Interview: Mimi Barks Is Breaking Down Walls With Dreamstate of Fear

Mimi Barks has never been interested in fitting neatly into one scene.

Pulling together metal, industrial, hip-hop and trap into what she calls DOOM TRAP, German born artist Mimi Barks has built a sound that feels as intense emotionally as it does sonically.

Now based in Los Angeles after formative years in Berlin and London, she’s continuing to push that vision forward with her latest EP, Dreamstate of Fear.

Following the release of singles ‘Dreamstate of Hell’ and ‘Jericho’, the EP marks another evolution for an artist who refuses to stand still, we caught up with Mimi to talk spirituality, creativity, Linkin Park, The Prodigy and why she’s always chasing the next version of herself.

“Jericho” feels huge. Was there a specific moment or emotion that sparked the song?

Barks: I lived in isolation for a while before writing Jericho and it made me tap into my spirituality in a way that I have never experienced. It didn’t feel as if I’ve written the words for this song, it felt like it came out of the aether and something higher guided me through the process of the song. It was spiritual.

You describe your sound as “DOOM TRAP.” Has your definition of that genre changed since you first coined it?

Barks: Doom Trap was never a term to define a genre in the sense of musical technicality of it. For me it’s always been about the energy, the message, the feeling of doom and despair. It’s a mind state rather than a rigid songwriting formula. Gatekeeping only exists if you choose to participate in it.

Dreamstate of Fear seems darker and more focused than anything you’ve released before. What changed creatively?

Barks: It’s interesting because to me it feels like the least heavy record I’ve ever put out. There was way more anger, confusion and hatred in my catalogue before “Dreamstate of Fear”. This EP feels much more like homecoming, acceptance of what is and finding myself for a moment until I continue to evolve into the next version of myself.

I had a lot of time to experiment and train for this moment. I wrote an entire album before this EP, which I am unable to release. This album felt more like a testing phase and it naturally resulted into this more focused body of work.

Mimi Barks ‘Jericho’ video

You’ve said your live shows feel like emotional exorcisms. What do you hope fans take away after seeing you perform?

Barks: I hope that they get out of their head for the duration of the show. That they’re truly immersed in the power of now. I want everyone in that room to be present, it’s the only way to truly be.

From Berlin to London and now Los Angeles, how has each city shaped who you are as an artist?

Barks: Berlin taught me to survive. It was the foundation. The underground, the clubs, the darkness of existence, the anonymity. It taught me to find myself without needing external validation.

London taught me discipline. It was the labour phase. I spent a lot of time isolated, working on myself and my skillz and learning what it means to commit fully to the process.

Los Angeles is teaching me expansion. It feels like the place where I am finally able to fully live my artistry, connecting with other creatives, collaborating and allowing the vision to exist on a larger scale. I love the energy here: the belief that anything is possible and the drive to make things happen.

Your music blends metal, industrial, hip-hop and trap so naturally. Were there any artists that made you realise there were no rules?

Barks: The Prodigy were one of the artists that made me realise there are no rules. I remember sitting in our Berlin studio in 2018 with my drummer and producer Koen, feeling frustrated because nobody in the industry understood what we were trying to do. Then he played The Prodigy’s Live at Phoenix Festival 1996 performance on YouTube. Watching that energy between the crowd and the band felt like a reminder of why authenticity matters. It confirmed that I should never conform to what people expect me to be. The vision comes first, and everything else follows.

Mimi Barks ‘Crawling’ video

Your cover of Linkin Park’s “Crawling” (above) connected with a lot of people. What does that song mean to you personally?

Barks: It’s the pain in Chester’s voice for me, the delivery and the pure authenticity. I don’t think anyone has ever put depression into words the way Chester did. It’s about the rawness of his voice, it’s energy is incredibly vulnerable yet at the same time so self assured. That contrast is something I deeply resonate with. It’s something I saw myself in and I wanted to bring my own interpretation of that feeling into the world.  Looking back today, I almost wish I had never covered the song, because I realised how impossible it is to come close to the emotional weight of the original. Some songs exist in a place that cannot be replicated. But the reason I did it was because of the impact it had on me and because I wanted to honour that feeling through my own perspective.

You’ve shared stages with some massive names already. Is there one artist or band that’s still on your dream tour wishlist?

Barks: The Prodigy, Marilyn Manson, Rammstein, Bullet for my Valentine, in that order.

Looking back at your debut album and now Dreamstate of Fear, what’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned about yourself as an artist?

Barks: I don’t differentiate between me as a person and me as the artist. However, what became very apparent to me over the past couple of months is that your false sense of self is ever present and trying to get you to fall back into old behaviour and thought patterns. It’s a endless journey of recognising, accepting and self awareness. Staying conscious is a constant process. Being present and the observer rather than the puppet and the victim is something you have to learn over and over again.

Mimi Barks ‘Dreamstate Of Hell’ video

What would spin your fans out most to find out about you?

Barks: I think people would be surprised by how much duality lives inside me. How lost and vulnerable I am despite the power in my music. There is a constant conversation happening in my head between the thoughts my ego produces and me, the observer. Between fear and an indisputable inner knowing that everything is one. I feel like an alien most of the time. I don’t know what or who I am and I don’t feel attached to any fixed identity. I feel like I dont belong anywhere or to anyone. The less attached I become to an identity, the more nihilistic I become, in a positive and in a negative sense. Nothing matters, and that makes anything possible. Maybe that’s why I keep losing myself over and over again, to find another version of myself that I hope I’ll learn to love.

If someone is discovering Mimi Barks for the first time through “Jericho,” what do you hope they understand about your world?

Barks: I hope they understand that everything they hear is just one moment in an ongoing journey. Jericho might be a ballad today but that doesn’t mean it defines what Mimi Barks will sound like tomorrow.  I don’t believe in having a final form. Stagnation is death. The only thing that remains constant is the process of becoming.

Mimi Barks ‘Dreamstate of Fear’ track list

1. Dreamstate of Hell
2. Ophelia
3. Jericho
4. Power durch Verrat
5. Polarity
6. Butterfly in Chains
7. States of Consciousness

Stream here.