Lovely”, my favorite food is Skittles (or nerd clusters), and if you’d like to support what I’m doing, check out our Spotify (or Bandcamp or whatever), follow us on Instagram/Facebook, and come see a show sometime!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The fact that I get to do it at all and to have people actually enjoy what I make in my little bedroom studio is truly sublime. The act of creation alone holds immense power to me and I think it’s something that not only brings me great joy but also reconnects me with my human nature in a really beautiful way. Not everybody gets to spend hours of their day being creative for fun, so I’m extremely thankful I’m in a position where I can do that.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Funding of the arts is so important! A HUGE part of that is education and making sure kids have access to creative outlets early on in their lives. As far as supporting adult creatives, I think it’s important to have community and for individuals to directly, monetarily support their local artists. Go to a local show, go to an art fair, DIY events, and find ways to put money in the hands of people following their passion. Until we’re ALL in a place where we don’t have to worry about money for our basic needs, having community and supporting each other within our community is vital!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/savingmileslemon/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/savingmileslemon
• Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2GrcffeWVLMQ6sF4lvnDuF?si=6u9XFVUsRauvXiHCDB4ksQ Bandcamp: https://savingmileslemon.bandcamp.com/ Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/saving-miles-lemon/1484869165

Image Credits
Individual photos by Willym Brown (@strawberry_hive on instagram) Full band photo taken by Pierre Booth (@chaarm.r on instagram)