Unexpurgated: Mika Interview

Not sure if this was posted, or if it's even legit, but the answers sound very Mika-ish.

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He could be green, he could be blue, he could be violet too, but he doesn’t mind saying what’s on his mind. Here’s the totally *unexpurgated interview with Mika, the guy who gave us songs like Grace Kelly, Lollipop and We Are Golden.

(*OK, not really unexpurgated: All swear words have been replaced by the word “bunny”, otherwise sure kenah scolded!)

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Hi Mika! Nice of you to take time out to talk to us!

Hello! What time is it over there?

It’s about 7pm. What time is it where you are?

It’s noon. So you’re almost done and I’ve got another seven hours to go. Who’ll be the shrink today, me or you?

You, if you want. I just want to know your thoughts about performing in Singapore for the first time.

I’m happy to do it. I’ve never been as a tourist and I’ve never been there to perform. It’s been a long time that I’ve been asked to go, but this is the first time that we’ve been able to coincide our schedule in every way, so we’re really going for it. I’ve done Hong Kong a few times and I’ve done Japan – now we’re going on a tour of Japan – so it’s really good to finally get to Singapore.

What do you know about Singapore?

Four friends! No, I actually studied the politics of Singapore for my A Levels. And it was actually in my exam paper. I had to talk about the housing development, school system, and the defining systems for town planning. It was really boring to talk about that aspect of Singapore. The development authority and their relations to the government and all that stuff.

Well, what can we expect from your show?

Have you seen the show?

I’ve seen some of your clips online, but that’s about it.

I’ve created a show that’s a kind of collective chaos. It’s different from what most artistes do, I think. I just did a tour where the setup was based on the Mexican Day Of The Dead festival. So it’s like a huge funeral, with the puppets and masks and a big killing scene. It’s kind of gory, but a comic-book gory. There’s the contrast between sadness and joy but in the same way like a circus would. It’s a carnival for two hours and we curate this carnival and we get people to join us. Easily, 50 per cent of the energy comes from the audience. I don’t want to just sit at the piano and sing – I did that on my acoustic tour last year in opera houses and concert halls. This one is really my party and it’s more of a “how far can we go?” I think my fans – even if they’ve not been to my concerts – will expect that.

But don’t you think people will think it’s a little OTT?

It’s never Las Vegas though. Its roots are in a very poor theatre, in terms of style not quality. I mean like an old fashioned circus. The participation of the audience is huge.

Is it difficult translating songs from The Boy Who Knew Too Much to that sort of stage setting?

They sound better! No, really! My second record is very much darker and consequently less commercial than my first, like an antidote to the first. But although it’s not as sellable, but my live shows increase in size, double of that on my first album. That’s because I’ve created the cult of the show, I think. I’ve been doing this for five or six years, from the time I was performing to 10 people in a pub. My songs start at the piano, handmade little things in the living room, but they can adapt well to the stage. What gets bad is when a song is completely programmed – it either comes out sounding a like computer or it sounds unlike the record because of the computer.

I heard you make your own sets too?

Every piece of set we make ourselves. I have a collective here in London, and like the last show we handcrafted a bunch of planets, about eight feet wide, and a bunch of students and my sisters painted everything in my living room. Everything is kind of tactile. But we actually reference Spinal Tap towards the end of the show. I don’t want to give away what it is, but it’s actually more for the critics of the show rather than the fans, it’s like a big middle finger up to them.

So why did you make your second album so far removed from Life In Cartoon Motion?

To balance things, I think. To take myself further so that over the next two albums I can do whatever I want. If I made another Lollipop, then I’d be verging into children’s entertainment almost. But things go in cycles… the most important thing is that creatively, you move forward. You have to remember that I made The Boy Who Knew Too Much in my living room as an anti-pop record. It may sound pop now, but when I was sending it around in the beginning, believe me, no one thought it was pop music. They thought it was cabaret. But you have to be brave as an artiste, so that in 20 years’ time, we can have this conversation, instead of having it just the once.

Grace Kelly was such a big hit here. Are you concerned that it overshadows anything you’ve done since?

I would if that was it. You may consider that it. In the UK, I’ve had six or seven hits, but that’s what happens when you have a career in different parts of the world, which is why you have to tour, to explain to people why you’re doing the things you do, you have to do interviews because you don’t you’re just thing that pops up once in a while, and people don’t understand because you’re too busy dealing with live shows. There are a lot of British artistes who tour the UK and then go in to make their next record after a few months. I don’t. I tour outside the UK more than in the UK itself. My tickets are bigger in America than in the UK. It’s a weird thing. But that’s why we go on the road and kill ourselves for a better part of the year each time.

How do you keep yourself motivated on such a long haul? Won’t you get bored halfway through?

We always change the show. We have a very particular working method in that everybody helps out in the show. We don’t just setup our instruments, walk on, take the money and run. We have a different atmosphere, and if anything the energy goes up with each show, because we know we’re getting to a show that we’ll be happier with. The more we evolve it, the happier we are. It’s never the same show each night. I think that’s important. To keep it alive so that you stay positive with it. That’s the key, I think.

What’s the best and worst thing about being you?

The best thing is freedom as an artist. Completely free. The worst thing is… um…

Talking to journalists?

No, it’s not talking to journalists. You have to have a thick skin in order to keep opinions away from yourself. It’s very hard. On one hand you have to take opinions that mean something and can help you, that’s not just good stuff, but the bad too. But on the other hand, there are lots of opinions that are purely destructive, with no relevance to what you do. Like the idea that you can wear certain types of clothes and get ridiculed for it. That kind of gets to me. The stupid stuff. So you have to be really strong – if you want to keep doing music for the reasons you started off in the first place. That’s why you have to bubble yourself a bit.

So you don’t read your own reviews?

I read reviews from time to time. But I’ve become quite good at knowing when a reviewer actually likes what I do and writes about it saying why he or she likes it and saying what can be better. As opposed to a reviewer who doesn’t like you and writes about you and not your show. You have to be savvy in judging what you’re reading. That protects you much more. Then if you do read something and they really like you but they want you to make it better, then you bunny off and make it better. That applies to loads of stuff.

How?

Look, I made a consciously darker record. People now want me to make a more commercial album; they want me to make something that explodes a little bit more. Will I do that? Of course, I bunnying will. I’ll go away for two years and create something that is storming shove it out there. Because that’s what I’m like, but I think it’s important to steer yourself in a strong, confident way and be open about manipulating your own situation. You have to say, I’m not afraid to tell people I know where I am going.

You've been at this for some time now…

Not really, it’s only been four or five years, since the album came out. But in truth, I’ve been doing it since 11. That’s when I was kicked out of school and went and I studied music and then I got jobs. I feel like I’ve been doing it in the public eye for a few years, but in truth I’ve been doing it for much longer… in secret.

Could you see yourself still at it when you’re 64?

In a very different version. I could write a song when I’m 60 but it’s not going to be same thing that I’m doing now. I think that I’m giving myself leeway to evolve in as many different ways as possible. People who say they don’t want to do this at 60, I say, why? Not me.

MIKA performs June 14 at the Max Pavilion, Singapore Expo.

http://blogs.todayonline.com/poparazzi/2010/05/26/unexpurgated-the-mika-interview/

Haven't we seen this before? It seems familiar

Haven't we seen this before? It seems familiar

I know, but I couldn't find where I'd seen it before. And the answers seem a little different.

EDIT: I found an interview similar to it here, but this one seems like the full version.

'Bunnying'.

Thanks for posting!

I know, but I couldn't find where I'd seen it before. And the answers seem a little different.

I think you are right in that it is an unexpurgated version

Anyway, T4P

some of it seems familiar

"I don’t want to give away what it is, but it’s actually more for the critics of the show rather than the fans, it’s like a big middle finger up to them."

I like all the bunny thing... bunny off , I bunnying will

thx for posting!

I like this interview Thats the Mika we know..

Thank you for posting

Is it okay to ask what unexpurgated means?

My new favorite word: Oh BUNNY!

 

My new favorite word: Oh BUNNY!

OMBG:naughty:

Is it okay to ask what unexpurgated means?

It means to censor something

It means to censor something

Aha! Tnx for explaining:thumb_yello:

Thank you for posting! I just typed this very long post and was unlogged so it was lost:( I was basically saying that it was funny that Mika said in that interview that TBWKTM was not pop when he said it was "an unashamed pop record" when it was first released! TBWKTM is so different from LICM; Mika's first songs were like joyful kids and I fell in love with Grace Kelly and Happy Ending the very first second I heard them but I needed several hearings to get close to TBWKTM songs! Don't get me wrong, I couldn't live without Good gone girl! "Kick Ass" brought back that love at first hearing feeling though!♥ I can't wait to hear his new ones!

OMBG:naughty:

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my favorite quote all day!!!

I think we could read a similar interview in the Turkish press. Maybe I´m wrong coz I´m tired.

Thank you for posting.

t4p!

I’ve created a show that’s a kind of collective chaos. It’s different from what most artistes do, I think. I just did a tour where the setup was based on the Mexican Day Of The Dead festival. So it’s like a huge funeral, with the puppets and masks and a big killing scene. It’s kind of gory, but a comic-book gory. There’s the contrast between sadness and joy but in the same way like a circus would. It’s a carnival for two hours and we curate this carnival and we get people to join us. Easily, 50 per cent of the energy comes from the audience. I don’t want to just sit at the piano and sing – I did that on my acoustic tour last year in opera houses and concert halls. This one is really my party and it’s more of a “how far can we go?” I think my fans – even if they’ve not been to my concerts – will expect that.

 

They sound better! No, really! My second record is very much darker and consequently less commercial than my first, like an antidote to the first. But although it’s not as sellable, but my live shows increase in size, double of that on my first album. That’s because I’ve created the cult of the show, I think. I’ve been doing this for five or six years, from the time I was performing to 10 people in a pub. My songs start at the piano, handmade little things in the living room, but they can adapt well to the stage. What gets bad is when a song is completely programmed – it either comes out sounding a like computer or it sounds unlike the record because of the computer.

 

Every piece of set we make ourselves. I have a collective here in London, and like the last show we handcrafted a bunch of planets, about eight feet wide, and a bunch of students and my sisters painted everything in my living room. Everything is kind of tactile. But we actually reference Spinal Tap towards the end of the show. I don’t want to give away what it is, but it’s actually more for the critics of the show rather than the fans, it’s like a big middle finger up to them.

 

We always change the show. We have a very particular working method in that everybody helps out in the show. We don’t just setup our instruments, walk on, take the money and run. We have a different atmosphere, and if anything the energy goes up with each show, because we know we’re getting to a show that we’ll be happier with. The more we evolve it, the happier we are. It’s never the same show each night. I think that’s important. To keep it alive so that you stay positive with it. That’s the key, I think.

 

I read reviews from time to time. But I’ve become quite good at knowing when a reviewer actually likes what I do and writes about it saying why he or she likes it and saying what can be better. As opposed to a reviewer who doesn’t like you and writes about you and not your show. You have to be savvy in judging what you’re reading. That protects you much more. Then if you do read something and they really like you but they want you to make it better, then you bunny off and make it better. That applies to loads of stuff.

 

Look, I made a consciously darker record. People now want me to make a more commercial album; they want me to make something that explodes a little bit more. Will I do that? Of course, I bunnying will.

Thanks for posting, i love this interview. Especially the bolded parts

My favorite bunny quote: "Then you bunny off and make it better!"

*I could bunny the world, I could make it better....!!!*

 

My new favorite word: Oh BUNNY!

OMBG:naughty:

I expect Mika to never say the f-word again and just go with Bunnying:mf_rosetinted:

Thanks M. for creating new words

T4P Nono!

yes, it's the full interview

I thought it was an interview I'd already read, but it is a little different. When Mika is 60, I'll be 89! Glad I'll still have some decent music to listen to (if I can still hear of course)

My husband just warned me I might not remember who Mika is at that age!

I thought it was an interview I'd already read, but it is a little different. When Mika is 60, I'll be 89! Glad I'll still have some decent music to listen to (if I can still hear of course)

My husband just warned me I might not remember who Mika is at that age!

Hahaha! Then you will enjoy him over and over again as a new discovery!

"Hey hubby, have you seen that guy Mika? He's new. He's a great singer, I think I will buy his album!"

"Hey hubby, have you seen that guy Mika? He's new. He's a great singer, I think I will buy his album!"

"Hey hubby, have you seen that guy Mika? He's new. He's a great singer, I think I will buy his album!"

"Hey hubby, have you seen that guy Mika? He's new. He's a great singer, I think I will buy his album!"

I thought it was an interview I'd already read, but it is a little different. When Mika is 60, I'll be 89! Glad I'll still have some decent music to listen to (if I can still hear of course)

My husband just warned me I might not remember who Mika is at that age!