We caught up with Mia Von Glitz after a late night and double-header gig with her Guns N’ Roses tribute band, Guns and Hoses, and her original group Mad Moon Riot. The sultry stage screamer dishes on rock band influences, not owning a TV, what makes her a DOPE GIRL, and good old fashioned Rock N’ Roll with 720 Circle guitarist Vanessa “Izzy” Mirando.
Written by Vanessa Izabella Mirando
Read an excerpt from the Full Length Interview
(Vanessa Izabella Mirando: Izzy) What does Mad Moon Riot stand for? Not only as a name, but also what it represents as a band?
(Mia Von Glitz: Mia) Well, band names are a funny thing. Ours came out of some random words being thrown around on some drunken nights. We started out with the three of us, Mia, Matt and Ru, we took the first letter of our first names, MMR, and started throwing around names. I liked the word “Mad” and wanted to use that somehow, and we came up with Mad Moon Riot. As far as what we represent, musically, we are Rock N’ Roll. It seems like a lot of music these days is more pop rock. We are good old fashioned Rock N’ Roll.
(Izzy) What bands have you been influenced by?
(Mia) We all have similar influences that brought us together. Some of them aren’t very obvious in our music, but we love Guns N Roses, Metallica, I was very influenced by female artists like Joan Jett. We love anything that Jack White does. It’s a hard question because we have so many influences to pull from.
(Izzy) Is it weird going from a corporate setting with your job at the FOX network by day, and then being a Rock n’ Roller by night? What are some of your responsibilities at FOX?
(Mia) It’s not as weird as people would think. I have been used to working long days. I have my job at FOX during the day, and go right to rehearsal or the studio, or a gig at night. Working in TV, the last thing I want to do when I get home is watch TV. I don’t even own a TV (Laughs!). My boss is great and aside from being tired some mornings it all works out great. As far as my responsibilities at FOX, I work in the special Ops department. Some of the shows I work on include Raising Hope, Glee, New Girls, The Mindy Project, some award shows like the Teen Choice awards. I do a lot of different things which is great because it doesn’t get old that way.
(Izzy) Country Music, Hip Hop, Pop, and R&B music each have their own stigma and reputation surrounding them, what do you feel is the stigma around Rock N’ Roll music today?
(Mia) I think the stigma for Rock N’ Roll today varies. There are a lot of artists like Jack White and The Raconteurs that are more up to date with their blues-infused riffs that are more modern rock that are great. Then you have the old school Classic Rock, which to some may seem old and outdated. But its classic and tons of people still love it, but no one is making that kind of music anymore and it’s hard to put a finger on why.
(Izzy) What are your favorite cities to party in?
(Mia) LA and NY of course. I haven’t traveled outside of the country very recently, but I used to go to Europe a ton and I loved Barcelona, it was a really fun city to party in. I went to Morocco recently, to Marrakesh, which was sun and fun, but it was hard to find a party there. Lisbon in Portugal was really, really fun. London is great, I’d love to get back to London really soon, especially since two of the guys in the band are from there. Also Dublin, which is an incredible city to party in for sure. I remember one of my first trips to Europe as a young teen, I went to Ireland without my folks and just went to Temple Bar and sat on the street and listened to people pan handle and play music for money. It was just a party out on the street, it was so much fun.
(Izzy) What makes Mia Von Glitz a DOPE a$$ chick?
(Mia) Well, that’s a good a$$ question (Laughs!). I never really thought about what is DOPE about myself. I really like the word DOPE, and I like how you use that in your magazine title. I don’t know, I just try and do what I do and be myself and hope that other people aren’t going to find it too offensive. I know that I have a biting tongue, that’s for sure. I say a lot of trash words. I am not for children. I have been very lucky to have this incredible fan base that has followed me from band to band, I don’t know, but it’s really cool. A lot of them have a younger side, and it makes me a little wary because I don’t want to do anything that is going to influence people negatively. I do have a very big message of spreading love. It’s become a quote that people send back to me a lot, so it’s my mantra - I like to add to the end “Spread love like legs”. You get that positive message, and also the message that’s not so great for children. I have a split personality I guess. My boyfriend likes to call me “Country heart, city mouth”. That kind of sums me up in a nutshell. I have a very dichotomous personality probably because I grew up half in Alabama and half in New York. Just be yourself, that’s the thing.
Thank you for the interview! Looking forward to reading the full interview/issue in 2 weeks(ish)
What a peach. A really hardcore, sexy, awesome peach.
LOVE THIS ♥ really looking foward to the full interview!
Awesome q & a’s! I absolutely love MMR’s EP and Mia seems so beautiful -inside & out.