Mija experiments on ‘Band Practice’ tour

Classical vocalist and composer Mija brought a new experience for her fans to The Echo Wednesday night highlighting her abilities as a musician.

Mija (Amber Giles) is known for her creative efforts as an electronic music producer and DJ. However, her first-ever live tour, aptly titled “Band Practice,” is new territory for the performer, as she exchanges her turntables for a microphone and loop pedal.

Opening for Mija was Arthur Anderson (Sam Anderson), a cellist and producer who previously released two albums under the pseudonym Arkomo. To start his set, Anderson easily blended his cello with contemporary electronic equipment. The experimentation worked and Anderson maintained a smooth groove, as he would use his loop pedal to create understated cello notes.

Throughout his set, Anderson would occasionally lay down vocals over looping tracks from his launch pad and loop pedal. Before closing out his set, Anderson played his own cello arrangement of a piano arrangement by Russian composer Alexander Scriabin. To do this, Anderson used his loop pedal and played a section one by one, adding three additional layers on top of the foundation first loop, finishing to rousing applause. Anderson was the perfect opener for Mija, as his set previewed an essential concept of her tour: the blend of live instrumentation and electronica.

Following his performance, Mija and her bandmates came out with a robust, ominous and twisted composition of electronic music fragmented by Mija’s spoken word poetry. In this moment, the stage design came to life. Surrounded by lamps and lightbulbs flickering to beat of her music, Mija provided a fitting stage reminiscent of a garage — the kind where multifaceted, talented musicians come together and improvise a jam session.

“This show is different every night,” Mija explained to the crowd. “It’s band practice.”

Throughout her set, Mija would use the loop pedal to create vocal layers on top of her initial vocal melody. Mija demonstrated the clarity of her voice through the construction of beautiful vocal layers, but the set sometimes suffered because the improvisational approach limited her talent. She often repeated phrases like “I want to turn you on” or “cover me so I can nap” throughout segments of her set and, although interesting the first few times, the phrases dragged on much longer than they should have.

Another recurring problem throughout the show was the sound; Ryan Forever, Mija’s bandmate who performed alongside her and engineer, constantly signaled for the sound to be raised without any response. Despite the technical problems that occurred throughout the show, Mija seemed unphased.