Date Signed: October 2019
Label: RCA Records
Band Members: Audrey Mika
Type of Music: Pop
Management: Amisha Sarkar - TRST
Booking: Matt Galle - Paradigm
Legal: Jodie Shihadeh
Publicity: Jamie Abzug @ RCA Records and Lauren Camp @ On Record
Website: Follow Audrey Mika:
Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
A&R: Karen Kwak/Keith Naftaly
Sometimes success boils down to following your gut, and Audrey Mika has done just that. Growing up with a love of dancing, Mika felt such a strong connection to music that eventually, she was writing almost every day. Her instincts drove her to put her music in front of more and more people, and friends encouraged the teenager––Mika is 19––to post on SoundCloud, Spotify, and then YouTube, which led to her RCA signing.
With two singles on the platform––"Are We There Yet" in 2018 and "Level Up" in 2019––Mika's YouTube channel grew to over one million subscribers. Young people began to reach out, saying she spoke to their experiences, especially during difficult times, which in turn inspired Mika. As she puts it, "I just want to be part of someone's journey back to being okay."
Once her single "Why You Gotta Be Like That" came out, labels took notice and RCA signed Mika to a three-record deal, launched with "Fake Heartbreak," the title track of her upcoming EP. Signing with RCA came down to instinct yet again, since Mika says the overall good energy of the label and the instant connection and comfort she felt with the A&R reps were the deciding factors.
It was A&R rep Karen Kwak who introduced Mika to RCA. With Mika and Amisha Sarkar––the young singer's manager and collaborator from day one––as the only writers, getting signed brought a huge team to help execute their vision. "It makes me really happy," Mika says, "to be able to write with my best friend and connect with people all over the world."
If one secret to success is who you know, the answer would seem to be, well, get to know them. RCA Records President of A&R, Keith Natfaly says, "Karen Kwak is A&R royalty, so when she presented Audrey to us as a 'must sign,' we paid attention. When I met Audrey, we just clicked––partially because we're both from San Francisco, which has its own intangible energy that goes deep. But more importantly, Audrey's star wattage alongside the surging organic fan base she and her manager Amisha Sarkar have built this past year point to a dynamic artist career just up ahead.
