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LA based singer/songwriter MILCK is making moves with conscious music. Her latest single “Quiet” is an anthem against her own history of physical and sexual abuse, alongside pressures to fulfill commodified standards of beauty. It is a powerful song that pushes back at those who seek to silence female voices.
MILCK stands strong, not only with a beautiful voice, but as an activist who encourage empathy, tolerance and understanding towards one another. Check out our exclusive GroundSounds interview with this fresh new artist on the rise and find out why MILCK won’t stay “Quiet” any longer.
For those just discovering your music, can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you got started?
My parents are the epitome of the American dream. My dad came here with $1,000 and a suitcase, and paid his way through pharmacy and medical school by working as a custodian and flipping burgers in Chicago. My parents are both very smart and hard working people. They wanted me and my siblings to pursue practical jobs. From the beginning we are expected to get A+’s on everything, and pursue medicine or law. My father would tell me I had good surgeon hands. I told him I had good piano hands.
Despite the pressures to be the ivy League bound student, I was always hypnotized by music. By age 14 I became anorexic, and got involved with a boyfriend who was abusive. My life was spinning out of control. I turned to songwriting to heal, and by age 16 I wrote my first pop song. I went to UC Berkeley (go Bears!) to pursue my father’s wishes of becoming a doctor. But you see, as I got older, I got less tolerant of NOT following my heart. I switched majors twice, while starting a band and editing more songs, and by my fourth year I summoned the courage to tell my parents I was moving back to LA to pursue music.
Eventually I self-published an EP that would get me discovered by the Hits Daily Double blog, who then signed me to their management company that managed artists like 30 Seconds From Mars at the time. They sent me on The Voice (Season 1), where I would finally understand how commercial music really worked. I signed to a label, released a few singles, then went on my own to raise $13,000 on Kickstarter from fans to create an album. Unfortunately, due to my not having the skills to protect myself from abusive behavior, I fell into an unhealthy management deal, and the album we created I ultimately felt like wasn’t true to me.
Something was off but I didn’t know what, so I took time off, put in hard work to dig deeper (therapy, songwriting workshops with Suzan Koc, production internships), and that’s how MILCK was born. It’s the first project where I can really confidently say is accurately portraying my soul.
How did you decide on the moniker MILCK?
When I wasn’t happy with the world I was creating under my given name, I went on a mission to rebuild a new identity. To start back at one, with all the lessons from the mistakes and victories I had made with the Connie Lim project. With the help of the love of my life, I found my alias. My last name is LIM, and my first 2 initials are CK for Connie Kimberly. We combined the letters, and came up with MILCK. I immediately loved it. For one, it is taking the name my parents gave, and making it work for me, just as I had taken the life they designed for me and altered it to fit my soul, like metaphorically turning inside out. Secondly, it is a nod to the life and magic that females provide for the next generation. I want my music to be nourishing like that.
What do you enjoy most about Los Angeles?
This city holds people accountable, and forces people to cut out the fat in order to get anything meaningful done. Once I started following my intuition, speaking my truth, and making an effort to cut toxic relationships and build friendships with those people that I admired, the road map to my definition of success became MUCH clearer. I love that this town forces dreamers to be smart, honest, and genuine in order to cut thru the noise and find each other.
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your single “Devil Devil?”
Good question! No one has really asked me before, which is fine with me too, because everyone will have their own interpretation. I was singing to all the people in the industry who doubted or judged me, and about leeching so-called friends who would try to use me for their own benefits, thinking that because I was a gentle person that I wouldn’t be aware of their motives. I had just gotten out of a few toxic relationships and wanted to blow off steam.
Do you feel different forces pulling at you in this world? If so, how do you navigate through it all?
Amazing question. Yes! I’m a Gemini so I constantly feel polar forces pulling at me, both externally and internally. Externally: my traditional Chinese family and my bohemian community, my desire to make meaningful music and my need to make money doing it in a highly competitive industry, my homebody personality with my “I-want-to-tour-the-world-with-powerful-music” goals. Internally: one side of me is this fierce, confident, strong woman, and the other side of me, my shadow self, is this self-doubting, anxious and haunted woman. With every day that I get older, thankfully, the first side of me gets stronger and stronger, because I feed that side as much as I can.
Can you tell us about the creative and writing process involved with your single “Quiet?”
I was scheduled for a writing session with one of my favorite cowriters, Adrianne Gonzalez. The night before I had a nightmare about my teenage experience with abuse, and I was on the floor, getting hit. I looked up and saw someone watching. I told her to say something, that I needed help. She said I just need to keep quiet, and that if I’m quiet, everything will be better soon, and I exclaimed, “But I can’t keep quiet!” I told Adrianne about the dream, and her eyes got wide. She said, “That’s your chorus!” I got chills and agreed. A few hours later our song was written. I felt the world’s weight lift off my shoulders. I truly became a better woman that day because this song holds me accountable.
What musicians/bands are you currently listening to?
I generally am listening to self help audio books or just silence, as when I’m creating I’m constantly listening to noises and need to give my ears a cleansing. My brain is a super sponge so I like to curate what I expose it to. However, when I am listening to music, I turn to Rain Sounds, Sleeping At Last, Hozier, Kaleo, Nina Simone, Explosions In The Sky, Emile Sande, Drake, and Labyrinth.
Can you tell us about the #ICantKeepQuiet campaign and what it all means to you?
At this stage in my life I’ve been feeling this huge amount of untapped energy that is dying to be used, like this big fireball comet, hovering with fury over my right shoulder, waiting to soar a thousand miles per second. I think a lot of women could interpret this energy as being ready to have a child, because the energy is fiercely nurturing. However, my gut is telling me to funnel this seemingly endless amount of energy into something to heal communities beyond me, thru icantkeepquiet.org.
“Quiet” is my thesis, and the lyric “I can’t keep quiet” is soooo me! It is a universal thing that can empower and embolden others to follow their truth. Life is so short and humans are so magical – it just makes practical sense for me to help people be “less practical” with caring what others think. We gotta just let it out!
I believe that my battles with abuse, depression and anorexia happened/happen for a reason. I’ve tried the life of should’s, and was pretty good at it, but I was also in spiritual, emotional, and physical pain as I strayed from my life purpose. I believe that I am supposed to take my lessons and create an infrastructure to give back to my community. My father and mother have always taught me the importance of giving, and of community. I’ve invested my adult life in creating songs and harnessing my literal and figurative voice. A voice that champions to those who feel silenced, unheard, or lost. So it just makes complete sense to help others do it as well.
I always think back on this specific moment in middle school, when I was comparing myself to a photo of a Caucasian model in a magazine. I wanted to learn how to do my eye makeup. I copied what she did, and it just didn’t look right. I thought it was because I was just… uglier… lesser. Then a few minutes passed, and I realized I’d never look like her. Not because I’m uglier, but because I’m a woman of minority with no photoshop! I remember wishing there was a woman in my culture that could help me feel less alone. And I told myself, “Be patient, Connie. You’ll just have to become that woman for others.” I continue to strive for that.
What’s next for MILCK, what can fans look forward to?
I have some juicy ideas and collaborations related to the icantkeepquiet.org project, involving dancers, photographers, videographers, activists, musicians, and everyday heroes. I will focus on that when I get back from Washington, D.C. for the Women’s March.
I’ll also be releasing a new single in a few months, and will keep releasing singles until they culminate into an EP. I’m on track to build my band, and start doing some performances. My dream would be to hop on Hozier’s tour, so if anyone has his number, can you call him for me? 😉
