Behind the Video: Mimi Bay Discusses Her Nostalgic “pick me up” Music Video

For mimi bay, it’s all coming so soon and so fast, but that doesn’t mean she’s not ready for it. Mimi Bergman, as she is otherwise known, is a 20-year-old phenom who has just released her latest piece of work, the six-song EP, far from home. As the follow-up to her 2019 release, daydreams, the EP is about branching out on your own, progressing in your young adult years beyond the shell of your parents, and towards a more independent life, filled with new people and new experiences. It’s a topic that easily resonates with young listeners looking to identify with people who are thinking and feeling the same things as they are.

For such a young woman, Mimi is a very well accomplished musician who knows what her goals are and knows what kind of sound she’s interested in. As a multi-instrumentalist, she is very versatile in the music she writes, quite remarkable for someone who is self-taught and only began writing and recording six short years ago. She first started to gain an audience with her Hi I’m Mimi YouTube channel, where she began to share her music online. She now has over 200,000 subscribers, an audience that is sure to grow exponentially along with the release of far from home.

We recently caught up with Mimi for the latest in our Behind The Video series. We discussed her latest music video for “pick me up,” what it was like filming it, and making sure to stick to the feeling of the song in crafting the video.

Any mishaps on set?

mimi bay: “Since we threw this video together in such a hurry we had very little time to actually plan everything out so we had some situations we had to solve on location. When we filmed the picnic scene outside we had to constantly move the blanket and everything on it because the shadows from the surrounding trees kept getting longer and longer as the sun started to set. This was very stressful since we had to run back to get all our stuff and quickly move it to the new spot so that we could get as much sun as possible.”

Any concepts where you started and, midway through, thought “what the fuck are we doing?”

“Absolutely, this happens to me all the time probably because I just assume everything is going to work out in the end instead of planning everything out like I should.”

If money was no issue what would be in your perfect video?

“I would love to do some pool or ocean shots, that would be fun. Or maybe some shots in a moving car or on a nice vintage bike. Would also be cool to build some kind of little dream world or landscape in a studio.”

If you could have any guest appear in your video who would you have?

“Paul McCartney!!!”

Do you prefer writing a video around the theme of a song or just going to a warehouse and banging out a live performance?

“Definitely write a video from the theme of a song. I always get little images in my head listening to my unreleased stuff and it’s amazing to watch that come to life.”

Tell us about any good, bad, or crazy director or film crew-related incidents.

“The ‘pick me up’ video was the first video we made with a somewhat real crew so I don’t have a lot of experience. When we did the keep it video we filmed it outside from 9 pm to midnight in March and it was freezing out and I couldn’t feel my toes for hours after that.”

Have you ever had such a baller idea for a music video that you’ve written music for it?

“No, but sometimes while working on some songs I’ve gotten an idea for a video but never the other way around.”

Artwork for ‘Far From Home’ by Mimi Bay

How important are music videos in terms of increased exposure?

“I’m not sure I just want to create music and do fun little music videos. My major focus is never statistics.”

Does “pick me up” have a concept and, if so, can you elaborate on it?

“Not really, we just wanted to focus on the feeling of the song or what the lyrics are implying. We wanted to build a little world for this person singing and focus on the anxious/distracted theme of the song.”

Did the video have a budget and were you able to stick with it?

“Yes and I think we managed to stick to it.”

How much of your new video was self-made?

“I’m always as involved as possible in everything I put out but getting to work with others and seeing their own creative process is very helpful and inspiring.”