Mothica

American singer (born 1995)

Mothica

Mothica performing in 2018

Background information
Birth name| McKenzie Ashton Ellis
Also known as| Mothica
Born|  (1995-03-12) March 12, 1995 (age 30)
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.
Origin| Oklahoma City
Genres|

* Pop punk
* alternative rock
* electropop
* emo

Occupations| Singer
Years active| 2014–present
Labels|

* Heavy Heart
* Rise

Website| mothica.com

Musical artist

McKenzie Ashton Ellis[1] (born March 12, 1995), known professionally as Mothica, is an American singer. She grew up in Oklahoma City and began producing music when she was 18 years old. Since 2015, she has produced a dozen albums and singles distributed across several online musical streaming platforms such as on Spotify, SoundCloud and Bandcamp. In June 2020, a TikTok video she posted that included her song "VICES" went viral, providing greater notability as a musician and singer.[2]

## Early life

[edit]

Mothica was born McKenzie Ellis on March 12, 1995. She grew up in Oklahoma City. Having experienced depression and engaged in self-harm, she turned to online communities after finding that expressing her struggles in her hometown was taboo.[3]

Ellis has been a victim of assault and domestic abuse. On January 29, 2011, she attempted suicide.[3]

Although she wrote music as a child, Ellis didn't want to be a musician by profession. She began producing music for public release when she was 18 years old.[4] She attended Harding Fine Arts Academy before receiving a scholarship from Pratt Institute for visual web programming, leading her to move to Brooklyn in 2013. In her first year at Pratt Institute, a classmate introduced her to SoundCloud and lent her a MIDI keyboard.

### Stage name

[edit]

Ellis adopted the name "Mothica" for her music and visual art at age 15 in reference to the tendency of moths to be attracted to light.[5]

## Career

[edit]

Mothica's first song, "Starchild", was played 100,000 times in 24 hours after she released it on SoundCloud. After learning to produce songs in Ableton, she released an EP titled Mythic in 2015. The song “No One” from the EP reached No. 6 on the U.S. Viral Spotify Charts.[5]

Mothica has no record label, publicist, or manager, and describes herself as a self-made musician. In 2020, she began promoting her music on TikTok, later attributing the success of her music career to the app. She has more than 500,000 followers on TikTok where she shares openly about her experiences with depression as well as sobriety and hair loss.[3]

In June 2020, Mothica released a song titled "VICES" which reached No. 2 on the iTunes popular music charts, surpassing "Watermelon Sugar" by Harry Styles.[3] The song also charted on the Billboard charts and received more than 5,000,000 views and almost 1,000,000 likes.[citation needed] In August 2020, she released a 12-song album titled "Blue Hour" which autobiographically discussed her progress toward sobriety;[6] the album also charted.[4] She subsequently released an EP titled "Forever Fifteen" in March 2021.[7] In July 2022, she released her second studio album, "Nocturnal".

In 2021, she and DeathbyRomy were featured by Ellise on the track "Soul Sucker pt 2".[8]

In November 2022, Mothica was featured on Scene Queen's song "The Rapture (But it's Pink)".[9]

In March 2024, Mothica announced that her third album Kissing Death will be released in August 2024.[10]

### Musical style

[edit]

Mothica's pop music is influenced by rock and emo.[3] Mothica has technically described her earliest songs such as in the Mythic EP as "bummer pop" and dream pop.[11]

## Personal life

[edit]

Ellis has numerous tattoos, not limited to the following: Her first was a geometric cube tattooed on the back of her neck, motivated at the time by enjoyment of architecture and minimalism. She has a sleeve tattoo on her right arm that includes a flying hawk impaled by an arrow as well as the skull of a ram and a fern leaf. She has a tattoo on her back inspired by the painting Lucretia, and tattoos of her song titles: "oblivion", "chaos", "heavy heart", "NOW", and "VICES". She also has a tattoo of three moths around a lamppost.[4]

Mothica moved to Los Angeles in 2019 for her career in music, but moved back into her parents' home in Oklahoma City during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her mother Debbie Ellis, also known as "Momica," has assisted her with the production of music videos.[5]

## Discography

[edit]

### Extended Plays

[edit]

List of EPs  Name | Release date

|

"Mythic"  | December 15, 2015
"Out Of IT (Remixes)"  | February 15, 2017
"Heavy Heart"  | May 31, 2017
"Ashes"  | November 9, 2018
"Ashes (Remixed)"  | February 1, 2019
"forever fifteen"  | March 19, 2021
"Nocturnal (lofi beats to fall asleep to)"  | August 25, 2022

### Studio albums

[edit]

List of albums  Name | Release date

|

"Blue Hour"  | August 27, 2020
"Nocturnal"  | July 1, 2022
"Kissing Death"  | August 23, 2024

### Singles

[edit]

List of EPs  Year | Name | Album/EP

|
|

2014  | "Molt"

(with Bearface)

| Off-album single
2017  | "Self-Destructive"  | "Heavy Heart"
"Sometimes"
2018  | "Lovetalk"  | Off-album single
"Water Me Down"  | "Ashes"
"Burnout"
2019  | "By Now..."

(Brown Whale Remix)

| "Ashes (Remixed)"
"Love Me Better"  | Off-album single
"NOW"  | "Blue Hour"
"Hungover"
2020  | "oh god"
"R.I.F.P."
"Hands Off"
"everything at once"
"VICES"
"VICES (Remixes)"  | Off-album single
2021  | "forever fifteen"  | "forever fifteen"
"forever fifteen (acoustic)"  | Off-album single
"Can You Feel My Heart"

(Mothica Version)

"buzzkill"

(feat. Brassie & Tokiejoestar)

"Heavy Heart"
2022  | "CASUALTY"  | "Nocturnal"
"GOOD FOR HER"

(with emlyn)

| Off-album single
"SENSITIVE"  | "Nocturnal"
Last Cigarette

(feat. Au/Ra)

"BEDTIME STORIES / BLOOD"
2023  | "Glow in the Dark"

(From Rocksmith+ Original Soundtrack)

| Off-album single
"Sirens"

(Feat, Sophie Powers)

2024  | "The Void"  | "Kissing Death"
"Exit Plan"
"Another High"
"Doomed"
"Curiosity Killed The Moth"
"Red"
"The Reaper"
"Toxins"
"Afterlife"
"Mirage"
"Oblivion for Two"
"Kissing Death"
As Guest Performer  Year | Name | Album/EP

|
|

2016  | "Clear"

(Pusher and MOTHICA)

| "Clear"
"Clear - Graves Remix"

(Pusher, MOTHICA and Graves)

"Clear - Shawn Wasabi Remix"

(Pusher, MOTHICA and Shawn Wasabi)

"Clear - Lh4l Remix"

(Pusher, MOTHICA and Lh4L)

"Clear - Patrickreza Remix"

(Pusher, MOTHICA and PatrickReza)

"Reputation"

(Icarus Moth and MOTHICA)

| Off-album single
2018  | "Chasing Light"

{MEMBA and MOTHICA)

"Don't"

(Icarus Moth and MOTHICA)

2019  | "Chasing Lights (Pt. 2)"

(MEMBA and MOTHICA)

2020  | "Overthinking"

(Mickey Valen and MOTHICA)

2021  | "upside down (Mothica Remix)"

(nothing,nowhere. and MOTHICA)

"Soul Sucker, Pt. 2"

(Ellise, DeathbyRomy and MOTHICA)

2022  | "The Rapture (but it's Pink)"

Scene Queen and MOTHICA

| "BIMBOCORE VOL. 2"
2024  | "REPTILIAN"

PVRIS and MOTHICA

| "F.I.L.T.H."

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "ANYWHERE FEAT MOTHICA". ASCAP. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
2. ^ Penn, Farrah (July 2, 2020). "An Unknown Singer-Songwriter's Song Blew Up On TikTok, Now She's #2 On The Music Charts". BuzzFeed. Retrieved July 25, 2025.
3. ^ a b c d e La Jeunesse, Marilyn (April 12, 2021). "Mothica Is Turning Her Trauma Into Pop Bangers". Bustle. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
4. ^ a b c Preston, Devon (September 8, 2020). "Mothica Breaks Down Her TikTok Success Story, Mental Illness and Tattoo Collecting". Inked. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
5. ^ a b c McDonnell, Brandy (August 28, 2020). "Interview and video: Oklahoma singer-songwriter Mothica follows TikTok breakthrough with debut LP 'Blue Hour'". The Oklahoman. Archived from the original on January 20, 2022. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
6. ^ McDonnell, Brandy (October 21, 2020). "Watch TikTok star Mothica deliver potent stripped-down version of breakout hit 'Vices'". The Oklahoman. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
7. ^ Bocci, Maria (March 12, 2021). "Mothica adds her own touch of pop to Bring Me The Horizon's "Can You Feel My Heart"". EARMILK. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
8. ^ "Dark-Pop Artist Ellise Drops Track "Soul Sucker pt.2"". Wonderland. November 29, 2021. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
9. ^ Carter, Emily (November 10, 2022). "Scene Queen unleashes second Bimbocore EP: "Buckle up because it's a ride from start to finish"". Kerrang!. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
10. ^ Coward, Teddy (March 27, 2024). "Mothica Announces New Album 'Kissing Death' Via Single 'Doomed'". Rock Sound. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
11. ^ "Mythic EP, by mothica".

## External links

[edit]

* Media related to Mothica at Wikimedia Commons
* Official website

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF

National|

* France
* BnF data

Artists|

* MusicBrainz