MIA NICOLAI

Mia Nicolai is a Dutch, LA-based singer-songwriter. After representing the Netherlands in the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest, she released her debut EP Sharing Space Among The Stars at the end of 2025. The record blends theatrical pop with raw emotion and dreamlike vulnerability.

The B-Side Hour: The release of your latest EP Sharing Space Among The Stars marked the beginning of a new era for you. What changed creatively during that period, and how did it shape the way you approached the project?

Mia: After my experience with Eurovision, where a part of me felt compromised, I made a decision to create a project where I didn’t let compromise interfere with my gut instincts, which led to writing this EP from a space of liberation and curiosity.

The B-Side Hour: You’ve just released the music video for Nothing Compares to this Feeling. What was the vision behind it?

Mia: The answer lies in the same concept of liberation. The song, as it explains lyrically, is about how nothing compares to the feeling of reconnecting to the truest self after a period of disconnect. In the music video, I felt the need to express that through movement. I worked with an incredible choreographer, Carly Johnson, who helped me transform that feeling into movement. Funny story about that, I was in Bergen, Norway, where I created the album when my (now) friend and incredible artist Gust Dapperton was working on his movie and needed extras. I showed up and that’s when I saw Carly’s work on a choreography that really touched me. I reached out to her after and that’s how we got connected! Talk about serendipity :)

The B-Side Hour: David Bowie has been a major influence on you. What aspects of his artistry resonate most with your own path?

Mia: The aspect of being unapologetically yourself. I adore his philosophy on art, life and himself. I relate very deeply to that philosophy. What is art if not from the depth of the authentic self?

The B-Side Hour: You often express deep gratitude toward the people who helped you build this project. How does collaborating with other creatives help you bring your vision fully to life?

Mia: I don’t believe I’ll ever be able to do everything by myself as an artist, you need different skills for different aspects of music artistry. The way Joelle helped direct the vision into what it became through her knowledge of visual process, and the way Tylre Wilcox (DOP) brings his skills in that helped the choreography come to life, etc. Without these collaborations my vision is nothing but a concept on paper with the hope to come to life. I don’t have the time, nor the desire, to learn every skill there is. I don’t need to be a producer, that’s why I love working with producers who put their skills into the songs. I write with them. Vetle Junker for instance! Talk about unique talent :)

The B-Side Hour: You speak openly about being unapologetically yourself and building your dream life on your own terms. Has being an artist helped you better understand who you are and given you the courage to pursue that vision?

Mia: I don’t know if I am 100% unapologetically myself — I am obviously also still human and have moments of insecurities that totally get in the way of truly being myself. For the longest time in my life, I tried to be everyone but myself actually! From that experience, I learned that I really wanted to find a way to become myself without holding back. So even me saying out loud that I struggle with that is me being myself! You know what I mean? I chose to move from acting into music because I understood that as a musical artist you are allowed to become yourself and multiply that by 100. That’s what drew me into that development. As a child I was very unique, quirky and funny, before social constructs came in and made me believe there was something wrong with myself. When I realized I was struggling to be my unapologetic self, I eagerly went on a journey to figure out how to get back on that boat I sailed on from age 0-7ish.

The B-Side Hour: You’ve lived quite a nomadic life over the past few years and recently moved to Los Angeles. How have these shifts in place and environment influenced your songwriting and creative process?

Mia: It influenced my growth as a human. It showed me how every big city I lived in has its own rhythm but also has an inherent similarity in its social construction. Which in turn showed me that the only way to achieve freedom and happiness is to become my own construct, away from what should be “good enough”. I believe it affects me as a singer, artist and songwriter. Because I’m not interested in belonging outside of myself, I’m interested in belonging within myself.

The B-Side Hour: If Sharing Space Among the Stars were the soundtrack to a film, which movie would it be?

Mia: OMG! What a great and inspiring question! This makes me want to sit on this question for a month, watch all the movies that I loved and similar ones to carefully answer this perfectly. But the first thing that comes to mind is Perks of Being a Wallflower?! I think it would belong in a movie about a protagonist experiencing a shift in their identity towards the self. (Basically, put my experiences into a story line and make a movie about it— screenwriters, are you paying attention? Let’s collaborate ;))

The B-Side Hour: How would you describe your relationship with your fans at this stage of your journey?

Mia: Eager to get to know them all! I’m at this sweet spot where I have the time to return messages or DMs or comments, I love having short conversations with them, sometimes they share things that inspire them or I share a little encouraging text here and there! It’s a really sweet time to be close to fans who appreciate the music that I’ve put my heart and soul into :)

The B-Side Hour: Your latest single Drowning captures the moment you finally stop running from yourself. What inspired that theme, and how personal was that process for you?

Mia: It brought up a lot lot lot of tears! The day we wrote that song I had hit a wall of running. I was in London for about nine months, had an extremely intense experience where I was followed by two random men at 6am on my way to a job. I ended up hiding in the bushes and truly never felt so unsafe in my life. I was over it. I wanted to find a home. Somewhere to land. A home within myself, and a literal home. No more sublets, a lease, my own furniture, stability! All those feelings came out and I put them into that song.

The B-Side Hour: Looking ahead to live shows, which song are you most excited to perform?

Mia: I love performing drowning because it’s a moment of such deep emotion that always feels so special to share with the audience!