“I’m trying to agonize over it less.”
In our conversation with Mia Berrin of Pom Pom Squad, we talk about New York, identity, independence, visual worlds and new music. Photographed by Kimberley Ross, the series feels like a fitting glimpse into this current chapter — somewhere between reflection, reinvention and what comes next.
Pom Pom Squad has always felt deeply tied to New York – not just as a setting, but almost as part of the project’s emotional weather. What does the city represent to you now, at this point in your life?
I love New York. I’m from Long Island originally, but really cut my teeth living and playing shows in Brooklyn in my late teens and early 20s. I think it’s just a part of my DNA at this point. I think the places you grow up do inform your perspective. I went to high school in Orlando, Florida which is where I got attached to the cheerleader archetype. My parents are both born and raised New Yorkers, so the whole southern, suburban, Americana thing was a bit of a culture shock. I really felt like an outsider. I had to reframe it mentally as an aesthetic experience to survive it, so I ended up developing a kind of detached appreciation for it all. I think the tension between the urban and suburban experience has definitely augmented the lens I see my art through and my relationship with both cities kind of runs in the background – even when I’m not writing about those experiences directly.
Mirror Starts Moving Without Me felt more expansive and theatrical than anything you had made before, moving between vulnerability, fantasy, anger and humour. Looking back at it now, what do you think that record taught you about yourself?
Every record I’ve made reflects the place I was in my life when I wrote it. When I was writing Mirror I was learning to trust myself again after a long period of not feeling super inspired creatively. Leaning into production more was really fulfilling for me and it’s something I’ve been taking with me into the next record. I also learned that it’s not good for me to take long breaks from making things. It’s how I process what I’m experiencing. When I stop making things I do unfortunately become a menace to myself and others.
The album plays a lot with the idea of reflection: the difference between who you are, who people imagine you to be, and the version of yourself that exists onstage. Has that relationship become easier to navigate, or does it still feel like an ongoing conversation?
I think I’ll always struggle with identity in one way or another, but I’m trying to agonize over it less. I don’t know if it’s gotten easier, but I’ve spent less time searching for some objective truth about myself and more time trying to just live the life that’s in front of me and do what I love.
Your work has always had such a strong visual language – cheerleaders, horror, video games, melodrama, pop-star fantasy. When you’re writing a song, do images tend to arrive alongside the music, or does that visual world come later?
So far, I’ve never written a full project and decided on the visuals after the fact. The visuals and music tend to develop symbiotically. Visuals will pop into my head as I’m writing. Then, I’ll start extrapolating on visuals and that in-turn informs more music – like writing the score for a movie scene in my head.
“I’ve spent less time searching for some objective truth about myself and more time trying to just live the life that’s in front of me and do what I love.”
You’ve recently stepped back into being fully independent. Does that shift feel freeing, intimidating, or a little bit of both? And has it changed the way you’re thinking about what comes next for Pom Pom Squad?
Definitely both! I think the main benefit is that it’s forced me reevaluate my goals as an artist and as a person. Especially right now it’s so easy to be motivated by industry success or numbers or virality or whatever. I’ve been trying to detach from that as much as I can. My biggest goal for the next project is just to make something I’m really proud of and that I stand by regardless of how anyone else feels about it.
Without giving too much away, are you currently working on new material? Where is your head at creatively right now, and what kind of textures or moods are you finding yourself drawn to?
I’ve been writing a lot <3 I don’t want to say too much yet but I’m really excited about what I’m making right now.
Pom Pom Squad started in a DIY spirit, but the project has grown into something much bigger and more layered over time. What parts of that original instinct do you still feel most protective of?
I’m very involved in everything to do with Pom Pom Squad and it’ll always be that way. I didn’t know I’d be DIY again at this point in my career but thankfully, because it’s how I started out I know how to be scrappy. I also feel grateful that my friends and community have really stepped up and been there for me.
“When I stop making things I do unfortunately become a menace to myself and others.”
When you’re playing intimate shows, there can be such a direct exchange between artist and audience. What kind of connection do you hope people leave with after seeing you live?
I always love the moment when you see two friends in the audience turn and sing to each other during their favorite song. I’ve had so many moments like that with my best friends. I think about all the songs that have weaved themselves into my memories and soundtracked specific moments. I like that my music can do that for other people.
Beyond music, what has been inspiring you lately – films, books, visual art, games, places around the city, small everyday moments?
I’m always inspired by horror movies, but lately I’ve been particularly interested in magical realism and folktales. I’ve also been reading ghost stories and asking my friends for their ghost experiences.
Finally, if you could describe this current chapter of Pom Pom Squad through one image, scene, or feeling, what would it be?
You’ll have to wait and see. <3
