Mikucka graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań where she studied film animation. She collaborated with Off Pop on a vinyl EP released by Popnorama in 2008. The German phonographic company has included her songs on many other music compilations. In November 2009, her debut album 7pm was released by Moanin' Music, based in Berlin. Although it hasn’t been released in the artist's native Poland yet, it is available on Spotify. The album was promoted during concert tours in Germany, whereas the Polish audience had a chance to see Soniamiki perform at the 2010 Open’er Festival.
Three years later, Moanin' released her second album SNMK recorded in Berlin. This time she found a Polish producer, Qulturap, who also appreciated Soniamiki’s artistic skills and gave the musician the green light to design the cover of the album and contribute to the production of the music videos. The musician explains that she chose the German music scene because at the time of her debut no Polish label was interested in releasing her records. She notes, however, that her situation has changed for the better.
Soniamiki composes on bass guitar, and records songs at home. Her favourite style is a mixture of pop electronic rhythms and acoustic sounds. With a girlish, even childish voice, she sings about ordinary situations that are recounted from unusual perspectives.
While the first album consisted of quiet and acoustic compositions, the SNMK album is much 'louder'. It is based on crackling rhythms, expressive and melodic bass lines (often heavily distorted). Produced with the help of Lukas Leonhardt, the album sounds like punk music without guitars and its lyrics recall pre-war tangos.
In concert, she performs with bass guitar and synthesizer. Her boyfriend and collaborator Łukasz Lach, who is the singer of rock band L.Stadt, contributed to the creation of SNMK as drummer. He also wrote one of the songs, which is the most remarkable as it is very distinct from the rest of compositions.
Sonimiki's song Piżamka (Small Pyjamas) was included in the compilation Dzień Kobiet (Women's Day) alongside songs by Kasia Nosowska, Maria Peszek and Pati Yang. However, her biggest hit is Lemoniada (Lemonade) from her second album, which was regularly played by nationwide radio stations. Soniamiki, for her part, went to great lengths to promote her song Night Is So Safe, for which she made an interactive music video that can be found on her website.
She was among the first artists to take part in the sessions of Otwarta Scena (Open Stage). In June 2014, she premiered her new song Fala (Wave), recorded in Radio Łódź.
About her plans and ideas Soniamiki says:
After the release of SNMK I went to the UTOPiA festival. It was my first visit to the United States. I suppose I was the first participant from Poland, since musicians from Europe perform there very rarely. This trip was supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. After my return, I got more involved with visual arts than with music. I have started to design a fashion collection for men and I tried to connect it with the songs. I've bought a new guitar - this time a electro-acoustic one, and I have recorded about nine new songs. All this material is more acoustic. For now, however, I've put these songs and collection on the side. I have started to write in Polish again. There are many important topics in my mind and talking about them in English would be too abstract. That's why the song Fala (Wave) is in Polish. I hope to release the next album as soon as possible. This time it will be in Polish.
To listen to Soniamiki visit her website: soniamiki.bandcamp.com, soundcloud.com/soniamiki
Albums:
Author: Jacek Świąder, czerwiec 2014, ed. & transl. GS, July 2014