Meet Myia Thornton of Studio City

Today we’d like to introduce you to Myia Thornton.

Myia, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’m originally from the DMV area. Specifically Clinton, Maryland. That’s where I found that I had a love for music. My earliest memory of feeling a connection to music was watching 106 & Park, with a toy piano in front of me, seeing Alicia Keys playing the piano and mimicking her performance. I can’t remember how old I was but not older than 7. My parents and siblings eventually moved to Northern Virginia, at that point I knew I really wanted a guitar. I would beg and beg my parents until one day they finally came home with a “first act” guitar. That led me to starting a band with my brother. We called ourselves “Live Wire” . We played shows out of our garage for our neighbors, school talent shows and eventually that led us to the play amateur night at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, NY (twice). At this point I’m probably 10 years old. My brother is older than me and as we got older he wanted to do his own thing but I never stopped wanting to create music. I eventually learned to produce my own music. I remember loving Timbaland’s beats, Missy Elliott’s songs and Aaliyah. I loved it so much I wanted to figure out how to do what Timbaland did. I went online and searched “How to make songs” and this website “soundation studios” popped up. I graduated to a software called Mixcraft and then eventually Garage Band. This taught me the basics of how I could layer a song and arrangement. I would burn CDs and pass them out at our family get-together. I had to be about 12 or 13 at that time. This was around the time SoundCloud and Sound Click had just become popular. The first song I ever put out was called “Over With” , my first full song. You can’t find that now but I continued to write, produce and make jingles. I’d mainly share it with my friends and my family. Once I got to high school my focus became marching band. I was in the drumline, 2nd and 4th bass. I took it extremely serious and became section leader. I believe it made me a better musician and producer. Once I hit junior year of high school it was time to start thinking about what I was going to do after graduation. At this point I knew I wanted to do music, I knew I wanted to produce music and be an A&R but I wasn’t aware of any colleges that taught music at the time. So I was prepared to just not go to college until a senior I knew got into Berklee College of Music and he was telling me all about it. So I did my own research and I felt like that was my only option. I only applied to Berklee. If I didn’t get in I wasn’t going to go to college at all. I decided to audition with Bass Guitar, though I had never played bass before, I just wanted to try something different. I started lessons in 2015 to prepare me for my audition. That’s what got me into playing bass. My time at Berklee was amazing for me. It opened my world up completely. I was exposed to so many possibilities. Being there showed me that my dreams were possible. Nothing beats being in a space full of creatives just like you. Having that proximity of amazing musicians all in one spot was really a dream and I’ll never forget it. I dropped my first artist project during that time, performed as a solo artist and really started to see myself as an artist. Once I graduated during the 2020 pandemic, I lived in Austin, TX and I worked on another project “Myia’s Jaunt 1.0” released that and a couple more singles. Then I got a job in LA as an admin assistant for a music publishing company at the end of 2021. At this time I was set that I would focus on being an A&R. But the whole time I wasn’t feeling like myself. I felt like I was neglecting the creative side of myself. It felt terrible. I eventually decided to leave the business side for a little while to start creating again. Now I am on that journey of unlearning a lot of what I began to allow to hold myself back and just realigning with myself musically, creatively, physically and spiritually. I just finished my next project “Myia’s Jaunt 2.0” . It’s set to release on June 16th. Fully immersing myself in music. Whatever it looks like. Whether it be my own artist project, helping others with their music, strategies, releases, marketing, events, etc.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Not smooth at all. The main struggle for me was making it to where I had always dreamed of being and it not turning out at all how I imagined it. Choosing to leave the “dream” job and listen to my heart was actually difficult. I was in rooms I had always imagined being in. I mean top of the top quite literally but even at the highest level, the industry can feel like smoke and mirrors but it can also be what you make of it. So deciding to focus on my own creative vision and take a step back from the business side was tough and you never are fully removed because it’s all relationships. Whether you’re independent or not. So navigating professional and personal relationships was tough as well. I had to isolate myself for a bit to get clear on everything and that time was really tough but so necessary for growth

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m an artist, producer, bassist and audio engineer. I love making R&B and Hip-Hop style songs. I’m known for wearing many different hats and my nostalgic sounds, inspired by that late 90s/Early 2000s sonics. What sets me apart is my style and tone. I used to be nervous about how low my vocals could get on a record but eventually started to love it and realized it’s what sets me apart. I’m most proud of choosing to fully immerse myself in being creative. I’m extremely grateful to feel good about my music and my artistry after feeling like I might quit. Just continuing on my journey is what makes me so proud.

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
My favorite book is: Ask and It Is Given: Learning to Manifest Your Desires
By Esther Hicks, Jerry Hicks

Baby, this is Keke Palmer is one of my favorite podcast at the moment and WAGOS (Withe a grain of Salt) Podcast is also something I like to listen to

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsmyiathornton/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@itsmyiathornton
• Other: https://linktr.ee/ItsMyiaThornton

Image Credits
Maia Thorp
Mackenzie Thornton
Paul Middleton