Mikaila Delgado – Yours Truly ‘Living in a Vivid Dream’

Posted on September 16, 2020 by Tamara May

We’ve all enjoyed watching Yours Truly’s growth these past 12-18 months, from signing to UNFD, releasing their debut Afterglow EP, to their first overseas adventure and heading to the studio to record their first full-length album, Self Care (our review here).

Their album is kinda being released at quite an appropriate time, in the midst of COVID-19 and at a time when looking out for your own mental health is more important than ever. Taking time for self care is definitely recommended for anyone struggling during this time, and it’s definitely okay to talk about it. We’re all in this together.

I caught up with Yours Truly’s Mikaila Delgado about their insane first year as a band on UNFD and touring internationally, and how they managed to put all their internal struggles into one debut album…

Last time we spoke, it was when you guys had just released Afterglow, and had your first tours overseas in the works! A song on Self Care that I really resonated with was ‘Vivid Dream’ and I feel like it definitely summed up watching you guys blossom over the past year. Thinking back to all those experiences over the past year, did you ever kinda feel overwhelmed with everything you were doing?

After the release of Afterglow, we went straight into touring, and so much was going on that we hadn’t really experienced before. We’d done tours in Australia, but we’d never really ventured overseas before. Yeah, it was overwhelming but we definitely enjoyed it. And that’s the thing with ‘Vivid Dream’, it’s that one song on the album that describes experiencing a moment that’s really hectic and full on, but I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

I can absolutely relate, it definitely threw me back to my travelling live in North America a few years back. It was just so thrilling and exciting, I didn’t want to stop any of it!

Yeah! Sometimes being out of your comfort zone is like, really rewarding and you don’t realise it til afterwards.

You guys turned one of your singles ‘Together’ into a mobile app/game recently! Did you ever imagine you’d be in a video game?

No, but I’m so excited that we got to bring it to life. We’d been playing Mortal Kombat throughout the recording of the album on the Playstation set up in the lounge room. That’s what we’d do while we were having a break from recording. It kinda turned into this joke of “oh we’re going to make a music video dressed up as Mortal Kombat characters”, and the next thing that happened it turned into a music video, which then turned into an actual game! ‘Together was the perfect song to turn into a game because it’s about fighting your own internal struggles. We wanted to bring out that concept of, your brain being your own worst enemy.

How was it recording your first full-length album compared to your EP?

I like to think that we were more prepared, but I also think that we weren’t really as prepared as we should have been. But I guess you can never be too prepared for an album. With the EP, you have 5 songs and on the the album we’ve got 10 songs. We wrote more than 10 songs, and I think we just really put together as many songs as possible, but it kinda turned into a stressful situation of “we’re missing this, and we Don’t have that..” but once we all sat down we were like, we don’t actually need to do anything, we just need to write what comes to us naturally.

Self-Care is not just keeping yourself in check, but those around you in check too, which brings us to your song ‘Undersize’. I really loved the perspective you took with that track. Do you have any advice for fans who are struggling to help out a friend in need?

Even though Self Care was in the majority of my point of view, I think that we also need to look out for our friends as much as you look out for yourself because some people don’t realise they need to stop and take care of themselves.

If you’re struggling to connect, sometimes you just need to watch and take everything in for yourself, and only step in when you feel like you have to step in. Sometimes we need to talk to other people that they’re close with, like family. I’ve definitely been in that situation before where I’ve had to reach out to family members. But I think that as long as you tell someone that you’re there and nothing that they can say is going to change your opinion of them, to let them know that everything is okay. Even if you empathise with them and be like “I go through things as well”, just to open up the conversation.

I get it with the guys as well, and I just tell them all the time, “I’m here for you and we can talk about anything”, if you feel like you can’t. I’m your friend and there’s no stigma to mental health. There is no stigma to who can and who can’t talk about their mental health.

What’s your favourite song on Self Care?

I think it’s the first track on the album, ‘Siamese Souls’. It’s about looking to astrology to solidify your feelings, to stop yourself from feeling a certain way, or to fight fate. I definitely felt like I did that a lot in my life, where I was feeling down about something or holding myself from letting people go because astrology said that that person was supposed to be my soulmate. But I think that fate doesn’t really work that way. Some people are meant to come in and out of your life and you can’t hold onto them. You can’t go looking for answers, can’t go searching because life can throw you anything.

I gotta ask about your time playing with State Champs in the UK last year. While it was only a few shows, did those guys teach you any life lessons in touring and music?

That was a very short tour, we only played 5 shows with them. I think we learnt a lot from them about what it’s like to be touring as an international band, and them being an international band as well in the UK. Seeing them navigate that, it was really interesting and just getting to watch them every night, it taught us a lot. They were all really cool guys, it’s nice to tour with a band that actually talks to you and asks you questions.

Closing out with a line from the album, “I don’t know what’s next…” which feels pretty relevant right now, but upon the release of Self Care, what is next for you guys?

Well, the cool thing is, I do know what’s next now. We’ve got Slam Dunk Festival (UK), Sad Summer Fest (USA), and I’m really looking forward to being onstage again. I will never take for granted sleeping on a couch or a floor ever again!

I don’t think anyone will complain about early flights or middle airplane seats again! Thanks so much for the catch up!

Interview by Tamara May (@citylightstam)

Yours Truly’s new album, Self Care is out Friday through UNFD.
Pre-order here