#RisingArtist : Who is Mothica and her vices?

Photo by Conner Sorensen

In this unusual time, it’s hard to get your name out into the world as an artist. Harder if you are doing it by yourself most of the time. Finding new music is important during these times of constant replay and that is exactly what we are set to out. In the next couple of weeks, we will be featuring new artists in our regular series #RisingArtist. This week we are going to talk about the one who’s Tik Toks never leave our For You Page since this quarantine was kicked into high gear. We are going to take a look into Mothica this week as her album Blue Hour was just released last week and her latest music video for Vices. Both you can listen to right now, down below this article.

Oklahoma-born (LA-based) electro-pop songstress Mothica has released her debut album Blue Hour, accompanied by the official music video for her single “VICES.” The album was written over the course of a few months, starting with one of the worst moments of Mothica’s life: a psych ward stay for self-harm (Hungover, Blue Hour, sober interlude) and ends with a song about never wanting to feel the “crash” of drugs ever again. It debuted at #1 on the iTunes pop chart and #3 overall this morning (As of August 27th). Blue Hour has also featured in Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist as well.

“Following that incident, I sought therapy and wrote lyrics detailing my journey into sobriety. I am now 13 months sober at the time of writing this, and have never been in a better place emotionally.” Mothica has been wildly successful as an independent artist, amassing over 100 million streams in her brief career and currently maintains a monthly Spotify listenership of nearly 1 million. She has been championed by Teen Vogue, BuzzFeed, Ones to Watch, & many others, and recently went viral on TikTok by posting a clip of her recent single “VICES,” which led to immediate Billboard chart positioning. With her new album Blue Hour, she chronicles her deep struggle with addiction + mental health and the process of getting sober.

“Someone told me that every artist has their ‘getting sober album’ eventually,” she explains. “I find it ironic that my debut album is my ‘getting sober’ album because I think that’s indicative of how quickly I was forced to grow up.” The inspiration for Mothica starts with McKenzie Ellis and her upbringing in Oklahoma City. Beyond the usual quirks of growing up in the suburbs of the heart of America, her adolescent years embody stories of both affliction and growth. Ellis endured devastating accounts of sexual abuse from a youth pastor, self-harm, a suicide attempt, hospitalizations, and addiction to drugs and alcohol — nevertheless, she molded her pain into art by channeling her life experiences through writing music under her new alias, Mothica.

Armed with a haunting singing voice and vulnerable lyrics, 2015 saw the debut of Mothica’s Mythic EP via SoundCloud which was written, produced, and performed by Mothica herself. Off the debut EP, “No One” became Mothica’s first single to land a spot on Spotify’s US Viral 50 charts and set the tone for her career to come, spurring collaborations with artists such as Said The Sky, SLUMBERJACK, Pusher, MEMBA, Electric Mantis, and more. Mothica performed over 50 headlining shows across the United States and continued to produce on her own with the release of EP’s such as Heavy Heart and Ashes, prompting an outpouring of support in the form of remixes by notable names in electronic music and a loyal fanbase.