This year has seen Milan Ring going from strength to strength, and there’s no sign she’s putting a foot on the brakes. After signing with Astral People and releasing her latest single Drifting, the artist has earned tour spots with Masego and Hermitude, not to mention a place at Pitch 2019.
Recently she stepped into a unlikely venue to showcase that single – a sauna. Put together by the good people at Rekorderlig as part of their ongoing Sauna Sounds series, it was a more intimate look into Milan Ring’s performances than ever before.
After seeing the video, we caught up with Milan for a chat.
Whether she’s sharing beats in a massive studio or performing live in a dimly lit sauna, you can be sure Milan Ring knows how to command your attention.
HAPPY: Hey how are you? What are you up to at the moment?
MILAN RING: Hey I am good thanks, just finished a rehearsal for my single launch set! It is feeling really good now so I am feeling pretty excited about it.
HAPPY: We’ve been spinning Drifting for months now… could you tell us a bit about this track?
MILAN RING: Drifting is about mental health, and how we treat one another. That love and compassion is the most important thing, no matter how frustrating or upsetting other people’s actions may be.
HAPPY: How are you feeling about it now that it’s been out for a little while?
MILAN RING: I feel better about it now for sure, it was a hard one for me to release actually as it is a heavy topic and a sensitive one for me, but I think discussing things like mental health is really important and I realised that more so after receiving so much feedback from people on how it resonated with them.
HAPPY: You seem to have always had a pretty strong direction with your sound… how long had this project been in the works for before you released your first single?
MILAN RING: I believe my first EP was in the works for about a year or two before we released a single, and this year all the singles I’ve released have been written within the last year or two also.
HAPPY: While you have been making music for a while now, it still feels like things have been moving pretty quickly… how’s it felt to see such a strong reaction to your music?
MILAN RING: I am just super grateful that people get me, and that those people are finding me, not everything is for everyone but it’s nice to know I got my peeps out there that get it and give my music a home.
HAPPY: You’ve spent time in the studio with a heap of really cool people (SZA, LL Cool J, DRAM), what’s it been like working with these people?
MILAN RING: Technically I didn’t work with LL Cool J, I just happened to be in his session with some producers I knew playing him beats, I was too shy to play any of mine at the time though, missed that opp! Ha plus then DJ Premier walked in and like why in the world would LL Cool J want to hear one of my beats when the OG Premier is in the studio? But SZA is lovely we had a good vibe out in the studio with the Social Experiment Crew and I was stoked to have a collab with DRAM, he just came in and basically laid down the vocals in one take and the track was done and came out on his record that year.
HAPPY: You recently got to play one of your tracks in a sauna… could you tell us a bit about this experience?
MILAN RING: Was definitely a different experience, thankfully the sauna wasn’t on otherwise all my gear would have carked it, but it was a very intimate, organic vibe. I kind of felt like a strange hydroponic plant with the red light and glass doors and everyone looking in on us, ha I dug it though.
HAPPY: Are there any other exciting things in the works for Milan Ring? Any more new music anytime soon?
MILAN RING: Working on the next single at the moment, excited to share this next one!
HAPPY: Cheers for the chat!
Catch Milan Ring live:
Thurs 8 Nov – Hermitude support – 24 Moons Bar, Melbourne – SOLD OUT
Sun 11 Nov – Yours & Owls Sundays – North Wollongong Hotel, Wollongong
Tue 20 Nov – Hermitude support – Marrickville Bowling Club, Sydney – SOLD OUT
Sat 8 Dec – Souther Comfort Presents Southern Sounds – Commune, Waterloo
Wed 30 Jan – Masego support – The Metro Theatre, Sydney
Tue 5 Feb – Masego support – 170 Russell, Melbourne
8-11 March – Pitch Music and Arts Festival – Moyston, Victoria
Stay up to date with Rekorderlig Sauna Sounds here.
