Anna Ko Kolkowska

Another interview in French for TV channel CSTAR. Questions about school. Q: Were you waiting impatiently for the day to come back to school after holidays? M: No, I was not waiting impatiently to come back to school. The best day it was the last day of school before summer holidays. And the worst day it was the first day of school. It was a deep sadness. It was like the world was going to end. I hated school. Q: Was music your favourite subject? M: Music was not my favourite subject. My favourite subjets were geography and arts. Q: Were you a good student? M: It depends on the phase of my life. During the first phase of my life I was rather a poor student. I was dyslexic. I am dyslexic. And I had a lot of problems to learn things that others were able to do. I was not able to do it. So I was frustrated. People thought I was stupid or lazy. But I was just learing in a dufferent way. Then I changed school and people realized that I had a problem. They started to help me and then... bam! Everything has changed. Before my scores were very low. And after 8 months I started to have scores I have neved had before. It shows that it's not a person, it's a way in which we are educated. It changes everything. Q: Was your school period perfect? M: Oh, I did a lot of stupid things. Even now when I think about it... I feel something in my stomach. But I wouldn't change anything. Because every single thing we do is changing our destiny.... is changing our future. So I don't want to take a risk to find myself in a situation I would not like to be in. I wouldn't change anything. twitter_20190919_201617.mp4

Oh, thank you so much for your repost. All your anecdotes are priceless And your talk with Mika..... I am so happy for you!!!!!!

I found some videos with BG on Instagram. Mika went really deep into the public!!!!

Thank you very much for your report!!!!!! And your videos are fantactic I have to wait till the 10th of November for London gig. Small venue as well and I am sure it will be as wonderfull as Montreal

Mika posted some photos made by ael.ael.ael. And she is.... Ael Pagny. Do you recognise this name? Florent Pagny's daughter!!!

So now you can read a full English version of the interview for Radio Canada made by Penelope Mcquade. I upload as well the audio to get both in the same place. Penelope Mcquade and Mika 16 09 2019 Radio Canada podcast.mp4 Penelope: (laughing): You just heard Mika asking for our Instagram address ... Mika: Wow, are we already on the air? Q: Mika has just made a Story for his Instagram. He added me a nose and a mustache. M: I have to admit, you look very well like this. Q: You are between two concerts in Montreal ... M: That's why I have a voice like Barry White today. Q: Is it because you went to bed late yesterday? M: Yes I usually go to bed late. But not because I party at night. My vocal cord doctor says that when I'm on tour, my full vocal and physical optimum should be around eight o'clock in the evening. That means I have to move my activities. I have to get up later to reach my optimum in the evening. Therefore, getting up early to do a promotion on the radio causes a bit like a jetlag effect. Q: Indeed, this is not the best time. I thank you even more for coming to the studio. This is your short stay in Canada during the America tour ... M: For the moment. Q: Yes, because subsequent dates will be given later. M: Yes.Now two dates, but with a very special energy. We perform in the Corona theater. Q:That's right. You perform in the Corona theater. You performed at Center Bell a few years ago. With the OSM symphony orchestra. Corona is quite a small place for a thousand people. M: But that's what we needed. Q: Why? M: First of all, the tickets were sold out in a few minutes for both concerts ... I told myself: OK, it's been three years ... almost four years since my last visit here. We start from the beginning and we will do it in an intimate, honest and creative way. There is nothing on the stage. It's just me, my musicians and the audience. This leads to spontaneity, which is much more interesting. All the ideas that will arise on the stage in these small venues ... all these beautiful moments will become the most iconic in the big spectacle, which will be seen later. Q: Is this something like development? Such a laboratory? M: Ideas laboratory. It's good to have such a laboratory. I think there are now many artists who have chosen this way of acting. They say to themselves: OK, we will start in small places. Then it will be big festivals. Then maybe we can do something ... in church. Or again with the orchestra. Who knows? Such different things. I think that for the artist like I am, for an artist who is a mix of musical genres ... this is not just a style. This is me. This is my univers. And this univers should present itself in very different conditions, in very different places. And in this way I can make my univers exist and I will be able to tell my audience about it. Q: You have a special fondness for audience in Montreal. And not only to the audience. Also to the city of Montreal. You recorded an album here ... M: Yes, here I made my third album. Q: Why such an attachment to this city? M: I don't know. This city is ... crazy. I say this with a very high dose of affectation. Because as you know, I like crazy things. Q: Of course, we understood that. M: When I first came to Montreal I had this feeling ... I thought: My God. But that's weird. This city is like me. Why? I'm coming from the airport and people speak English to me. But all around is written in French. So I speak french. I grew up in Paris for seven years of my childhood. But my father is American. So I found myself quickly in this culture mix. Then I see Lebanese restaurants. I see Lebanese names. I can see Greek influence. Influences from Eastern Europe. There are so many particles in all of this that are also in my history. The idea that the city's identity is created through a mixture, through absorption, through the integration of cultures, is the basic thing that warms my heart. I think that this aspect ... it triggers creativity. And then the weather. When it's cold, you stay inside and you work. You feel like creating. And you are waiting for spring. It is a revival that returns every year ... we look forward to it every year, because it is a feeling that ... is extremely important. Q: When spring comes, we start to go wild. You used the word "crazy". We go wild at the first rays of the sun. M: Yes But I can't say that. (They both laugh) You can say that. I can not. Q: You've had a few years break. You said you had enough of the music industry. You've had enough of certain things that happen in music. Many artists spoke similarly with us. "We have enough and we need a break". What brought your joy back? What has restored your desire to create the fifth album that has your name? The album is called "My Name Is Michael Holbrook". This is your official name. What brought your joy back? M: Ammm. I did many things. I worked on television. At first I thought that television would be such a short episode. But everything went very well. Q: You have been in The Voice for six years? M: Yes At first I thought I would do it for a year, maybe two years. And it lasted six years. It's amazing. Everything is OK. However, the problem with television is - and you know it very well, you work in this busieness - that ... when everything is good, what is going on? After 10 seconds, the whole team runs up to you and says: wonderful, it was great! And this kind of excitement appears, the levels of adrenaline, endorphins, dopamine jump. A triumph, a success! It comes suddenly ... but disappears very quickly. It's very easy to get addicted to it. To this feeling of small success, which appears very quickly. With music it is different. Music writing is a process that looks completely different. You write. You wait. There is a silcence. Then you have doubts. Then you have to defend yourself. Then you have to record what you wrote. Then you have to prepare it on the stage. And it lasts and lasts and lasts ... It lasts a long time. Television can be dangerous compared to music. There is a moment when you get adrenaline, when you quickly get satisfaction. It's like a hamburger. And music needs more time and requires greater emotional involvement. And it is spread out over time. So, I had to break up with television. I made that decision before it happened. I decided to separate myself completely. I wanted to find Mika. I wanted to find Mika, who existed before he started selling records. Before the name Mika became a logo. Before Mika released his first album. And for that I needed a nickname. I chose Michael Holbrook Penniman Junior because I thought I could use my official name to find Mika. This was my task. Q: Does this mean that you had to "dig up" Mika with a shovel, as archaeologists do, who must remove soil and stones to find objects? M: When I was little, I had this child set: brush, rake ... But in my case it was rather dynamite. Q: You were looking for Mika using dynamite? M: I cut myself off from everything. I decided not to use commercial recording studios. I decided not to use people who create albums for everyone. I stopped working with my producer, with whom I made four albums. I had enough of everything. I built a recording studio in my house. A white piano similar to the one I had at home when I was 15 years old. And I will write. I will choose two people who will work with me. They will have to come to me and live with me for two months and work. And I will talk about my life. About the most personal things. Q : And that gave, among other things, the song "Tiny Love". The music starts , but the song "Paloma" is played by mistake. After 30 seconds we hear "Tiny Love". Q : This song is "Tiny Love". Earlier we heard a fragment of the song "Paloma". I don't know what to call it: life balance, an update? M : Yes, it's a life balance. An update ... Maybe I'll explain something. I need to clarify something. We announced the song "Tiny Love" and we heard "Paloma" - because the album has not come out yet - and you played it for the first time! Personally, I think that if such minor errors occur and we heard "Poloma" for the first time in the WORLD broadcasting station, even if only as a short fragment ... announcing it as "Tiny Love" ... it can bring us luck. Q: Really? I am happy that we can contribute to success! M: "Tiny Love." You only heard the beginning. Then there is "bam" and everything changes. This is a kind of landscape. This is the first song I wrote for the new album. This is literally a situation in which I sat at the piano and wanted to evoke the magical feeling that you have at the time of creation. This is the element that causes transformation. Which gives me a sense of value. Suddenly this feeling appears. I have missed this feeling for a long time. I haven't written anything for a year and a half, two years. Maybe that there are people among the listeners who also write songs. We are only afraid of two things. Our health. Our own health and the health of people we love. And we're afraid of blockages. There is not much talk about blockages. We don't talk about it because we consider it as a weakness. And I will say it. I had a blockade. I had enough of everything. And what did i do? I built this small recording studio, which I have already mentioned. The first day I get in the car ... I have a studio in Florida ... I say: come on, dogs. Let's go. I wanted to discover other aspects of my identity. And I'm going to Savannah / Georgia ... Q: In the footsteps of your father? M: Yes Q: You made a pilgrimage in the footsteps of your father. M: Exactly. My mother has Lebanese and Syrian roots. She is the first generation American. In the Lebanese-Syrian culture, the mother plays a major role. And it always has been like this. I wanted to see the other side. I went to Savannah / Georgia with no expectations. I went to Bonaventure Cemetery and there there is the Penniman family place. My father's family. And there I saw all those Pennimans who were buried there. And gravestones with my name. With my official name and surname. Holbrook Penniman. Michael William ... I thought: My name is on these graves! Partly blurred by rain and time. Their bones lie underground. And they wore my name. It was very in the style of Tim Burton. It was very "dark" and very funny at the same time. I told myself: I'm Michael Holbrook. And with this perspective, in this mood of Tim Burton I will come back and rediscover who I am. I will rediscover the song writing process. And in "Tiny Love", when you listen to the song - today we only heard a small fragment - you will see a person who rediscovers the joy of writing songs. All vocal recordings were made at that time. These versions can be heard on the album. Q: You mentioned Tim Burton. But one journalist said that this album is a mix of Disney and Lars von Trier. And I wonder, if this album is your life balance, does your life resemble a mix of Disney and Lars von Trier? M: Yes, especially now. Q: Why? M: We have a lot of challenges in the family. A lot is going on. But that's life. Sometimes everything happens at the same time. I lost a lot of people while writing this album. And now there are new challenges .... I don't know ... this is probably my reaction to survive these difficult moments that happen to all of us. And my reaction is writing using human heat. Finding emotions. Prescription of a medicine. A letter of love to the people I love. To the people I loved. But also to give a powerful kick in the balls of all those people I don't like. Because from time to time revenge can serve for something. Q: When you experience all this, and at the same time you have to be on the road, on tour, knowing that there are family problems ... how to reconcile it? M: Exigency and excellence are the only things that can give you a sense of balance. Everything must be very good. Every thing we choose must be very good. You have to be demanding in your choices. And every concert must be perfect. Every interview must be honest. That way we don't waste energy. It feeds us. I think this is the benefit of twelve years of career. After twelve years, this is no longer the pursuit of a career. After some time, you have enough of this. I find journalists whom I like. I go back to the restaurants I like. I'm going back to my friends. To the venues I like. I am going back to talks with the audience that began ten years ago. A career is something to be built, a career is someting to be sculpted. It takes time, attention and ideas, conversations. This is not something superficial. This is not a rush on streaming, a rush for another hit song. Q: And there was no risk of escaping into the future? When life is not perfect, you can think that tours, performances, love you get can be a kind of shelter, escape. Is there such a risk or not? M: For me it's not an escape. Maybe because…. for me it has never been an escape. Tour is something real to me. Thanks to this, I understand my life better ... I don't know if you saw me on stage. Q: Yes M: It's such a weird mix. For example, the people who were at the concert in Corona yesterday, and who will come to today's ... It's such a weird mix. I totally devote myself to the audience and everything is possible. And at the same time I don't care at all. I can go away ... It's really a kind of tension ... This tension is also provocative. And it is very good. It means that anything can happen. And the audience respects it. They know that I am just like that. For example, I left the stage yesterday and sang in the audience. Right in the center of the room. It was nothing, it was only a thousand people. But I also did it in venues for 14,000 people. I walk in the audience. And I've never had problems. Never. I don't know. I feel very connected to what is happening on stage. This is not an escape. Q: And it works both ways. This is an energy exchange. M: You know. It's funny. I enter this building, which is a bit like stuck in time. For those who do not know this building (this is about the Corona theater) ... How would you describe it? Q It's such an old building. A bit retro. It's like an old cabaret. M: It's a bit like we're in a Robert Lepage movie. Q: Yes And it is located in the west of the city, in the working class area. M: This building was built at a time when brown was considered the most vivid, eccentric, the most creative color in the whole world. It's an ocean of all shades of brown. People are dressed colorfully. But in architecture and interior decoration there is only one color: brown. However, when we enter the building, we will see photographs of people in front of the microphone. Old photographs from the 1920s. I remember that three years ago there were giant dolls that were used in children's television programs, or in historical programs. And we are beginning to understand that this is not just entertainment. That this is not just about commercialism. With the help of the radio, with the help of concerts you can create something valuable. You can express yourself from the bottom of your heart. You can speak from the stage, from records. If we do it in aright way, it won't be just a hit-making machine that will quickly make money on YouTube. You can develop a dialogue that is not found in real life. Q: What did you lose four years ago that you now found in Michael Holbrook? M: A child who started working at the age of eight. Which practiced every day for three hours and a half with his mother. Who wrote songs to separate himself from school, to separate himself from violence. Who sang ... Who worked and who slept in parking lots in Toyota Previa with his mother and sisters. That way we could get a job. My mother said, "No, we don't need a hotel. We take this job. He will sing for you. We don't need a hotel”. And we slept in the car. And that child was the most joyful person ... the most joyful version of myself. And all songs were created on this basis. I wanted to find this person. Because if I want to survive emotionally and personally the coming years, I must be that person. And no any other. Q: Mika, it is a pleasure ... for everyone who will come to your concerts. Further dates will appear. For now, only Montreal is on the North American tour list. The album will be released in early October. We could have heard a few passages. And we'll say goodbye listening to the fragment ... recently which song was your favorite? "Blue"? M: Yes, "Blue". But you can play "Paloma" again. I will give only a context. The song is about my sister and this is a real story. Q: Mika, it was pure pleasure to meet you. We hear a fragment of the song "Paloma". End

I love this metafore, @mellody It is so poetic "feeding geese with planets"....

Yes, I can see that Mika has become really, really open and he talks like he has been talking to his best friends. He does not avoid any hard part of his life. )well, he does not give us all the details of course). And more interviews we read recently more facts appear in the light of the day. Hard moments, sad moments. He mentioned once that his mom was in a hospital (this funny interview where a fan saw him in a hospital and started to sing "Relax"). Often when Mika talks about hard moments he is smiling - I think this is his way of copping with a stress and bad memories... Maybe that is why he captures fans energy during the concerts during Tiny Love Tiny Tour? Each and every concert is more intimate and full of energy. I can feel it just watching videos posted by fans. He needs it for sure.

Joelle. I've just posted the full interview for "Au feminin" (in Mika in French Press thread) where Mika describes his album in 3 words. Personal. Full of love. Full of rage. And in Radio Canada he sais: We have a lot of challenges at the moment. In my family. A lot of things happens. This is life. Sometimes it happens all in the same time. While writing this album I lost some people. And now new challenges are coming. Well, it's sort of my reaction to survive all the challenges we all have in our lives. And my reaction is to write with a human warmth. It's about finding back emotions. It's like to prescribe a medicine. A love letter to people I love. To people I loved. And as well to kick in the balls all I don't like (or - in my interpretation - I hate). Because sometimes a wengeance can serve for something. And as Mika sais it I can feel a pain and disappointment in his voice. He sounds really sad...

And in the inteview (the video at the end) I think we have an answer concerning Geese!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (some time ago I was thinking about his childhood when Mika was going to The Kensington Park to play and to feed ducks - so maybe there were geese too?)

These photos are outstanding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mika is a perfect model ♥️♥️♥️♥️

I found a full version of this interview. I will try to post it in English here soon . For the moment I made a translation into Polish for my website. YouCut_20190915_132410893.mp4 Hello it's Mika and today I am with "Au feminin" with my "Pour et Contre"("For and against). Generally I am against everything Question: Covers of your songs? I am "for" people who do my covers. Because I think it's a big complement. And sometimes it happens that a part of the song that I have not paid attention to is stepping forward. So it's not only a complement but it may be as well an inspiration. It gives me ideas for my live versions of the song. So I like covers. Question: To eat ice cream in winter? I am "against" ice cream in winter. Because generally I don't like ice cream. I know that sounds weird because I wrote a song called "Ice Cream". But I don't like ice cream. Question: To participate in "Dancing With The Stars"? I am against participation in "Dancing With The Stars". I am not interested. Firstly because it's very difficult. Secondly because moving is a part of my job. I know I am not a dancer but I am moving on stage. I expresse myself with movements. So to be judged on my natural movements it would hurt me.So I am running away on 150km/h in a oposite direction. So I am absolutly "against". Question: One week without social medias? I am absolutely "for" a week without social media. You don't even have to encourage me. When it comes to social media, I'm touched by lazieness. I think it's hard. It stresses me out. It can be fun, but in 70% it's stressful for me. I don't know why this happens. And I'm certainly not alone in this. I think there are many people who feel stressed because they think they have to post something. Why should we be forced to post something? I believe that you need to write only about what inspires us, what builds us. Question: To make a movie about your creer? "Against" the movie about me. First, because I haven't died yet. Secondly, because I don't deserve it... Ah no! There is one "for". If a super star plays me. So in my role I would like it to see Winona Ryder or Tilda Swinton or Cate Blanchett. I would like that it is a woman. Question: Talent competitions on TV. Talent competitions exist and will be exist. I am "against" if such programs do not change. "For" it the programs evolve. The idea has been around for a long time. Before television it happened in cabarets, in theaters, even on Brodway. So, talent competitions exist. I am "for" the evolution of such programs. Question: Come back to The Voice? For the moment, it's clear. I'm not in The Voice. So this year, it's "against". Now I am very excited about working on my new music and preparing for a new concert tour. I devote myself totally to it. Question: Participate in "Healthy September"? Hmmm. "For" healthy.... healthy and period. Also "for" the pleasure. It would be absurd to be "healthy" for a month and then to do what you want for the rest of the year. I am absolutely "for" "healthy daytime" and "for" a bit of "healthy evening". Question: Electric scooters. Sorry, I am already an "old guy" and I am "against" electric scooters. They piss people off. Sorry. My friends, even my brother rides an electric scooter everywhere. What bothers me is that they (the companies that own scooter rentals) don't know what to do with them when people don't use them. It is absurd that scooters are abandoned anywhere and nobody collects them. It's strange that things are getting around the city. I do not understand why. Question: A chill out day with Netflix. "For" a chill out day and "for" spending the day watching TV series. Netflix is OK. But everything is starting to look very similar. What's cool about Netflix, Amazon and others is that we have access to great series, comedies that are not in our languages. So, we have not only American programs. Or not only French programs. And it is much more interesting. I am absolutely "for". Question: Choose three words describing your new album. Three words that describe my album. Personal. Full of love - I know these are three words, but oh well. And full of rage. These two things go very well together: love and rage. Thank you very much for listening to me. If you don't agree with what I said, you can do your own "For and against". By the way. Soon my new album will be released, it will be the 4th of October. Then a tour will start all over the world. I am "for" finishing of my album. END

Im the interview "Pour et Contre" for "Au féminin" Mika was asked to describe his new album in 3 words. It was : personal, full of love, full of rage. So let's wait 3 weeks for the album to see ( or rather to hear 😁 )

Ja się cieszę tym, że coraz więcej Polaków wchodzi na moją stronę internetową. Z miesiąca na miesiąc jest coraz więcej wejść. Czyli polscy fani szukają informacji o Mice!!!!! I jak to ostatnio Mika powiedział w swoich wywiadach: rynek muzyczny się zmienia. Bardzo dużo dzieje się na platformach muzycznych. Tak więc niekoniecznie radio czy telewizja mają wpływ na to, co ludzie słuchają.

Myślę, że Trójka bardzo się zmieniła jako stacja państwa (PiS i spółka). Od dawna jej nie słucham. Nawet zdziwiłam się, że Marek Niedźwiecki tam jeszcze pracuje. Wydawało mi się że go już dawno wyrzucili. Kiedyś to była stacja awangardowa i pokazywała nowe trendy. Listy Przebojów Trójki słuchali wszyscy. Cóż, dawne czasy....

Słuchałam listy wtedy w piątek. O Boże, co to się za audycja zrobiła! Albo polskie piosenki albo jakieś odgrzewane kotlety (nie obrażając nikogo): stare piosenki Queen, David Bowie. Nie wiem ile ludzi tego słucha. Żenada jednym słowem.

I already cried just listening to these 30 seconds . What is interesting in this interview: that issuing new songs Mika will do his vengeance by "kicking some guys in the balls" !!! Well we have heard about a half of the album and I don't see any "vengeance" for the moment 😁😁😁😁😁

Another beautiful song ... 30 seconds of "Oh Paloma" Oh Paloma.mp4

OMG! They played "Oh, Paloma" by mistake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This some made me cry. Another beautiful and touching song.....

A wet shirt. Oh, I wonder if Mika remembers this feeling BTW - great photo!!!!!

His father knows Italian for sure. He used to work in Rome for several years. Mika (if I remember well) mentioned it in his articles to Repubblica.

Mika once said that his father known 8 languages too. But I don't remember which one more except mentioned by you.

Hello Martyna. Welcome here on MFC. I hope you will find (almost) all information you need about Mika and his new album and concerts.

At least we can see this performace in a full light! It sound so different with an orchestra. A musical? A cartoon movie? It's more gentle, more delicate. Maybe Mika had some music in his head from the times when he was supposed to write "The Greatest Showman"? BTW: He again underestimated himself: the dumbest in the family because he speaks "only" 4 languages!!!! Oh,Mika, you are a genius!!!!!