By Selena Haynes
Miki Ratsula is a Finnish-American nonbinary artist based out of California. Miki will be performing at the 2023 Nashville Pride Festival Saturday on the Equality Main Stage at 4:50 pm. Connect had the opportunity to sit down with Miki and talk pride, music, and the unjust laws targeting our community.
Selena Haynes: Are you excited about Nashville Pride coming up?
Miki Ratsula: Yes. I’m so excited!
SH: Awesome. Have you done other pride festivals this year?
MR: Yeah, I did L. A. Pride a few weeks ago. I’ve never been to L. A. Pride even though I live over here, so it was fun to have my first L. A. Pride be one that I performed at.
SH: Wonderful! Well, congratulations on that. I know you have a busy schedule so I won’t keep you for a long time but for our readers, can you give me a little bit of background of where you’re from? You said you currently live over in L. A., correct?
MR: Yeah, so I live in technically Orange County, like an hour outside of L. A., but I was born and raised here in Southern California. I’m Finnish American, I have dual citizenship and I am first generation American. So I’m very proud Finn. All my family lives there. And we’re actually my fiancee getting married there next month.
SH: Congratulations! That’s awesome!
MR: Thank you! Yeah, so like I said, born and raised here in Southern California. It’s such a special place to me. I’m very lucky to be near L. A., which is where a lot of the music stuff takes place. I have always kind of done music. It’s like, as cheesy as it sounds, it’s something I feel like I’ve done my entire life — since I was a kid. I just don’t feel like I have any other purpose in this world than to make music.
SH: You know, when you feel that way, you’ve got to go for it.
MR: Exactly.
SH: You’re very open with your audience and fans about your life and journey. Why is it important to you to do that?
MR: I always say that I want to be the artist I wish I had growing up. I feel like if I had seen other non-binary or trans artists — or people just existing — I probably would have realized a lot of things sooner about myself and probably saved a lot of time in some dark places of just not knowing who I was and who I am.
So the reason I’m so open is partly advocacy and activism. You know, standing up for trans rights and queer rights and just wanting to fight for our rights to just live a healthy life. It’s also about being the representation that I wish I had growing up, because, like I said, that would have been game-changing for me. So [I do it] for a new generation.
SH: Absolutely. And you’ve been creating music since you were 16, right?
MR: Yeah, I mean, that’s when I started putting out music on Spotify and stuff like that. I’ve been writing and performing music ever since I can remember. I grew up in a household where I was really encouraged to play music. We had a grand piano in the home so my dad and I would play together all the time. I always had to play one score and one instrument. I just was always encouraged to do it and it always felt right. And it was something that was special to me.
SH: That’s awesome. And you released your debut album in March of last year. Is that correct?
MR: Yes.
SH: And you’re working on a follow-up album?
MR: Yeah, so I just announced my sophomore album, which is coming out on October 6. it’s called, “I’ll be fine if I want to.” It expands off of the first record. The first record was very much an introduction to the music industry — into the world of who I am and how I got here. A “nice to meet you” album.
This next one builds off of that. Now that I found myself and I know myself, I know how to stand up for myself and not allow certain people to treat me certain ways like they have [in the past]. It’s kind of this album of in-between space of knowing who I am as a queer person and as an artist, but still processing a lot of things at the same time. It’s this idea that finding yourself is not like, there’s not really an end goal. Sometimes you’re in this in-between space where you know yourself, but you’re still dealing with a lot of things at the same time. So it’s just like in-between space.
SH: How does it feel to release your music? How does it make you feel?
MR: It is, like, the best feeling in the world. I mean, there’s always a little bit of anxiety because I have very high expectations for myself. That idea of people are gonna listen to it and critique it and relate to it or not relate to it, or whatever it is, you know. It’s like putting it into the world and letting people do what they want. But it always feels so good. And it’s — for the most part — exciting to see what people think and to hear their reactions and their stories of how something related to them or what something meant to them. It just feels so good. I love putting it out there and I’m proud of everything I do. It’s always a nice feeling.
SH: Wonderful. Before your first album, you did an album of covers. Why did you decide to do an album of covers that were gender-neutral?
MR: So, I posted a couple of videos on TikTok and there were certain songs that were going viral on TikTok. People would make videos of their partners or their friends or whoever it was and I realized I should make one that’s gender neutral so more people can participate in this trend of sharing someone special to them.
I also realized there are some songs that meant a lot to me when I identified as a woman and when I came out as non-binary, I kind of feel like I lost that connection. It’s reclaiming the songs in a way while also celebrating the songs and giving new perspectives and a new light on them so you can reconnect with songs that maybe meant something different to you at different times in your life. And they’re all songs that I love. I got to have fun exploring how I can make them sound, but also just mainly so people can feel a little more seen than before.
SH: I don’t know if you keep up with what’s going on in Tennessee, but we’ve been hit with a lot of negative legislation. And much of its been focused on the transgender and non-binary communities. Do you have any words of hope or inspiration that you’d like to share with our transgender family?
MR: Yeah, I mean, it’s evil, what’s happening over there. And I’m very, very fortunate to have grown up in Southern California and I ultimately am in a lot safer of a bubble than any anywhere else. And so it’s heartbreaking. I wish… it’s like, it’s easy to say — I wish it wasn’t happening. But it’s just people who are so focused on their own power dynamics and their own ways of viewing the world and people who are trans and queer, scare them, because it makes them question things that they’ve never had to question before.
Anytime I leave outside of California, I’m kind of reminded of the harsh realities of trans folks are not very liked in this country. Especially in areas like Tennessee and stuff. So, you know, there are parts of me that are nervous to go over there, with all the stuff happening. At the same time, it’s like, I get to be on a stage and in a space of celebrating queer trans people, and be very proudly and vocally trans, in a sense of like, I’m here, and what are you going to do about it?
I send all my love to people who live in states where their rights are attacked daily because, as I said, I’m very lucky to live where I do because I don’t have to deal with that in the same way. I just send all my love and empathy and I do as much as I can to be vocal and be loud about, you know, my trans existence. And, I hope that if anything, I can at least provide some comfort to those people.
Connect with Miki Ratsula
Website Instagram YouTube Twitter TikTok Soundcloud Spotify Apple Music
