Take a look through the search results for Miss Monique on YouTube and you’ll quickly find several streams that have surpassed the million plays mark, with the highest peaking at a massive 11,000,000 streams.
Combine this with her impressive talent in the studio and her also being a label boss for her own Siona Records, and you’d be hard pressed to find a way to argument against her being one of Kyiv’s top electronic artists right now.
This month she returns to Siona Records for the release of her new City Nights, City Lights EP, which alongside the original title track also includes a remix from Sean & Dee. We spoke with Miss Monique about the tracks, who else we might expect on Siona in the near future, and her opinion on streaming during a pandemic.
Your new City Nights, City Lights EP arrives at the end of the month, tell us about the track and how the idea came together in the studio?
A year ago, my car was stolen and for many months I had to take a taxi. When I got behind the wheel of a car again and drove through the city at night, I experienced emotions that had not been there for a long time. The neon signs, high-rise buildings, illuminating bridges that look incredibly beautiful at night. I tried to convey the emotions from everything I saw in this track.
It also includes a remix from Sean & Dee, what was your reaction when you first got their version back?
I said: “That is exactly what I wanted from these guys”. I knew the style of their production and that they can bring another sound to my track. I’m absolutely delighted about our results.
The EP comes on your own Siona Records imprint, where you have released Darin Epsilon and Pavel Khvaleev in the past, who can we expect on the label in the coming months?
We were glad to have such great artists as Darin Epsilon and Pavel Khvaleev. In the coming months you will hear the equally talented Alexander Alar, Nopopstar, Cherry UA and my collaborations with Sean & Dee and Ukrainian duo Two Are.
And what lessons have you learned while running a label that don’t come up as a DJ or producer?
Since my label is very young, it is difficult to draw any global conclusions, but I can tell you for sure that I didn’t think when working on a label that you have so much paperwork and organisation – it’s tough but I love having my label.
Your own music has also come on Area Verde, Freegrant Music and Bonzai Progressive, do you have any releases in the pipeline that we can look forward to hearing?
Well, yes. I had a lot of time during the last few months to work on new tracks. I already signed an EP on Lost On You and a few more labels are in the process.
You recently took part in Beatport’s Set For Love charity event, how did that feel to be invited to take part in such a great event for such a worthy cause?
It was a pleasant surprise for me. I’m always open for charity and when the offer came from Beatport I was really happy. To have a chance to help many people with the Beatport team, and to be on the stream with icons of electronic music, that was an amazing experience. I hope that was not the last time that we work together.
And how important do you think livestreams are right now? Considering how the current pandemic is hurting the club scene?
I think it was important even a few years ago. I started livestreams around 5 years ago and I always got good feedback from my listeners. This is one of the main ways to communicate with people. Of course during the pandemic I saw that the statistics grew and in my case doing the streams together with listeners we supported each other in these difficult times.
Of course it’s different from live performances but on the streams you can chat with people in real life and that’s a great chance to get to know them better, their thoughts and what they like, so I enjoy it immensely.
Miss Monique’s City Nights, City Lights EP arrives November 30th on Siona Records.