Interview with MiekeJames: Making Music as Siblings
A conversation about studio habits, label choices, and family dynamics.
After their debut release last week on our Future Avenue sublabel with "Run Away", we sat down for an in-depth conversation MiekeJames. The sibling duo shared insights on their creative process, growing up with music, and how they’ve shaped their unique sound together.
Hello Mieke & James! How are you today, and how is 2025 treating you so far?
Hello, hello! Thanks for having us, 2025 has been great. So much incredible music has come out, our USBs are full.
Let’s start at the beginning: how and when did you two decide to form a brother-sister duo?
We started the ‘MiekeJames’ project in 2020. We had a weekly Tuesday night hangout that would end in several empty bottles of wine. We’ve been making music together since we were kids, Mieke singing and James playing drums.
Did you grow up in a musical household, and how did music shape your relationship over the years? Were you always collaborating creatively, or did that come later?
Our Dad is a total audiophile and definitely inspired our love of music. Old rock n’ roll cassettes and a deep vinyl jazz collection, we listen to a lot of Blue Note and Tom Waits.
When did you start producing music, and do you remember the first piece of equipment or software you used?
There was a short period of making beats with Fruity Loops, then we got a free version of Ableton when we bought an M-Audio Fast Track Pro and a SM58. There are some really bad electro bootlegs on a harddrive somewhere…
Was there anyone who played a mentor role early on, whether through lessons, online courses, or just guidance in general to help sharpen your skills?
Our first mentor is another Vancouverite ‘Sleepy Tom’ who we met through some events at college. He’s an incredibly talented artist in both the electronic and pop worlds. We ended up mostly focusing on songwriting, which continues to be our central focus.
You made your production debut in 2023 on the Spanish label 83 with an EP that blends UK Garage and Breakbeats. How did you end up connecting with this label, and what inspired your transition toward a more progressive house sound?
Big Beat would be the first electronic stuff we really connected with. Our older brother had Prodigy and Chemical Brothers playing constantly, so that’s been a big influence on us. Our first music festival was Shambhala here in British Columbia, which has always had a great Breaks, UKG and Dub scene. Then during the pandemic we watched a LOT of Disclosure on Twitch, so getting to see inside the mind of another incredible sibling duo was a massive level up. Our close friend and collaborator ‘Broken Boy’ had been releasing with 83 so they were the first label we sent any music to. Guau is a beautiful soul and we were over the moon to start sharing our project with him. https://linktr.ee/brokenboy
Beyond your debut, you’ve released music on respected labels like Purrfection, Traful, Yomo, and Freegrant. When submitting demos, what kind of qualities or values do you look for in a label?
We do an enormous amount of digging for DJ sets so when a label shows up on our radar we note it down. The labels you mentioned (along with the Avenue family) have very regular spots in our sets. The music we end up making rarely fits into a specific genre and feels almost too crazy to put out, but when we get close to finishing a track we’ll test it out and see what labels it mixes into. Releasing our first progressive record with Purrfection still feels like a dream. Traful, Yomo and Freegrant all share energetic, genre-bending music as well and we’re honoured to have contributed to their catalogs.
What do you consider the highlight of your career so far?
Being a part of the musical culture is absolutely the highlight. Releasing music alongside the artists and labels we admire and share this passion with is the dream come true.
How did you first discover the Sound Avenue label group, and could you name a few favorite releases from the catalog that have resonated with you?
We started our deep dive into Progressive on 1001Tracklists, and Sound Avenue labels showed up quite frequently. Looking back in our catalog, some favourites are:
Monojoke - Second Chance [3rd Avenue]
Nōpi - Sense in Nature [Sound Avenue]
Forty Cats - Forest Beast (Weird Sounding Dude Remix) [Sound Avenue]
Imagine Souls - Second Time [Future Avenue]
Nick Van Gils - ILA (Miguel Ante Remix) [Future Avenue]
Every artist develops a signature style over time. How do you stay true to your sound while also pushing yourselves to evolve creatively?
A lot of cool stuff comes from working together, we both get obsessed with different sounds and they mash together into something new and crazy. Starting somewhere new and wrangling it into a usable dance record is the majority of our process. If an idea creates emotion, it’s worth finishing.
Tell us about working as a sibling duo, what are some of the advantages and challenges of collaborating with family?
We are family-first people, we hold each other accountable and we’ve learned to give each other grace. When we fight, we make up quickly. Before we started working together in 2020 we’d struggled to find consistency, but walking together makes the artist’s way joyful.
We’ve heard you also stream on Twitch. Can you tell us more about that? What kind of content do you share, and how has it helped you connect with fans?
We stream DJ sets Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 12-3pm PST, and end up sharing about 100 new songs a week. The Progressive scene is still very niche here in BC, so streaming has been a perfect place to connect with music lovers from all over the world and introduce the sounds we’re passionate about to a wonderful, open-minded community.
https://www.twitch.tv/miekejames
What’s the current state of the music scene in British Columbia? Have you had the opportunity to DJ locally or elsewhere in Canada?
BC has a vibrant underground scene, with tons of electronic shows happening deep in the forest. We’re excited to be a part of the new Progressive wave. Our most recent set was at Vancouver’s after hours mecca, Gorg-O-Mish, which is up on our Soundcloud.
https://on.soundcloud.com/1dUx7vZ5x61DmvTHA
Are there any record labels you're currently aiming to release with, kind of a dream destination for your music?
The labels we’re releasing on are absolutely dream labels, so we’re excited to continue sharing music with them. Bedrock was our introduction to Progressive back in the 00’s, so that’s up on the wall as our dream label to release with. Juicebox was instrumental in hooking us into the deeper sound, so we’re excited to make something that fits into their catalog. Some of our biggest electronic influences are Canadian labels Turbo, microCastle, and Mau5Trap, so they’re certainly dream destinations as well.
Outside of music, are there any books, documentaries, podcasts, or shows that have influenced or inspired you lately?
We just finished listening to ‘The Mercy of Gods’ by James S. A. Corey on a road trip. Progressive and sci-fi are kindred spirits, the rhythms and settings are a perfect pairing.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/201930181-the-mercy-of-gods
Could you share a few all-time favorite tracks that have had a major impact on your musical journey?
Jeremy Olander - Animal Garden [Vivrant]
Elektrobank - Chemical Brothers [Freestyle Dust]
Skrillex, Noisia, Josh Pan & Dylan Brady - Supersonic (My Existence) [OWSLA]
Welcome to the Machine - Pink Floyd [Harvest]
Timbaland - Shock Value (Album) [Blackground]
And finally, what can fans expect from MiekeJames for the rest of 2025?
We’ve got some special releases lined up this summer, our first solo-ep on Manual and some collaborations on Purrfection we’re really excited about. We’ll be attending Balance Croatia in August and streaming from the beach. We’ve also got a Techno EP on Natura Viva coming out with our favourite collaborators Hello Shadow (https://linktr.ee/hellosh4dow).
Follow MiekeJames here: Instagram | Soundcloud | Spotify
Get their latest EP here: https://go.protonradio.com/r/rlaFcTVm3gblg