Mya Mehmi helped revolutionise London’s queer nightlife scene as a co-producer of Pxssy Palace. Regulars of the POC-centred club night remember Mehmi’s ass-shaking, mind-capturing DJ sets that transform a dancefloor into a space of release. Now, she’s pushing this creative freedom into her solo music career.
In 2024, South Asians had their own dedicated space at Glastonbury for the first time. The South Asian community’s contributions to music are finally getting overdue recognition, and Mya Mehmi is right at the heart of this change. She made history as the first trans artist to be played by BBC’s Asian Network, carving out space in an industry still making room for the most marginalised.
The British-Punjabi podcast host, DJ, vocalist, and producer first stepped into the solo spotlight in 2023 with her debut track “Parivaar (Interlude)”, a brief, bold, R&B-tinged offering. At just under two minutes, it’s a deeply personal tribute to a family member who passed away. Its emotional honesty stands in stark contrast to a political climate where trans rights are being steadily eroded, including devastating decisions like the UK Supreme Court’s ruling on the legal definition of a woman based on biological sex. Still, Mya remains undeterred and determined to grow as an artist.
Here, she speaks to Gay Times about community, catharsis, and creating sonic worlds that let people feel something; even if that something is unexpectedly sexy.
"When someone presses play on a track of mine, I want it to take them somewhere."
What role does music play in your life?
Music is everything. It plays the same role for me in my life as it does for a lot of people. It’s the soundtrack of my life. It’s therapeutic for me. It’s cathartic, it’s the best way to get my feelings down, especially because when I’m not in a great place, I tend to isolate myself a lot. Music is the best way for me to express myself.
Who are your influences, both in and out of music?
I grew up on Christina Aguilera, and Donny Hathaway was a big voice in my household. And also, like my dad, used to listen to Qawwali music a lot in the mornings. And this guy called Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was a huge influence. I don’t sing like him, I’ve always been too scared to even try and learn his riffs. But the way he connects his voice to his soul, and when he sings, it feels like such a spiritual thing. I’ve always been so inspired by that.
How do you want your music to make people feel?
I don’t like to dictate what people feel when they listen to my music, because it’s really completely up to that person. My first single “Parivaar (Interlude)” is about a family member who passed away. But there’s something in the beat that made everyone feel really sexy. And suddenly there were videos of people pole dancing videos floating around on Instagram and TikTok. I thought that was hilarious. So I don’t like to dictate the feelings, but I do like to create a sonic world. When someone presses play on a track of mine, I want it to take them somewhere.
What has been the biggest push and challenge in your career so far?
The biggest push is when I put something out and people resonate with it. It always makes me feel good, because I do everything myself. I produce it in my bedroom, and then I record it in the studio, and then I get it mixed and mastered, then I put it out. I’m very stingy with showing my music to people whilst it’s being made. So when I do put something out, and people are fucking with it, it’s doing what I intended and taking them somewhere, it pushes me to continue. I think the challenge is navigating the internet world, where everybody has so many opinions and people look to you to be a perfect person and completely unproblematic. I’m just a human actually, I think that is difficult for me. I guess people look to me as an advocate or the representation of my community.
In what ways does your community inspire you?
I’m surrounded by creative geniuses and people who are so inherently artistic it’s hard not to be inspired. I can be hanging out with my friends and just smoking a zoot, and leave them feeling mad inspired because of the conversations we’ve had, or because of something they’ve created and showed me. They inspire me all the time, and they inspire me just by leaving the house sometimes. I’m like, “Damn bitch, it’s hard out here, so I’m inspired by you for being outside”.
