Fratton 8-year-old drummer inundated with awards after musical success

At the age of eight, the musician has come up trumps in international competitions, won coveted awards and now she is determined to spend every spare moment perfecting her talent.

Whether that’s teaching herself new arrangements from YouTube or turning her parents’ living room into her own music studio – nothing will stop little Mia from fulfilling her one true passion.

‘I love drumming so much,’ says Mia, from Fratton.

‘I’ve started to play more, to more abilities. Now I’m on grade eight.

‘I figured out how to do a shuffle and a high hat, how to do buzzes.

‘I decided that it gets more interesting on the way.

‘Mostly I perform at home but I have had experiences on stages.

‘When I go up in front of everyone, I'm like, “oh my god, look how many people there are.”

‘It kind of shocks me.’

In 2020, when Mia was six, that’s when she first discovered her love for music.

It was just before lockdown changed our lives.

Teachers were shutting up shop, so the hopes of getting sessions in person all but vanished in the space of just a few weeks.

But thanks to virtual lessons delivered on Zoom, talented Mia has blossomed especially for someone of her age.

Mia’s mum, Aiste, never had her daughter down as a musical prodigy.

Neither she not her partner have any form of musical talent – so when Mia showed an interest in the drums it came out of the blue.

But in the space of two-and-a-half-years Mia is at the top of her game, just one grade away from achieving the highest drumming qualification, meaning she’d be able to teach other people.

She has even got UCAS points to her name, a numerical tariff system which universities and colleges look for when enrolling future students.

Aiste Valiukeviciute explains: ‘It started when she was about six. She’s a very energetic, enthusiastic kid.

‘We thought we needed to put that energy somewhere.

‘I decided to take her to a music studio and test out the instruments she finds interesting.

‘One of the instruments she was adamant she wanted to try was the drums.

‘Her teacher realised she picks it up really quickly.

From about seven, Mia has been having lessons at DrumHeadz at Merrivale Road, Hilsea, from a jazz musician.

‘He took her in and he said, we’re just going to do half an hour,’ says Aiste.

‘But I said we need to give her a chance to see how she’s drumming.

‘After he saw what she was doing, he said an hour would be the right lesson time for her.

‘She enjoys music that much. It’s the biggest passion that she’s got.’

After coming out of lockdown, Mia could finally have face-to-face lessons.

During this time, she’s finished further grades in drumming exams from Trinity College in London – where she was awarded a Distinction Merit and a level three qualification.

Before Mia even reaches her ninth birthday, she will be graduating from Trinity, an examination board which allowed Mia to enrol, despite her age - due to her percussion talent.

‘She chose the rock and pop qualification from Trinity,’ says Aiste.

‘[Mia] just started doing it and she was chasing one grade after another.

‘She likes recognition. She’s a high achiever.’

Not a fan of pop music, Mia likes to play heavy metal, rock and classic rock from the likes of Metallica, ACDC, Queen, Nirvana and The White Stripes.

She is currently the youngest in a rock band at Mayville High School where she puts her heart and soul into performing.

In March, Mia entered Hit Like a Girl, a UK-wide drumming competition which promotes female drumming and encourages young girls and women to pursue music.

She was placed third in the under-18s category and represented the UK in a global, Drum Off Global, where she reached the finals in 2021.

Her biggest achievement to date though is winning gold in the London Young Musician international competition in three seasons from 2021 to 2022.

‘I want to inspire people,’ explains Mia.

‘I want to inspire girls by making songs or videos that people might like.

‘Rock, jazz, pop, maybe.

‘I want to make a very famous song and for everyone to come to the stadium I'm playing and I will play it in front of them.’

Mia hasn’t got his far though without her fair share of hurdles.

Often in this industry, there aren’t many role models for young women and girls.

On Mia’s Instagram account, hantsukimia, run by her parents, she has reached out to other young girls, who like her, have an unwavering passion for playing the drums.

‘I spoke to the parents of a lot of the girls Mia writes to in Canada or in Asia. We’ve got some friends in Australia and New Zealand.

‘You have a lot of apprehension and that comes from the girls.

‘They say things like, “I want to be in a girls category, I want to compete with other girls.

‘They feel that when they go against the boys it's not equal.

‘In terms of getting more females to take part, they want to have their own category.

‘This is where you have competitions like Hit Like a Girl, which is just a female competition for female drummers.

‘To be part of an all-female competition would mean having role models and not feeling at a disadvantage.

‘Gender shouldn't matter.’

Mia hopes that along with her drummer friends she will be able to change the perception of female drummers in music.

Already, she is challenging people's expectations by mastering advanced rock and roll and rock arrangements in the drumming field, while celebrating her peers’ achievements on social media.

Talking about when Mia performs, Aiste says: ‘People don’t expect Mia to be as good as she is when they wait for her to perform.

‘They’re often quite shocked when they see how well Mia can play.

‘It really fascinates me because she's so into it. She loses herself in the music.

‘It's therapy for her because she loves the sounds. It's phenomenal.

‘The drum teacher said that in the 25 years that he's been teaching, he's had no one like Mia.’

Today, Mia has her own sponsor Red Cymbals – an Australian band for whom she’s also an ambassador.

Now she spends much of her time outside of school practising in the family living room, which Aiste says has been ‘half taken up by Mia’s instruments’.

When she misses out in some areas during a lesson or exam, it’s Mia's drive and determination that stops her from wanting to give up.

‘Mia is very optimistic,’ explains Aiste.

‘She is always so interested in everything else around her and looking up performances from her favourite drummers.

‘She gets frustrated when she cannot do something on the drums.

‘She's very determined. She always expects to be number one.

‘If she isn't, she looks at her feedback and she'll say, “that's fine, next time I'll do this and I'll be number one”.