After rushing back to the UK on one of the last flights out of India, south London-based producer and DJ Mina spent much of the first lockdown with her aunt in Devon. With music-making taking a temporary backseat, she threw herself into new hobbies to take care of her mental health; gardening, a community project building a studio, and tennis.
A new-found love of tennis inspired the video for ‘See Something’, the second single off Mina’s recent collaborative EP with Ghanaian MC Bryte. On a sunny day in London, Mina, Bryte and their dancers took to the court in dazzling tennis whites, performing a dance challenge they’re hoping fans will take to on social media. On 19th July, the day clubs in England were allowed to reopen, Mina and Bryte — who regularly toured together pre-pandemic — performed together for the first time in almost a year. On a makeshift dancefloor in the woods, illuminated by fairy lights hanging from trees, Mina and Bryte brought their infectious, high-energy club sound back to a live setting, surrounded by their friends.
Born in London and raised in Oxford, Mina grew up in a house soundtracked by David Bowie and New Order. She’d be able to tell when her dad was home, as she’d hear the car speakers thumping as he pulled in. At 14, Mina and her dad went to Glastonbury together, but in true early-teen fashion, she felt it was uncool to spend time with him at a festival, so she ditched him for her friends.
That was until Sunday came around, when a wet, tired and hungover Mina clung to her dad for the final day. They ended up watching The Chemical Brothers. She remembers being blown away by the spectacle, and experiencing, for the first time, music’s ability to bring people together. “I feel bad about it,” Mina says over video call, “but now I’m older, we go partying together, and it’s fun.”