Gina Miles Breathes New Life Into Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game”

Posted On June 5, 2024

Samantha Colleran, June 2024

Last week, I had the pleasure of speaking with singer-songwriter and multi instrumentalist Gina Miles. Crowned the winner of Season 23 of The Voice in 2023, Gina captured the hearts and ears of viewers across the country. Since her victory, Gina has signed to Republic Records and officially released her rendition of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game”, which she covered during her time as a contestant. We spoke about what “Wicked Game” means to her, her journey on The Voice, and her goals for her career. 

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Samantha Colleran: For my readers out there, we have the incredibly talented Gina Miles on today. She was the Season 23 winner of The Voice, and today we’re here to discuss her recently released cover of “Wicked Game”, originally by Chris Isaak. Gina, if you want to give everyone a little introduction!

Gina Miles: Hi, it’s nice to meet you! I’m Gina Miles. I just released a song, “Wicked Game”, and I’m really excited to talk to you today. 

SC: For a little bit of background, you’ve always known you wanted to be a singer and share your voice with the world. What specifically drew you to audition for The Voice, and how do you feel your experience has helped you further hone your vision for what you hope to achieve as an artist in the industry?

GM: I always say this, but I’ve never been good at anything else or wanted to do anything else. I came from a really small town- I don’t know if any of your readers are from the midwest but I feel like competition shows like The Voice I used to watch with my grandma and my parents and I didn’t know anyone in the industry, I didn’t know how to pursue what I wanted to do. I think the show was an amazing opportunity to be able to grow an audience as a performer and artist. It was an important step in my journey, and I had the time of my life on that show. I say it all the time, it was such an amazing experience in my life; I had the best time, it was really formative for me and I learned a lot of things that I needed to learn. 

SC: That’s awesome! I’m so glad to hear it was as fun as it looked! You first covered “Wicked Game” during your season of The Voice, and you completely blew everyone away. What about that track speaks to you, and what made you want to record and release it as your first single after being crowned the Season 23 winner?

GM: Thank you! It was a really important song I did on the show for my audience that was watching my journey, they were like “Oh my gosh! Who is this little girl and what is she doing?” For me, it’s always been a beautiful song, I’ve been singing it in gigs forever. Doing it on the show made it more special, and it’s stuck with me and been attached to me. After the show, I had so many fans asking me to put it on Spotify, and I was like “Sure babes, hold on!” 

I really resonate with the message of this song, and it’s a beautiful song. I like being able to rework it the way we did, I was able to do it so many ways. It’s always spoken to me. 

SC: I feel like it’s one of those songs that speaks to generations. I remember when you covered it I was watching The Voice with my mom and she was saying how much she loves this song and that she was so happy you were bringing it back!

GM: It’s so important! I think covers can be really great for new artists since they’re singing songs people already know and love, and I was able to do that and put my own spin on it. Chris Isaak is amazing, beautiful, the song is perfect the way it was, and I’m happy I get to do it again. 

SC: Your spin on it is gorgeous, I’m super happy to be able to stream it! What was it like to return to The Voice stage for the finale of Season 25 and perform “Wicked Game” again but as a winner?

GM: It was wonderful. In the nicest way, it was triggering my anxieties. Every time I’ve been in that environment it’s always been competition energy and I got to come back as a guest and it was so much nicer! It was great to see everyone, the band, the crew, the hair and makeup team. I really loved getting to go home and say hello to everybody. Whenever I turned a corner, I’d see someone I know and be like “Oh my God, it’s so nice to see you!” which was really sweet. 

Being able to perform that song this time with a lot more growth and knowing more things, it was a more fun performance to do instead of feeling like “Oh my gosh, I don’t know if I’ll be making it through to the next round!”

SC: A little bit less pressure in that position. 

GM: Exactly. I was performing for fans and people who love the song. I wanted to do that justice and do it well, give it a new breath of fresh air. 

SC: You can feel it in this performance, especially after going back and watching the first time you performed it to now. It’s so special, so thank you for sharing this with us. 

GM: Of course!

SC: So the music video. I think it’s so beautifully shot, the simplicity of the visuals pair really well with your vocals and it allows them to shine through. What was the process behind bringing the song to life in video form? Did you always envision filming it on the beach, was that a callback to the original?

GM: I had a wonderful team, it was directed by a wonderful lady named Alexa [Cha], she’s the best. It was some going back and forth creatively with a few meetings and thinking of what we wanted the vibe to be. I knew immediately I wanted it to be in black and white like the cover [art]. It has that vibe, it had to stay that way!

SC: Very moody.

GM: Yes, so moody, super dramatic, and I love that! I always thought I had to be simple and do things I feel comfortable with. This was the first time I was thinking a little bit outside of my comfort zone, but it was for the best. The original music video is also on the beach, so I wanted to do some respectful nods to those things. We had these CGI icebergs we put in post [production], and they’re just insane. I love the metaphors and the symbolism, it’s so beautiful and simple, I had a great team working with me so shoutout to them!

SC: That’s awesome! Even though the song is a little more moody and serious, you can just tell from watching it that the energy was so fun for everyone involved. 

GM: That’s all I want. I want to be able to give that to everyone else because I’ve spent so much time with the song and everyone’s like “Where is it?” and I’m like “Don’t worry!”

SC: Circling back a little bit to The Voice. What are some lessons or words of advice you received during your time there, whether it was from your coach Niall, from other judges, or from fellow contestants that you’ve carried with you into your post Voice career?

GM: For performing, Niall used to tell me this all the time, but you have to be prepared. I’m such a nervous performer even when the stakes aren’t so high, I care a lot. I like to be as perfect as I can, which is very difficult in terms of being able to perform. Always practicing and having muscle memory is the best. I think the most important thing I learned from being on the show and from everyone involved is that people are the most important thing in your life, your career, and your happiness. It’s cheesy, but it’s so true, and I believe it with my whole soul. Even now, working with a team of people and bouncing ideas off of them and feeling comfortable working with them is so important and lovely and makes everything better. People are number one. 

SC: For sure! Especially because those people end up becoming fans of you, and once they realize how special and genuine and kind you are, it makes listening to the music so much better. 

GM: I hope so, but even if people don’t like the music or like me, I hope there’s something in it for everyone. I want to give something, and make something, you know?

SC: Definitely, you can feel the passion in everything you’ve been doing so far, which has been really cool to see. Do you have any advice you’d like to share with aspiring artists, whether it’s in terms of biting the bullet and auditioning for something like The Voice, or just honing their skills, anything along those lines?

GM: I’m still growing myself, and I don’t know anything. I think it’s just really knowing yourself and knowing what you want to do. For me, there’s nothing else I’m good at or love, it pushed me forward to be a little uncomfortable and do things within my own limits. Push yourself outside of your box and I think knowing yourself is the biggest motivation. If you know yourself and you know in your heart this is what you love and what you’re good at and what you want to do forever, you have to do it, there’s no other thing. Let your heart guide you and don’t let other people tell you what to do. 

SC: That’s such great advice. It really resonates with me because although I’m not musically inclined, ever since I was little I’ve always known I wanted to be involved in music somehow. Even just supporting artists in some way. It’s so corny, and I hate to be ‘the fan’, but One Direction was the reason I decided I wanted to be in the industry. Seeing your relationship with Niall through the show solidified the fact I alway wanted to be involved, and seeing artists help other artists… it’s a reminder that the industry has to be connected, you always have to forge those connections with people. Sorry, I’m going off on a bit of a tangent…

GM: No, it’s lovely! I think being in a position where I can meet people at such a successful point in their career, especially with Niall, it was so insane to be mentored by him, and I loved every second. It’s really important, that was lovely, don’t say sorry!

SC: Well thank you! Just one final question before we wrap up. What can we expect to see and hear from you for the remainder of this year? Are there any singles or upcoming projects that you’re able to share with us?

GM: I’m not able to share anything at this time, but I hope everyone knows fun things are coming, exciting things are coming. In the meantime, there will be fun things happening, just bear with me!

SC: It’ll be worth the wait, “Wicked Game” has blown my mind. I’m super excited to see what’s to come in the future, and thank you so much for taking the time to chat, Gina. It was so lovely having you!

GM: Thank you, Samantha!

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“Wicked Game” is available to stream on all streaming services including Spotify and Apple Music. You can follow Gina on Instagram, Twitter (X), and TikTok to stay up to date on all of her future projects.