BACKGROUND

Mia grew up mostly in Singapore, but spent time in Australia and the United States as a child and adolescent due to familial ties. After living through an abusive childhood, she started getting into trouble at school but turned to writing dark poetry and prose as an outlet. She got into Grunge and Rock in the mid-90s, and that progressed to heavier and faster forms of music; this interest in extreme music spurred her on to start going to shows and meeting other people with similar musical tastes. She went on to form and play in both Metal and Punk bands in the 2000s, spending most of that time in rehearsal spaces and churning out demos recorded on boombox tape decks. She also started helping with security and ticketing at DIY Punk shows organised by her friends. During this time, Mia quit school while studying for her GCE A-Levels due to financial difficulties, but managed to complete her diploma from an institute based in Bournemouth, UK.

Mia ended up working in a few part-time jobs for several companies before she was conscripted into the Singapore Air Force from 2003 to 2005, during the Afghanistan/Iraq War. Mia lost her mother within the first two weeks of her service, and her father abandoned her during the funeral to live in the Philippines with his new family. After the funeral, Mia was forced to return to her military duties; the war was on the screens constantly in the base, exposing her to scenes of severe violence and death on a daily basis, while squadrons from her base re-fueled and carried American forces and cargo in the Middle East. Mia had a mental breakdown after half a year and was committed to a facility. She was eventually released and placed under close supervision for a year while carrying out her duties. She went on a solo backpacking trip around Southeast Asia and Australasia after completing her military service at the end of 2005, and went on to teach ESL (English as a Second Language) at a language school in Singapore the following year.

BANDS & BUSINESSES

Towards the end of her military service, Mia recorded her first studio single, ABSENCE OF THE SACRED’s Deadening the Dispirited demo with her bandmate Hans Yamin at SAE Institute (Singapore). The band started to take off from there, playing live shows and eventually releasing their debut full-length album Atrocities That Birthed Abominations in 2006. Mia knew Shyaithan of IMPIETY (one of Asia’s biggest Extreme Metal bands) from the early 2000s and frequented his record store TO MEGA THERION. It was there that she played and gave him the new ABSENCE OF THE SACRED album. Shyaithan asked Mia to try out for the position of lead guitarist for IMPIETY after hearing the album, and she became a full-time member of the band after being auditioned. Mia went on to record on their fifth full-length album Formidonis Nex Cultus, and co-headlined a month-long European Tour with Swedish Black Metal band WATAIN, including a sold-out date at the legendary LA LOCOMOTIVE in Paris with ENSLAVED and KEEP OF KALESSIN. After the tour, Mia focused on recording the sophomore ABSENCE OF THE SACRED record Era of the Apostate, and subsequently in 2008 toured Europe again with IMPIETY for the follow-up EP Dominator.

Mia parted ways with IMPIETY at the end of 2008, and started operating her first business, HELL’S LABYRINTH, a record store and design studio based in Peninsula Shopping Centre in Singapore. The business had a successful three-year run with a loyal customer base, beneficial collaborations, a reliable part-time team and support from local promoters/record labels like BLACKHOLE 212, CYNICAL SOUNDS, KITTYWU RECORDS, LAMC PRODUCTIONS, STREET NOISE SG and PULVERISED RECORDS. The store was also visited by bands such as MALEVOLENT CREATION, RUSSIAN CIRCLES, WARBRINGER and more. As a design studio, Mia did art, layout and print design work for both local and regional bands like DEUS EX MACHINA, DISSECTOMY, DRACONIS INFERNUM, KALODIN, OSHIEGO, RUDRA, SANITY OBSCURE, SUICIDE SOLUTION among others. During this time, Mia formed BLOOD DIVISION with Cider Lin (FERAL AGE, HELVETTE, DRACONIS INFERNUM), releasing two EPs Grip of Power and Necrordnance and opening for bands such as KVELERTAK and NUCLEAR DEATH TERROR. HELL’s LABYRINTH moved to Excelsior Shopping Centre in it’s third year due to a drastic increase in rent, and the business was eventually sold to Mia’s former bandmate Hans in 2011. Mia still does design work on a freelance basis.

Through Mia’s previous experiences working at Punk shows and attending Metal shows, she started to find work in the big Metal events that were happening in Singapore; she did her first big show as a ticketer/usher for SLIPKNOT in 2005 during their Subliminal Verses tour. She was appointed as the Show Security Manager for OPETH during their Heritage tour in 2012 and did marshalling for METALLICA, when they came to promote their film Through the Never in 2013. In 2014, Mia organised her first fest SCREAMS FROM THE MORGUE in Singapore, with Shaiful Risan and team (PROHIBITED PROJECTS). The fest was co-sponsored by PULVERISED RECORDS and RAVAGE RECORDS, featuring six regional bands, including EXHUMATION, ORATOR and SAVAGE DEITY. The fest was attended and supported by members of known local bands ABHORER, IMPIETY, INFERNAL EXEKRATOR and RASPATUL among others, including labels and promoters from around the continent (CYCLOPEAN EYE PRODUCTIONS/BOLLYWOOD CRYPT, PRIMITIVE INVOCATION and more) .

With the sale of HELL’s LABYRINTH and her accumulated savings, Mia co-founded and co-conceptualised the award-winning gastro bar COQ & BALLS with Sean Lawlor in 2012, forming a limited company and eventually getting other partners to invest in the business. Mia would go on to fulfill her role as an active director in charge of marketing and a secondary role as the sou chef in the kitchen. The bar won local awards and was featured in major entertainment publications within the first two years. Due to unforeseen circumstances and government intervention, a national alcohol curfew was put in place and nightlife establishments were under strict observation by the authorities. This affected the business drastically, and measures were taken to improve  the situation but did not yield positive results. In 2013, Mia went on to headline TRENDSLAUGHTER FEST III in Bangalore, India with BLOOD DIVISION, after releasing a split with ROTTING BULL. Mia stepped down from active directorship in 2014 but remained a partner in the business; she went on to record guitars and vocals for her band BLOOD DIVISION’s full-length album Traitors to the Gallows and vocals for ABYSSAL VORTEX’s debut EP Derelicts of Perdition. COQ & BALLS was bought over in 2016 by another company, and is still currently in operation.

CAMBODIA CALLING

Finding herself embroiled in a stressful environment and facing financial difficulties once again, Mia looked at viable options of living outside of Singapore. A friend who was working in Cambodia urged her to visit Phnom Penh due to the low cost of living and the ease of getting a business visa. She went to see the Cambodian capital for herself in 2013 after headlining with BLOOD DIVISION in India, and took a liking to the city. After stepping down from active directorship of COQ & BALLS and recording parts for her bands ABYSSAL VORTEX and BLOOD DIVISION, Mia packed her bags and moved to Phnom Penh.