We speak with Mitch & Millie about their new single, ‘Little Town’, a deeply intimate story, reflecting on Millie’s past, shadowed by tragedy, as well as their inspirations, and influences.
As newlyweds, what is it like to collaborate with each other professionally and musically?
Well, its convenient, having your bandmate at home… practice becomes a daily routine, like eating breakfast. Its romantic, creating music together. It makes our relationship even more exciting. Newly collaborating with original music, and newly collaborating as a married couple.
How would you describe your sound? Who were your sonic influences for ‘Little Town’?
We are figuring out our sound as we go.. we have been told it sounds a lot like Grace Slick meets Courtney Love. And also, has its own unique sound. I (Millie), listen to a ton of Marilyn Manson. The dark and edgy music taps into a place that is not on the surface level. Powerful music with emotion and anger helps me release some of my own. So there is a little bit of Manson sprinkled into our song as well.
The song is intimate, yet very powerful—what emotions or themes were you aiming to capture in the song?
Anger for sure. It is a valid emotion that feels good to express on camera and in our song. Vulnerability, as it touches on intense topics, and it felt powerful to tell a story. Empathy is another emotion we felt, knowing that people out there are doing the very best they can, including ourselves in our daily life. Feeling scared, just before we made the music video, I (Millie), was having second thoughts of doing it. I had vivid dreams of my loved ones that passed, and it felt like they were warning me not to tell this story, or they were showing me support… whatever message I got from them, we decided to do it. And are so damn proud of how it turned out. There were a ton of emotions while creating and making this masterpiece.
‘Little Town’ touches upon many heavy topics— how do you balance vulnerability and strength in your music, especially in songs like ‘Little Town’?
It was easier than you think. I believe we are all stronger than we think we are. For us, it was a mind fuck before making this video. The mind will try to confuse you, try to stop you, and create fear in you, and you have to tell it to be quiet. The heart is pounding, but you must follow it, step into fear, and go for it, whatever it may be. Being vulnerable is such a beautiful thing. It cracks you open, while you pour yourself out there for others to see and to hear, you touch someone else. It opens up the door for others to share their story, to feel support up under them, to face their fear. We were driven to tell a story and once we were making the song and making the music video it was easy because we were ready for it.
What encouraged you to produce a narrative-driven music video? What was your creative vision for the music video and how did you bring it to life?
We needed the right team, we needed a crew who listened to the song and wanted to help us tell and share it with the world. There were so many different scenes in the video, each done so perfectly with the location. Our good friend Steve Mason from Red Velocity Productions scouted out all of the locations for us. He saw our vision from day one, which made the making of the video so easy. The vision was always, to go deep, go dark, and be edgy. Tell the story exactly how it should be told, don’t sugarcoat or leave anything out. If we left out anything, it wouldn’t be truthful or as powerful of a video. It took a team to make this video come alive. We are all so happy with how it turned out. And people recognize it too as we show them the video. You cry, you feel, you go somewhere deep, you perhaps relate to it. The feedback from the video is the most exciting part… we are so proud. Team effort!
Did you face any challenges in the production process for the music video, given the song’s heavy subject matter? How did you overcome these challenges?
I (Millie), nearly passed out when the special effects makeup was put onto my wrist. Because I had such a close call in the past with suicide, I knew that would be the most difficult part. But it was the vision the whole time, was to be as raw and as real as possible. So that takes its amount of strength and commitment to the art. I overcame it just by taking deep breaths. The makeup had to be applied twice too, due to it rubbing off halfway through the scene. So lying down, rather than seated up, was the way to go. In case I passed out.
This story is very personal to you both—what personal aspects are incorporated in the video and why did you decide to include them?
My sister Brittany’s bracelet was a key prop in this music video. It was essential to show her bracelet because she wore it every single day of her life. It symbolized happy moments, like a dog charm and music charm which made her so happy. It represented her life, her story. I included my teddy bear, Cubby, in the bedroom scene to signify a moment in my childhood. My teddy bear comforted me, and protected me. And I have him to this day. He helped me get through hard times and still does. The music video is extremely personal- from the drugs to the pool table- both parts of my life that symbolized back in my teenage years. Times of struggle were key moments to add to the video, it’s a real story of real life. There are historical moments throughout the entire thing
What encouraged you to release the song emphasizing themes of resilience?
Because we need to tell stories of survival. We need to tell stories of sadness, pain, and suffering. Most people only talk about happy times, and show photos of smiles and perfection. This is not the case in our video and song. Everyone goes through depression at some point of their life. Life is hard, it’s scary and it’s dark at times. And everyone has a story. We must push through the pain, and be grateful for it. If life was truly happy and perfect all the time, we would never grow. We want to encourage others to come forward and tell their story. Such healing comes with sharing. And we want to inspire others to not hold onto their pain because it will cause such stress in the mind and body as time goes on… we also were inspired to tell the story, after Brittany passed away. Suicide is all around us, it affects all of us, and it’s okay to talk about it. Don’t keep the topic in the dark, we want to help and inspire others to be resilient and fight for themselves.
As a tribute to Amelia’s younger sister Brittany who lost her life to suicide, what do you hope listeners and viewers take away from ‘Little Town’?
We want our viewers to find it in themselves- their strength. To tap into their strength to make it through their struggle. To let someone who is suffering from a mental health issue or depression, that they will make it through their pain. We want viewers to watch this and be touched in some way, to show it and share it with others and maybe help them in some way. This is for Brittany, this is for you, for me, for everyone out there who needs some self-love, who needs to know that they matter and are worth fighting for. Brittany’s story has already helped people around us. I had a friend tell me when they heard of Brittany’s passing, it made him realize he needed help. He had the courage in him to realize he needed to reach out, and he is doing much better today. This is our hope for others. Watch, cry, share, and talk about it. Talk about the taboo topic of suicide. Just talk. We hope it helps in one way or another.
Watch the incredibly stirring music video for ‘Little Town’ below, and find out more about Mitch & Millie and their music online on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.
