Meetings with The Head Cheer Leader
Photo by Sammy Ray Nelson
Who makes up Pom Pom Squad and what are their roles?
Hi, I’m Mia I’m the head cheerleader-- I sing, write the songs, and play guitar. Shelby Keller is our resident camp counselor. She hits things-- mostly drums. Mari Alé Figeman plays bass-- she is also a witch. Ethan Sass plays lead guitar. He’s our token male.
How did the band come together?
We all met sort of by fate. I was playing with a couple of guys I went to school for a while before we went our separate ways. I decided playing solo was better than not playing at all, so I booked a handful of shows that were just me playing electric-- something that I will probably never do again. On the night I met Shelby and Mari Alé, I had broken up with someone in the morning and was feeling particularly raw and a little bit manic. Apparently, I walked into the green room, took off all my clothes, changed into my stage outfit and walked out barefoot (none of which I remember). Somehow we all got into a conversation about heartbreak and music, and I played them some demos I was working on. At the end of the night they both separately, drunkenly came up to me and asked when we were gonna play together. Turns out they were serious! Ethan is a relative newcomer-- he's amazing-- we auditioned him and knew immediately that we could have played a show the next day.
If your life was a movie what song of yours would be in the opening sequence?
I sequence my songs pretty intentionally, so I feel like the easy answer is “Ow (Intro)”, but it’d be an Ow movie specifically-- open on a classic Sophia Coppola-esc leaning-against-the-car-window-shot.
I feel like you hit the sweet spot of being just enough freak and the best amount of geek, how would you say that Ow explores that duality?
I loved the show Freaks and Geeks. It’s a dichotomy I truly understand. I grew up ugly, which forces you to develop a personality. Geeks care about things, partially because they have to. Partially because caring about things fucking rocks. I cultivated the freak part much later in life-- freak comes from not really caring how people perceive you, or being very conscious of how you’re perceived and fucking with that perception. I don’t know if Ow really explores that. I think Ow explores it because I explore it and it’s an extension of me.
How did music help you discover the person you are today?
I started playing music during a part of my life that is now defined by severed things. When I moved to New York, I lived very differently and valued very different things than I do now. It helped me grow up, find my voice, learn how to be vulnerable with myself and others. It’s brought me every beautiful thing I have.
What’s the best thing about performing live?
Everything. Performing is probably my favorite thing about the music-making process. Our show is extremely cathartic for me. I also love my bandmates sooo much. They’re my family, and having them on stage with me gives me permission to push myself harder and be better
Photo by Sammy Ray Nelson
Traumatic experiences usually spawn something amazing, for you that was a breakup, how did you channel that into Ow?
This is a narrative I want to contest-- as much as I like this thought, I don’t know if I agree with it. Usually, trauma spawns really horrible awful things. I’m really, really fortunate that I had support and a positive outlet to deal with the things that happened to me, and that I could turn something awful into something that I see a lot of beauty in and have very tender feelings for. Not everyone is so lucky. Ow is a reaction to a breakup, yes, but the trauma and the breakup are two different stories that feed each other like twin parasites. I find it hard to talk about Ow without talking about my abuse, but my abuse is what created the jaggedness inside me from which the songs were born. The jaggedness is not the amazing thing, the songs are. The songs were spawned from healing.
Being a person of color and queer, how has that lens made you aware of what’s going on in the world with both of your communities?
I’m not exactly sure to be honest, it’s a lens I can’t take off. I think growing up the way that I did gave me nothing if not a heightened sense of awareness and a frightening capacity to be overwhelmed. Similarly to what I said before, the music explores these things because I do, and I explore myself and identity through my music. I'm working on some new stuff that deals with this a little more directly... stay tuned.
Who would you have design your cheerleader costume, what would you want it to evoke?
Ohhh… if I could go back in time, Meadham Kirchoff (RIP). Also, Mona May, Kelsey Randall, Renee and Gibson Fox from Daisy Daisy TV… I love playing with soft and hard, making really feminine things feel aggressive.