Mylo Choy finds comfort in the spaces between things. As a mixed-race and non-binary person, moving between worlds feels like home to them. Born and raised in Wisconsin, they also developed a strong connection to Hawai’i, where their mother is from. For over 10 years they worked in outdoor education, living and working in many places including Maine and Hawai’i, but mostly between the woods of Upstate New York and New York City. They currently live in the Hudson Valley, exploring planting roots in one place for a while.
Mylo’s range of work — music, graphic stories, and comics — uses the inherent tension of multimedia to bring to life their space between worlds. Inspired by nature’s ability to offer peace and perspective, their work reflects without dwelling and soothes without escaping.
Explain the title of your album.
SUMMER PROJECTS is coming out in two parts, PART 1 was just released, and hopefully PART 2 will be ready later this year. For me this collection of songs is connected to the things I got absorbed with in my down time when I was very young, like making things out of cardboard and tape. I spent a lot of early pandemic time learning about putting together music on the computer, as the circumstances prevented me from working with other people in person as I had in the past. It reminded me of my childhood art projects, tinkering around with curiosity instead of a plan. I had a lot more down time, and I was living in South Carolina so it felt like a never ending summer to me, since I’d never lived year-round in warm weather before. The capital letters to me are like a label you put on a box of craft supplies, at least that’s how I label things, in all caps!
Does your album have an overarching theme?
Sound-wise, I was really influenced by the heat and humidity in South Carolina. The air is really thick. The production of these songs has a lot of synthesizers and atmospheric elements that connect to that feeling. Also adding to the humid-feeling, there are breathing and sounds I made with my mouth throughout the tracks. Since I was producing music with a lot of electronic instruments, I still wanted a human feeling to the music, and I thought these would keep that element present. In terms of topics and lyrics, I am always looking to find a balanced perspective, a sense of acceptance. That is a theme. Also, this theme of the creative process itself, which connects to the name SUMMER PROJECTS, the idea that you can make something out of whatever you have lying around and with your imagination it can become something. The second half of this collection, which hasn’t been released, has a song specifically about that, but there are pieces of that idea in other places as well.
Do you start off with the music or lyrics first? Why?
In a way, neither. I think I start with a feeling. Usually that means music, but sometimes it’s a word or phrase I can’t get out of my head. I get a lot of ideas when I’m running. In a way that’s not my favorite because I’m now addicted to running with my phone so I can type things into my notes app if I think of something!
Recent release you cannot stop listening to?
It’s not really a recent release, but Aloha Got Soul has been re-releasing some albums by Kalapana, a great 70s band from Hawaii, on vinyl and my copy of Kalapana II just came in the mail today. So that’s what I’m occupied with at the moment!
How do you feel your coming out journey plays into your music?
I think the process of letting people see more of you is a vulnerable one, and in that way making art is a continual process of coming out. It’s a practice of identifying a piece of who you are and sharing it despite the chance that other people will not think it’s good enough. I think art is an important part of my relationship to myself. Making art and sharing it is a way to show myself that I can take up a little room in this world, and I don’t have to be perfect to do it.