Mylen began his musical journey in 2017, with his entre into the world of drum & bass production coming somewhat by chance a few years later. After a period of performing as a DJ all over Aotearoa, the 2021 release of his debut single Galaxy introduced him on the global stage. 2025 brings the release of Walls on Dutch specialist label Liquicity Records, the truly international drum & bass single included on NZ On Air Music’s April NewTracks compilation.

What’s your given name, where are you from and what instruments do you play?

Cameron Mills, originally from Tauranga. I dabble in guitar and bass, but not so much these days.

Any other projects some might know you from?

My stint as the Starters Bar, Dunedin (R.I.P) resident DJ!

What’s the background story of how Mylen the artist came to be? 

The project started in 2018 in Dunedin as I slowly started to pick up shows through some friends I had made in the scene. At that point, I didn’t make music and was purely DJing for fun. At the inception of the project I actually didn’t even really know what drum & bass was, and I played a lot of dubstep and bass house.
I remember seeing Wilkinson live at Rhythm & Alps in 2019, and that was the moment where everything sort of clicked and I knew drum & bass is what I wanted to do. From there I started getting stuck into production with the help of Tom Lee (Lee Mvtthews), and started my drum & bass journey.

How did you come up with the Mylen name for this project? 

The name Mylen came from a family history website when I was looking up my surname Mills. I can’t remember the exact details, but I think the Mills family name had a few origins, one of which was the old English name Mylen.

How has your music evolved from your beginnings in songwriting to now?

I’d say in a songwriting sense, my tracks are very similar to where I started, maybe just a bit more intricate. I’ve really had my style since day 1, and it has developed into a slightly more refined version of what it was – but it’s still very much traditional dancefloor drum & bass.

Aside from this release, what’s been the big highlight to date?

Definitely Rhythm & Vines 2023. I played 7pm on the Rhythm Stage and the crowd was absolutely electric. Still the biggest crowd I’ve had the pleasure of performing for.

What makes Walls stand out for you as a single choice?

Walls stands out to me as a bit of a statement piece of how much my production and engineering has improved over the past 12 months. I wrote a similar track also with Houndeye called Who You Are back in 2022, and listening to that you can really see how far I’ve come since then.

 What is the story behind Walls?

When I was working on Who You Are with Houndeye all that way back, he actually gave me multiple toplines to write tracks for, one of which was ‘Walls’. It sat on my hard drive untouched for a year or two before I finally started to crack into it, but I could never really get a decent idea going. I probably went through five different variations before I just parked it indefinitely. I heard C:rcle’s track Love Survives and thought the production quality was top, and the songwriting was pretty similar to my own style. I reached out via Instagram and sent her the topline for Walls to have a play around with. I wasn’t expecting much because I had struggled so much with the tune over the years, but she sent me back a version with the lead melody that’s on the track today, and instantly it all clicked, and the track started to come together super quickly from that point.

What’s your favourite moment, musical or lyrical, of the track?

Honestly, the last 16 bars in the second drop where the alternate melody comes in. This was something that C:rcle had added and I think it brings so much to the track.

Who did you record/produce the single with and where? 

Gosh, this single was taken to every corner of the globe really. The vocal was recorded by Houndeye in Los Angeles, I started to work on it in Auckland, and C:rcle picked it up in Brataslava. We were also lucky enough to have some writing help from Dualistic in Netherlands, and mastering from Ten Eight Seven in the UK. Definitely a labour of love from everyone involved!

What would you like listeners to take away from the track?

Honestly there isn’t really a deeper meaning here, I just wanted to make something that was fun, energetic, and made you want to dance.

Who else is in your team? 

I’m represented by Forte Touring for all NZ and Australia bookings, but currently have no management representation.

Are there any other musical endeavours you’re working on that we should keep an eye out for?

More singles this year!

Can you please name three other local tunes that would fit well on a playlist alongside your song.

Sless – Alone
Pirapus – WERK
Flowidus – Shelter

Have any of your previous single releases been included on NewTracks?

Yes, my track Fade Away was featured on the April NewTracks in 2022.

Have you previously applied for NZOA funding? Was there any criterion you struggled with in the application? 

I had previously applied for funding on three tracks. Honestly I don’t think I struggled with the criteria as much as the tunes just weren’t quite good enough to receive the funding. Looking back at the production quality of my previous work compared to where I am now, I feel a lot more confident submitting new tracks to NZOA.

How did you work it out in the end? Have you got any advice around seeking funding for others starting out? 

Getting funding gave me an incredible boost to this release. My advice to others that are applying for funding, is make sure you actually apply with a plan. My application had a detailed plan of everything I wanted to do, including who was going to do it! This is always going to be the best way to communicate your vision in your application.

Are there any musical blogs, Youtube channels or podcasts you’re super into?

Podcast-wise, I really like Tape Notes. They have such a diverse range of guests that you can always pick up some little bits of wisdom from every episode. In terms of Youtube, I tend to stay away from any informative content, but I will give a big shout out to dnksaus as he is putting out really high quality, informative content on Ableton that I don’t think you can get from anywhere else, even the direct Ableton channels.

How can we find you on social media? 

Instagram
TikTok
Facebook

Is there a video for the track? 

I didn’t do a music video, but rather I had a bunch of content created around the single including ads, bts, and a lyric video. I shot the video stuff with Radlab, and had the lyric video created by Digital Scaffolding. I love having the lyric video, as this is also something that can double as time coded visuals for the track when I perform it live.

Any closing words?

Thank you so much to NZOA, Liquicity, and George FM for all of their support on this record. I hope you like it, and stay tuned for more to come!