Mila + Lucas: INTERVIEW
Mila + Lucas, Image taken by Shashwat Suthar
Dream-folk duo, Mila + Lucas, are up-and-coming indie musicians here in the local scene in Naarm/Melbourne. Words cannot express how talented Mila + Lucas are. Their music and performances never fail to enchant me with their beautiful vocal melodies and guitar arrangements. My very first article was on their Debut Single Launch Gig in August for their song ‘You and I’. I was lucky enough to be able to interview the duo and delve into their deeply personal connections to music and its very significant place in both their lives, really highlighting music’s ability to create community and connection as well as its ability to represent and reflect emotions and ideas. Mila + Lucas also share their future plans, including upcoming gigs and a little bit about an upcoming album.
Mila + Lucas duo, Image taken by Shashwat Suthar
Mila + Lucas performing, Image taken by Lucinda Goodwin
What inspired you to get into creating your own music?
Mila: My mum always jokes that I was singing before I could talk.
I would just sing a bunch of different musical theater songs and I basically wouldn't shut up. And I was really lucky to have really great vocal coaching growing up, [and] piano lessons and be really heavily involved in music all throughout primary school. And then in high school, I didn't have the greatest music program and I ended up having to leave [the school] for a bit and come back. When I returned, I was placed into the VCE music program in year nine, and that's where I met Lucas. That's sort of where we connected.
Lucas: I wasn't musical for most of my life up until I think 16 or so. It was during COVID when I was listening to Metallica and I saw this video on YouTube of ‘Master of Puppets’, and then I saw the guitar solo and I was like, oh my God, I want to do that.
It was like the perfect time in COVID. I just sort of skipped my online classes, got a guitar and started teaching myself on, pretty much entirely, YouTube. I had no lessons for quite a while actually. And I was really just a guitar player, there was no songwriting, there was no interest.
I couldn't even really think about it. It wasn't even really a possibility for me at that point. Then I went to JMC [Academy] and that was again, just to be a guitar player majoring in guitar. Somewhere throughout the first trimester I sort of started to feel like the scope of where I could go as just a guitar player was maybe a little limited, and I thought maybe going into songwriting would allow me to broaden my horizons.
So then that forced me to start writing songs because I had to do it to pass my classes. I think that's sort of around when Mila and I started writing our own songs too.
Mila: Yeah, that's sort of when we took off writing. There are some moments when I listen back to our first songs and I mean, I didn't think it was the greatest thing in the world back then, but it's extremely humbling going back [to listen]. But I'd like to think that we've improved now.
Lucas has finished his degree, I'm in the first year of mine, [and doing] a business management degree [too] to help us stay afloat as artists. So I think that's a big part of how we'll continue.
What inspired you to start as a duo, performing and writing songs together? And why indie-folk music?
Not many people know that we met because we're both deeply obsessed with John Mayer.
Mila: We connected because Lucas overheard me talking about John Mayer and he was like oh my god, John Mayer, another person who likes John Mayer. So we went from playing eight covers of different John Mayer songs in one week, to listening to a bigger variety of music that we could be playing together. And I think that the sort of folky style stood out to us.
I feel like we had an understanding of the brand we wanted to create straight away, a very nature-based sort of vibe and we wanted to be able to connect with everyone. I think that a lot of folk music obviously fits within the nature and environmental side of things. But I also think that part of what we really enjoy as musicians is the idea of a concept album or a concept and really going all out to stick to an idea or a vibe that might change periodically.
With the concept album, do you guys have any sort of main focuses at the moment for your songwriting that you're building these concepts around?
Grief and time and loss and also love and the duality of that all. I mean, our next project, which will be out next year, is very much to do with the concept of time.
I think that sort of came out of Lucas' [university major] project and doing a lot of writing together. I feel that was sort of the first time we really took a project seriously, well not like serious[ly] but we really delved super deeply into it and all of the facets of creating an identity and an experience.
We want our music to be an experience, not just something you listen to. Which is why I think the concepts that are really relatable and accessible that everyone experiences is something really important in our music. To really make it so that anyone can take their own meaning out of our songs.
Yeah, I get that. Why choose music to explore and share these concepts and ideas?
Mila: I feel we're both very creative people, even though we've come from really different places. But I don't know, to me there's something that is easy. Music isn't easy by any means, but in the sense that you’re able to not directly express things. Expressing it through a persona. I'm not sitting there as Mila talking about all my traumatic life experiences, i'm sitting there as an artist talking about something we all experience, which I think makes it easier to be vulnerable.
I think it's sort of like the connection between artists and listeners, like a community thing?
Mila: Yeah, definitely. I really enjoy the idea of being able to voice things that other people experience but struggle to claim in a sense, and struggle to express themselves.
So I guess that answers one of my other questions, but what do you hope that listeners take away from Mila and Lucas?
Mila: Yeah. Well, I think that something we're really big on, as I've said, is having our music being experienced and building connections. But what I enjoy as a listener, and I think that definitely translates into how we create, is music that's very deep.
I mean, we also enjoy a good country love song, but I love when I can listen to a song and it could mean one thing to me and it could mean something completely different to Lucas, or I love when a song expresses something that I feel so deeply but have never been able to put into words in a way that feels satisfying.
Lucas: I think what I want listeners to take away from our music is, or at least for me what I like when I'm listening to music, is an escape. Even if it isn't maybe something you can relate to, it helps you forget about whatever's going on in the real world and I think that's nice. So if people can do that with our music, that would help me feel fulfilled as an artist.
I was also just gonna touch on as well, about the interview we did on 3CR for Music Matters, because I know that I had asked you during that why you continued performing and creating music as an independent artist despite all the struggles. And you said that it was because you really, really loved it. And I was just wondering, if there was an exact reason or something you could pinpoint exactly as to why you love it so much?
Mila: I feel like, to answer your question by directly not answering it, I can't imagine doing anything else. Nothing else speaks to me like doing this.
When I finished highschool, I was like ooh, I could go into medicine or I could do some sort of sciencey thing, an arts degree or whatever. And I mean, the reality is the possibilities are very limitless. But yeah, nothing speaks to me like music does. And I think Lucas said something the other day about the community and the connections you make and I think there's something so fulfilling about being an artist.
Lucas: I agree, but I didn't think music was even something I ever thought about. And then all of a sudden it was all I could think about. For me, it doesn't bother me what I'm doing in music, even if I wasn't performing or if I wasn't an artist, if it was just recording music or writing music for other people, I think that would make me happy. So it's a bit of an obsession and whatever way I can do that and eat dinner every night, then that's what I want to do.
Mila + Lucas single launch performance, Image taken by Lucinda Goodwin
Upcoming Gigs Mila + Lucas are a part of
Yeah. Fair enough, I feel like that's always the goal. What's in the works for Mila + Lucas?
The next show that we're doing we are opening for Thom Johnston, who actually opened for us at our single launch, alongside Jack Paríaso, at The Brunswick Green on October 14th, doors at 7:30. We love Thom. Thom's fantastic at what he does and he always manages to put a smile on everyone's face. It's just gonna be a really fun night of music. It's gonna be pretty chill. We're gonna be playing a new cover which we are really excited for.
Then we've got very, very importantly Songs for MND Victoria, organised again by Thom, at The Bergy Bandroom on the 1st of November. It's a day show, so hopefully accessible to more people and under 18s can enter if they're accompanied by a guardian.
Songs for MND is to raise money for MND to hopefully find a cure, specifically [for] the charity MND Victoria. I think it’s gonna be really incredible, the lineup is insane. And alongside this gig, each of the artists are all contributing one song to an album. I guess you could say it's a concept album because it's inspired by a piece of artwork created by Emmer Chrysanthemum. I feel like it's just genius of Thom with the idea of writing stuff inspired by the artwork, absolutely phenomenal. It's like the Alphabet Series [that we did on Instagram], but with like insane inspiration, so it’s been really fun. We are really excited, we're almost done with our song. There'll be CDs to buy and you can buy the album on Bandcamp as well. So new music from a whole bunch of really insanely talented people and a fantastic daytime show.
It's such an important cause so tickets start at $15 but you can choose to purchase a ticket for a more expensive price. All proceeds go towards the fundraiser, the artists are doing it for free, The Bergy Bandroom have waived their fees so generously. Everyone's just pitching in.
And then on the 22nd of November three weeks later, so you've got a bit of time to rest, we have our Songwriters in the Rounds at Soundworks Music Studio. Our lovely friend Carla [who works there] and is also Thom's manager, helped us organise this show and we are playing alongside Ali Dellas and Bonnie Shepherd. They're both two insanely talented artists. It's a very relaxed venue and it won't finish later than 10 o'clock, so that'll be good. And it's a really good opportunity to just hear us all talk about our music and our passion for it. And to also ask any questions about the songs and hear about all of the nitty gritty about what goes into creating them. It's get to know you like that trauma-dump-candy-salad thing, it'll be like that.
In terms of music, we've been working for the last, it'll be two years by the time it comes out potentially more, on our debut album which centers around the concept of time.
I won't give too many details away because they'll be shared soon. But we are so excited because we've been pouring our souls and our time and all our money into this album for two years. A few singles will be coming out and then an album will drop later in the year, and who knows? There might be a mini regional tour if we get famous enough by then.
I reckon. That's super exciting. I'm very excited for the album, especially with its concept about time, I love concept albums. I also really love collaboration albums. I think it's nice when you see a bunch of artists sort of running in the same circles come together to create one giant piece of work.
Yeah. Especially for such an important cause. We're also really excited because our bass player, Ali [Harman], is playing solo for the first time, so if you needed any more reason to come to Songs for MND, he's very talented and we're excited to see him play some more songs.
Is there any last thing you'd like to add?
Maybe we'll give a shout-out to a few of our favourite local acts too. Well, obviously we love Thom Johnston if that isn't apparent enough. I feel like he just makes everyone smile and he is very talented. We're also loving Ali Dellas' music, she is really talented. I've also been really enjoying listening to Daisy Kilbourne, she is insane. We love Left at the Avenue and another person we would love to shout out is Emily Jane Pritchard. We met her when we played a song at Katie Noonan’s show last year, which is crazy to think it's been a year since then, but she is so talented. She is putting out an EP this month and she's got a gig coming up that we're really, really excited to go see.
Mila + Lucas with Thom Johnston, Image taken by Lucinda Goodwin
Mila + Lucas, Image taken by Shashwat Suthar
Recently, Mila + Lucas have spoken up about the difficulties of being an independent artist, having to be your own manager, booker, graphic designer, admin, etc. The duo will be posting on Instagram ways people can support indie artists, so definitely be sure to follow them below to stay in the know. But also be sure to put some of that advice into action and support Mila + Lucas’ upcoming gigs. They are both genuinely so kind and extremely talented, so be sure to get tickets to at least one of their upcoming gigs to be a part of some of the most incredible, warm, welcoming and enchanting upcoming folk-focused gigs. Don’t forget to stream and or purchase Mila + Lucas’ single ‘You and I’ as well as stay up to date with all that is to come from the duo below, and I’m sure there will be so much more to come!
Thom Johnston, supported by Mila + Lucas & Jack Paraíso, @ The Brunswick Green 14.10.2025
Songs for MND @ The Bergy Bandroom 01.11.2025
@milalucasmusic - Bandcamp - Spotify
ALL CREDITED IMAGES TAKEN BY Shashwat Suthar & @lucindagoodwinphotography
