Mirika

The Great Escape

Mirika — Thu, 17 May 2012 07:34:21 +0000

We had an amazing time at this year’s Great Escape in Brighton, England. There were a few top picks.

Beth Jeans Houghton: I really loved how natural and surreal Beth Jeans’ show was. She was kooky as all hell and very charming- if not slightly unpolished. Her voice itself has this strange ethereal quality while still having some grit- like when Tinkerbelle gets angry. Plus she looks like my doppelganger so that is always amusing. http://www.facebook.com/BethJeansHoughton?ref=ts

Deaf Club: My second pick, but with a great commercial appeal. I didn’t want their set to end. For anyone who grew up with 90’s chick rock, you will find it now has a more metrosexual feel. http://www.facebook.com/deafclubmusic?sk=wall&filter=12

Counting down the days

Mirika — Mon, 07 May 2012 16:13:07 +0000

Just a few weeks now before Simon Mossuto, Kit & Con’s drummer extraordinaire, returns to London. I have literally got excited about our show on June 2nd every day for the last few weeks.

I’ve been anticipating playing music with so many great people lately. I will be sharing the stage with Mark Beach in Montreal this summer and I am playing regularly with the best guitarist I have ever seen in the form of Dave Tither gearing up to my next solo album. I also have another collaboration that I have been keeping on the down low for a while now- but I will say that I am just really grateful to share this passion with others. We can’t all be crazy…

A month off shows before it gets crazy

Mirika — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:47:50 +0000

Man, I have a whole month off shows! It is crazy how much free time I have. I am writing like crazy, can think about videos and even update my blog- and I am only in week one! So I am pretty happy- I miss playing already, but there are so many aspects of music outside the actual performance- it has been great having more time for them.

Having a break means I can also get heaps of work done on my bass-arm. I busted it about 10 years ago and, if I don’t take care of it, bass will no longer be possible. I have been meeting a lot of people lately that have gone through long periods of not being able to play because of injuries and it has been really inspiring and heart-warming to share stories. I am going to look into what supports there are out there for us musos, cause it is even hard to find a muso dr, osteo, physio, etc… a person that actually realises that ya go nuts when you can’t play. Must find out what already exists…

Okay- I took a break to research muso supports and this is all I found:

http://www.musicianshealth.com/default.htm

Something tells me I am going to be starting my own organisation:) or maybe I should actually just take some time off…

Overlap is the word of the day

Mirika — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:40:02 +0000

Overlap- it is the word so characteristic of my life… that and multi-tasking! I am down to the final bits of the new album- final listens, mastering, artwork… print quotes… it should be fun, but I would rather be onto the next project (okay so I have been working on the next project on the sly already), but I am trying my best to knuckle down and finish one thing before I start the next:)

The next step is videos. I dred videos, not because I don’t like being on camera, but because it takes so freaking long!!! I am sure I am biassed, but I think most seasoned musicians can keep it together when things go wrong BECAUSE they have to keep playing through even the most terrible mistakes; industries that involve the word ‘cut’ breed a certain type of perfectionist. I would much rather be in a garage working out new music with the boys, but video is GOD these days.

So after my gig at the World’s End this Friday 13th, I will be off to a dancer’s house to workout some choreography for a future video, while a mate sorts out the artwork for the album and another mate sorts the mastering and then it is printing and promotion and… stuff it, I’m gonna just go play some music!

: Mirika @ The Wilmington Arms London 2012

The year without a summer

Mirika — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 22:41:53 +0000

It has occurred to me- save a week in China- I have not had summer for over a year. It’s getting me down. I have been playing Marvin Gaye covers and spending too much time in doors. I am well due for a good summer. This summer is especially long awaited, as it will be my first visit back to Canada for a good six or seven years.
First on the gig list is the opening weekend of the Montreal Jazz Festival at Theatre St Catherine. I defiantly want to play Toronto and Ottawa too- which means searching out some good venues. Booking is perhaps my least favourite part of gigging- right next to moving gear, and navigating an over-packed tour car. My favourite parts are a) being on stage, b) partying and c) seeing new places. So despite the challenges, I am glad I got to do Europe (some of it anyway) for fall, and Eastern Canada & NY this summer coming.
In the meantime, it is springtime in London- or almost spring. And it is just this time of year that I am always anxious for change; chomping at the bit for the end of the long, long winter.

Multiple Drummers and a Ton of Guitar

Mirika — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 21:41:28 +0000

London has been amazing for simply making me a better musician. You have to be here. Unlike Canada, Australia, New Zealand or most of Europe- bands don’t make a cent here. And I am not lying when I say that it often costs folks to play. Rehearsal space is overpriced, everything is run by promoters and folks here don’t buy cds. So suffice to say that many of the talented musos over here don’t (or rarely) rehearse, play in multiple bands and that most ‘bands’ have multiple members depending on who is free on any given night. There is no member more likely to change then the drummer….
And so it has come to pass that I am often getting up on stage with folks that have never heard the song I am about to play. Sounds like a disaster? It actually isn’t… I have gotten very good at picking my set lists carefully and explaining myself on the fly. The skill that took the longest to master was queuing folks to breaks and endings- it doesn’t seem hard, but I dance like a motherfucker on stage and so the band never knew if I was signalling them or just dancing erratically. I have now mastered it- not too obvious for the audience but obvious enough for the band.
I am still working on the skill of picking out what exactly I am playing and am going through the process of transcribing my arrangements. Lucky for me, the rotating group of amazing musicians I am playing with all help out- telling me what key is what- showing me other ways to play the same note on multiple instruments and just being out and out awesome.
So this year, I am getting good at directing on the fly and I am supper supper grateful for all the little lessons learned from the multitude of talented musicians I meet.

2am writing binges

Mirika — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 11:37:37 +0000

When Con headed back to Australia, I got an opportunity to concentrate on my solo album again with an aim to release it late summer. The truth is, I have just been sitting on all the songs for the next solo album and I can’t wait to get out there and play them.

Where Kit & Con was an exercise in minimalism, this record is anything but. Beach-Boy style harmonies, layered instrumentals, a host of fabulous guest players AND a chance for me to show off on keys, bass, guitar, thumb piano, nose harp and xylophone. I had a lot of fun making this new record.
So instead of spending the time getting to know my new city- I spent it holed up in my studio apartment recording… and before I knew it, snow was on the ground.
I hadn’t stopped gigging, but I had slowed it down. I’m a little bit jealous of artists that have the luxury of going off to some retreat to do their albums- putting all live shows on hold until such time as the ‘sound is complete’. As an independent artist, I don’t have that luxury. I write and record in between work, tours, gigs… and life really.

My dream is to have a ‘writing break’ at some point- go off to Cape Breton in Canada or spend a summer in Poland… just be isolated and focus on music. But that is a dream so far in the future…

For now it’s 2am writing binges and back up for the day job at 6:30am.

Music Videos and Extended House Guests

Mirika — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 22:00:38 +0000

There was the great rush to do all things Kit & Con from the moment we got back to London and started setting up shop. I knew Con was going back to Australia and we filmed two video shoots within weeks.
Plus Side was perhaps the most fun to shoot- we holed up at Stoke Newington International Airport- this half venue/half artist residence that throws the sickest parties. Note to self- do not film barefoot on concrete- after dancing around in my slinky red dress for 10 hours, I had one mean-ass cold that lasted a good week after the shoot.
So it was with some trepidation when we decided to go traipsing around London to shoot ‘Oriflamme’. Kit & Con is anarchist pop- and it made sense that the two videos we shoot were for songs with political undertones- Plus Side was written when I immigrated to New Zealand before I had any residence rights- I couldn’t vote and it was frustrating to not be able to have a say in the place I called home… and Oriflamme means a ‘symbol to rally around’, a phrase coined after the French started carrying a red flag into battle… suffice to say the best place to film the video was at Tent City at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London England.
Go to the video page and check them out.

My new life in London

Mirika — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:22:23 +0000

This city has class

So I have now had the experience of going ‘back home’ to a city that has never been my home (nor feels like it for that matter). But London has its charms, and now that I have had some time to settle in, I dare say I am growing to like the place. The best thing about the city by far is the incredible amount of talented musicians, and I have had the fortune of playing with some amazing people. I’m of the mind that life is always good as long as there is good music around.
Of course, going anywhere new there is always the challenge of sifting through a heck of a lot of bad music to get to some pure audio gold. Man, I have seen some bad shows here too (I actually saw a guy eat a hamburger on stage at the end of his set… chewing into a microphone is just gross). But then there is this whole other breed of musicians that play in multiple bands with other great musos… the type of folks you can just call up and be on stage with them the next day. I’ve been supper inspired and been experimenting with a bigger, more intricate sound… something big to ballance out the minimalism of ’23 Kilos’.

Holland My Love

Mirika — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 11:11:08 +0000

"You shared your music for me so I'll share this photo with you" - I couldn't resist a picture with this guy after playing in Amsterdam

Our second trip to Holland was supper fun and we played tourists while poor Mossuto stayed home sick in bed. We played some music, we saw bands, we wondered the streets, we went to a lot of music shops and partied like the best of them… But it was clear we were all ready to go home.

By the end of the trip all I was looking forward to were the little things- privacy and fresh vegetables! I see less kebabs in my future… at least until the next tour.