Get to Know 'Happiness' Singer Mokita With These 10 Fun Facts (Exclusive)

Mokita is one of the rising artists we’re excited about at Just Jared, and we’re excited to give readers an exclusive chance to get to know him better.

The Virginia-born, Nashville-based producer and singer-songwriter, also known as John-Luke Carter, just released a new single, called “Happiness,” an anthemic meditation on the search for happiness.

“‘Happiness’ was born in my buddy and songwriting partner Trent Dabbs’ studio. Most every song me and Trent write together is born from conversations about life, faith, meaning etc. I had this riff on the acoustic guitar that I was playing around with and then we started tossing around melodies. The song came together relatively quickly but didn’t have any production around it for a few weeks,” he says of the song.

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“I wanted to write a song about longing, about the craving we all have for real happiness, real joy. I found myself constantly feeling like I was working towards happiness, and not experiencing it in everyday life. It’s easy to lie to myself and say ‘you’ll be happy when you have this amount of money’ or ‘you’ll be happy when this problem is fixed’ or ‘when you’ve accomplished this goal’. But I don’t want to live like that. I want to be content where I am. I’m so blessed with what I have. With the ability to work my dream job everyday. I want to experience happiness in real time; and that’s what this song is about. There isn’t an anchor in material things. You can’t bank your life on those things; they won’t make you happy.”

Mokita gets his name from Kilivila, a language native to Papua New Guinea. The word roughly translates to “the truth we all know but don’t talk about.”

“The phrase is about things people experience but doesn’t necessarily talk about
and that’s a huge part of my music,” he says of the name.

After discovering music at a young age, he went on to produce for artists like Stephen Puth, Zac Brown Band and Matoma and has collaborated with everyone from R3HAB to Ella Vos.

“Happiness” follows his last single “Crash” released in June alongside Charlotte Sands. He also just hit the road with slenderbodies on their North American tour.

Check out “Happiness” and learn 10 Fun Facts about Mokita…

1. I have a dog named Champ that I got right when I moved to Nashville 7 years ago. He’s the sweetest boy.
2. I’m really close with my family. I have 2 younger brothers and a younger sister. My dad is a minister and my mom is a school teacher.
3. I love reading. I’m a big finance nerd. Anything to do with the stock market, history, auto-biographies, real estate, taxes, credits cards I’m all over.
4. I own several rental properties with my brother back home in western North Carolina.
5. I started playing piano when I was 6 years old and took until I was about 15. I’ve got a beautiful grand piano in my house now and it’s for sure my most prized possession.
6. I love the mountains. I’m obsessed with the area my parents live in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
7. When I was in college I was pre-med. I thought I wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon until I took chemistry and then realized I’m stupid.
8. Asian food is my favorite. My roommate is an incredible cook and we share an affinity for Asian food.
9. I’m a diehard Georgia Bulldogs football fan.
10. I love traveling. I once did a road trip with some buds where we drove from Boston to Anchorage, Alaska.