“The Misoverse is where I can explore all the different musical sides to myself, with all my influences present and me as the hero of the story. It’s umami for the ears –deliciousness to listen to.” That’s how Miso Extra, the exciting up and coming British-Japanese songwriter and producer, describes the foundation of her infectious and innovative material in the accompanying press materials for her excellent debut LP, Earcandy. Melding elements of sumptuous RnB beats, vivacious electronic tones and dexterous guitar melodies, Miso Extra has cultivated a captivating sonic world that provides an immensely fun space for audiences.

Speaking over Zoom, Miso Extra told Northern Transmissions about the transition from bedroom recordings to working in Damon Albarn’s Studio 13 while making her dynamic debut Earcandy, finding an inspiring and uplifting community of like-minded artists and having fun expressing all sides of her personality in her music.

NT: I’m excited to hear all about Earcandy, it’s been such a fun album to listen to. In the press materials, you mention how it’s a document of “music making as catharsis” and you were working through “experiences of love, alienation and empowerment” and you became a whole new version of yourself by the end of the process. What does that new version look like compared to the one that entered the album-making process?

Miso Extra: She was bright-eyed and bushy tailed, you know, that Dick Whittington thing of going to a new place and experiencing a new thing. For this album, I made it with quite a few different collaborators and it’s me trying to really figure out the whole world of music-making. In doing so, I think it helped trigger different thoughts and feelings because you have different conversations with different people.

The Miso going into it was like, ‘I have no idea what [making] an album is like? How does one create or begin to even craft an album?’ And I think the Miso that’s come away from that experience is now like, ‘Huh, okay, there’s not any one way to make an album.’ It teaches you so much and it’s definitely made me a much better songwriter going forward now that I’ve a bit more awareness of the whole process. And I mean, it’s still unfolding as I’m in the middle of the campaign. The album’s not even out yet, but listening to it now I’m thinking, ‘Okay, cool, I could do this next time. I could change things here and there next time or I could write differently.’ I’m so glad that it’s a snapshot of where I was at that point in time with my abilities as a songwriter and as a producer and also as a collaborator. It was also a way of finding my people in my community of music of like-minded musicians. I’m a huge fan of collaboration and it takes a whole community of people to grow each other. It’s like that saying that it takes a village to raise a child. This album has felt like me finding that village.

NT: That’s really lovely because I think with a debut album, for any artist, it can be quite a daunting task. Finding a community of like-minded people is so important at the start because you have people around that you’re comfortable to talk to about your music. It’s so important to have a sound board that you can really trust.

Miso Extra: 100%! I could not agree with you more about the sound board thing. You know, it’s like when you have any kind of situation to deal with and you go to your friends or your chosen family to discuss that topic. This album has felt like that by having the collaborators. Also, thematically, the album is about trying to navigate love, not just romantic love, but getting your head around human connection. The way I describe it is that it’s like you’re chatting to that friend who’s a little free-spirited or you have that friend who started seeing someone and you’re just like, ‘I don’t know if this is a good idea, hun, but I love you and I will stick by you, but you know, I’m not sure,’ Then, the end of the album is like them coming to their senses. It’s that feeling of not being like, ‘I’m not sure what was going on there but thank you for listening and being my counsel throughout this whole experience!’

NT: Absolutely. Prior to Earcandy, you released two EPs Great Taste and MSG. What did you take from those experiences before going into the album with regards to building a cohesive world? Creatively, what were some of the goals that you were striving towards?

Miso Extra: I think it was all about branching out because the first two EPs were made in a home studio. Whereas this time round, I was going to different kinds of studios. I went to Studio 13, which is a pretty big studio to go to. I couldn’t have made that leap without having gone to all of those other studios beforehand. Then, the thing to keep it constant, I was very mindful of making sure that certain instruments stayed the same so certain synth sounds were used. I think I used the same synth sound for two different songs on the album to make sure that there was a sonic tie between them. Ultimately, though, my voice is the main thing that carries through across all of the songs. Then with the production, there’s little nuggets and little tones and little sonics and different instruments that do stay the same throughout. Riccardo Damien did a brilliant job of helping me create those ties between all of the songs because they are all slightly different genres but they still managed to sonically sound part of the same universe. That was the biggest thing for me, using the same sounds but interpreting them in different ways. I think that helped add to that feeling of cohesiveness even though you have a piano song and then a more dancey track and Earcandy ends with a bit more of a spaced out and acoustic sounding song, but it’s tied together by having those little cornerstones.

NT: How did you find going from a home recording set-up to working in Damon Albarn’s Studio 13?

Miso Extra: Oh, that was so scary! But Ricky did a brilliant job of introducing me to the space and making me feel comfortable. Also, I’m a huge Gorillaz fan and so if anything, I really wanted to do the legacy of the space justice! It was really inspiring to be there. And not only that, the selection of instruments there is unreal. The equipment you can get your hands on, like to me, that’s fun in itself. That alone makes you feel comfortable in the space.

NT: I love how you go between singing in English and Japanese. Your mom is Japanese, you were born in Hong Kong and relocated to the U.K. when you were very young. I’m interested to hear about the role and your relationship with your heritage and how it has evolved through the ways you weave it into your music?

Miso Extra: I feel that humans have, you know, you’re not a singular personality and have multiple sides to you. Being able to have multiple languages, or access to multiple languages, allows you to have access to those different sides of you and it allows you to express yourself. Sometimes there’ll be words in English that don’t work in Japanese and so I decided that I’m just going to use the English word and vice versa. There’ll be times when I want to use a word that’s Japanese but it doesn’t translate well. When you make your own music, it doesn’t matter, you can just use the word. If I was talking to my mom or someone who understands both Japanese and English, you end-up having these blended conversations where it’s a mishmash of English and Japanese. The way I write is just an extension of that. It’s the way I can actually express myself where I don’t have to come up with the closest translation of a word. I can just say the word I want to say rather than just saying the equivalent because some things just don’t translate sometimes.

NT: There were some synth tones that appeared on “Pop” and “Good Kisses” that brought me back to playing video games as a kid. I loved it! The arrangements are also so cinematic. I was wondering, if you could have a song from Earcandy featured in any film soundtrack what would it be?

Miso Extra: Oh! This is a very hard question!

NT: I feel like there are songs on the album that would work in so many different types of films. “Slow Down” has a Sci-fi feel and could be in Blade Runner. Then, “Done” could feature in 10 Things I Hate About You or something.

Miso Extra: Ha! Yeah, maybe that’s it. Each one’s a different film, I like that idea. I like the idea of it feeling like you’re flicking through different TV channels. You know, sitting down on your sofa and you’re just flicking through daytime TV, seeing what comes on next and you’re like, ‘Oh, I like the sound of this. I’m going to spend some time with this!’

pre-order Earcandy by Miso Extra HERE