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Rather silly than just pretty

Droopsy

By Droopsy
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Droopsy

Droopsy

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A longgggg nice German interview and nice pictures!

Online translator... again... but better than nothing! Maybe there's a nice German fan out there? :blush-anim-cl:

 

More pictures on the site

http://www.laut.de/vorlaut/feature/23068/index.htm

 

foto3bild.th.jpg foto2bild.th.jpg foto4bild.th.jpg foto1bild.th.jpg

----------------------------

!Thanks to Mellody for proper translation! :thumb_yello:

--------------------------------

"Rather silly than just pretty"

 

His first album sold millions of copies. Therefore for the second album "The Boy Who Knew Too Much", Mika just pretends he has nothing to lose.

 

By Deborah Katona

 

 

"Uberall Konfettiiiiiii!" (confetti everywhere!) Mika giggles at his concert in the evening into the microphone. He bounces across the stage, throwing golden glitter paper on the audience, shaking his long, thin body and his head of brown curly hair. Again and again he tries his hand in German. Jokes with the audience. Fidgets.

 

When we meet him only two hours earlier in the Munich Hotel Cortina, we can't feel much at first of the hyperactive Mika. (don't know how to express that better, they mean he's not as hyperactive there as at the gig) He sits in a big chair, a plate of pasta on his knees. The pop star is polite. Stands up to say hello, asks us to sit down, immediately puts away his food.

 

Mika is in a standby position, a bit reserved. The brown doe eyes look shyly at first. But as soon as he hears the first question, he starts to laugh. Throughout the entire interview it sounds, this inviting laugh. (they mean he has a nice laugh and laughs often during the interview)

 

Like a little boy he sometimes babbles and babbles without drawing a breath. Starts new sentences before he has finished the previous one. He IS "The Boy Who Knows Too Much". And he shares it with everyone.

 

Mika, in the video for your new single "We Are Golden," you dance around pretty lightly dressed, only in underwear and with golden sneakers. Honestly, does anything still embarass you after doing such a video?

 

(Laughs) Nothing (laughs again). Absolutely nothing. And that's why I wanted it. I looked at the second albums by other artists, especially those that are crap. The biggest difference between the first and the second record is if you feel that this person is hiding, trying to protect themselves and taking fewer risks. Then I thought to myself: I have to deal with this horrible thought that I have to produce a second album and that I am competing with myself. That's why I'm now just acting like I had nothing to lose. That's just what it looks like in reality. I have to deal with that. This video reflects my attitude towards the second album.

 

How many people were standing around you while you were dancing there half-naked?

 

Oh, not that many. Perhaps 16.

 

16? Well, I think I'd have a problem with being almost naked in front of 16 people.

 

Believe me, you're getting used to it. They're not bothered by it at all. That's all very relaxed. But I'm surprised now that someone from Germany says something like this (laughs).

 

What was the strangest thing you've ever done as a teenager?

 

I was 14. One morning, my mother started to cry when she walked into my bedroom. I was just scrubbing my wall with a sponge. There was a stain, but I wanted my walls white. White. White. White. (laughs)

 

Why didn't you just paint your walls?

 

Oh, I've done that too. When I was about 11, I decided that everything should be white. That's why I painted our complete living room white, every single little piece of furniture.

 

Are you still doing this?

 

In my house pretty everything is white.

 

Why?

 

No idea. I guess anything else would constrain my thinking. (it might mean that he'd be too distracted, no idea what he actually said) And I love the idea of filling a room with ideas. With perversions. With fantasies, and all such things. And that's why I don't want anything distracting on the walls.

 

That's a big difference to your videos, they're always very colourful.

 

Maybe that's the same as with fashion designers who create these amazing garments. They always wear only black. Black T-shirt. Black jeans. It's somehow the same.

 

Do you sometimes want to be 15 again?

 

Do I?

 

I don't know, you tell me.

No. I run away from it as fast as I can.

 

But if you were 15 again, what would you do differently?

 

(Thinks for a long time) I would like to say that I would take a lot of drugs, party every night and not apologize for anything. But the truth is: If I were 15 again ... oh whatever. That's ok. I'll just do all those things when I'm 58. Then I'll sit on the balcony, with a bathtub full of ecstasy and scream at people (really screams) "I will die anyway, so I don't give a damn!" (laughs)

 

Why not now?

 

It's not the right time for it yet. No, I was only kidding. If I were 15 again, then ... then ... I would no longer be scared.

 

Be scared of what?

 

Of just everything. I was scared of other people. Scared of what they might say about my weight. Scared of being beaten up. Scared of approaching anyone. Scared of what others might think of my music. I was simply scared of everything. I was really a coward.

 

In an interview you once said that you used to be an oddball. Today you seem pretty confident. What happened?

 

I'm just confident now because I know what I'm doing. And quite honestly, I'm still having problems with my insecurity. Put me into a room full of strangers and tell me to enjoy myself. Then I don't know how to act. So I hide in the corner, drink too much and go home. After that, I'm annoyed because no one has talked to me. When in fact this is my own fault. But you know, when I'm on stage, it is completely different. There, I know how to act. There, I don't have to be afraid of what anybody thinks about me. On stage I have nothing to lose.

 

Well, your fans, perhaps?

 

No. It's not like that. When I'm on stage, I do not think about my fans - I think of myself and make the music for me. I think that's why my fans are standing behind me so much. They know that I'm performing for the right reasons. In any case, not because I want them to join a fan club or something.

 

Let's talk about your new album. What is so special about it for you?

 

There is nobody else who makes the kind of music like I do. Really no one. My music does not come out of a fashion or a trend. It arises because it makes me happy. If you listen to it, what echoes out of your speakers reminds you of a mix of the wacky Tim Burton movies and the Disney stuff. From each song to the next, all these crazy colors and shapes and swirls and emotions develop, and I love it. I wanted the bedroom walls of my youth to explode and fly up into space. That's why the cover looks like this.

 

Why did you decide on the album title "The Boy Who Knew Too Much"?

 

Because it sounded like a movie.

 

The one by Alfred Hitchcock?

 

Yes, exactly that one. I love this movie and I love Hitchcock. That's why I wanted my album to feel like a movie. If you watch Hitchcock, you always have the feeling to be with the best stalker in the world. And I was a stalker when I was younger (laughs). I've certainly felt that way.

 

What do you mean by that?

 

I was a stalker, because I was not brave enough to act. My song "I See You" is exactly about this.

 

You're often compared to the Scissor Sisters and seen as the next Robbie Williams. Does that bother you?

 

Nope, I don't mind.

 

With whom would you not like to be compared?

 

Oh, that's interesting now (thinks for a long time). I don't know. Maybe ... (thinks again). Oh no, I won't say anything about that now. Otherwise I would have to say something bad about another artist. No, no, I will not do that! (Laughs)

 

The 80s sound is currently pretty en vogue in pop music. There's La Roux, there's Little Boots, MGMT, and many others. You're music is like that too. Are you afraid of the other artists?

 

Oh, I like their music. I think they are good.

 

So you're not scared that they might take your pole position and you sell less records?

 

No. I do not think that I sound like them. All right, they get their inspiration from the '80s. And some people say about me that my music sounds like 80s. But I do not think that our sound is similar. I think it is slowly going back towards not being bad anymore to be a pop musician. Previously, I sometimes had to listen to things like: "Oh, you're making pop music. That's disgusting." At that time, indie bands were en vogue. Then I came, and before me a few like the Scissor Sisters, and now look at that. There's Gaga, La Roux, Florence and the Machine, and all those. Nowadays, pop music is brought forward more and more by more and more artists. That's great.

 

Your first album "Life in Cartoon Motion" was a huge success, with six million sold copies. Has that put you under pressure for the follow-up?

 

Let's put it this way: If my first album had sold half a million times, it also would've been a huge success. From zero to half a million. Right? So back then it didn't matter how many records I'd sell. I was a nobody before that. But no matter what once used to be, I will always force myself to do something which I am personally proud of. I have nothing else. This is no joke for me. I do not do this because I want to be famous. When I think of having to be a star to promote my album, I feel like I want to harm myself (it might even be translated with "kill myself" :shocked:). But I release CDs, which I think are good and which therefor should do well. They have to. I'm a pop musician, not an indie artist. That's just the vice of pop music. My records must be well received. How well, that lies in God's hands, but well.

You once said in an interview that you give a **** what others think of you. So. What is Mika like? Not the Mika from the television or on stage, but you.

 

Mika is still the same, strange child, who has fun in watching people from afar.

 

You also once said that you used to be pretty ugly. How do you see yourself now? I mean, after all, you work as a model.

 

Silly! I'd rather be silly than just beautiful. That's better. Today I no longer think about it - I do not need to anymore. I can just be.

 

Your new album is about youth. You were teased and bullied in yours. So why do you sing again and again about this difficult time? Wouldn't you rather forget?

 

Good question. I do not write about the people who teased me. I write about ordinary things. Love, identity, identity above all. And in fact rather about the effects of love and how you get love. I prefer to write about that than about being in love, this is boring.

 

You find being in love boring?

 

Yes. Perhaps that's because I was never really in love. But then I'm only 26. I mean, my heart already got broken, but I wasn't really in love. That is a difference.

 

I don't really understand the difference.

 

Having your heart broken is a completely different process. This can happen so fast, even if you don't love the person.

 

Want to tell something about it?

 

It happened just as I released my first album. Do you know what I did then? (grins) I took 2000 pounds from the advance the record company had given me. From this I had additional posters of my album printed. Then I put up these posters on any possible surface around the house of this person (laughs). I always do things like that. A song of my new album is called "Rain". The text was actually a break up letter. Then I thought that it would actually be quite funny to put a dance beat behind it and convert it into a pop song. Which is then played on the radio and increases my message tenfold (laughs).

 

Did you get any reaction from the person?

 

No, no. And hopefully never will.

 

Ok. One last question: How does a life become golden?

 

When you stop looking for gold.

Edited by Droopsy
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mellody
mellody

phew, this is long. part 1, black & italic comments are by me:   "Rather silly than just pretty"   His first album sold millions of copies. Therefore for the second album "The Boy Who Knew To

mellody
mellody

part 2. part 3 will take a while, as i now have to record the bayern3 interview.   Let's talk about your new album. What is so special about it for you?   There is nobody else who makes the kind

mellody
mellody

3rd and last part:   You once said in an interview that you give a **** what others think of you. So. What is Mika like? Not the Mika from the television or on stage, but you.   Mika is still the

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Droopsy

Droopsy

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I would say it's an interesting article if it wasn't actually quite depressing at times and difficult to understand :aah:

 

But thanks for posting!

 

Ooh, I can tell this is a super intersting article! :aah:

 

 

I've just read it entirely and I loved it! Finally some stuff that's a bit different. Loved the story about the break-up:aah:

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mariposa

mariposa

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Wow! T4p!

 

Love it!

 

Thank you, Mellody that you're gonna work on this online translation. I would have volunteered as well, but I don't have time for that at the moment, sorry.

 

Am happy to read that so far all of the 4 comments under the article are all very positive (and they were not not from Mika fans apparently :thumb_yello:)

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Droopsy

Droopsy

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A bit difficult to read due to the online translator but one thing is for sure:

I wouldn't like Mika to break up with me, he has some unconventional methods.:aah:

I know right! :aah:

 

"Thou dost" LOL!

 

Love Shakespearean translators. ;)

 

Thanks for posting. :D

 

:lmao:

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mellody

mellody

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phew, this is long. part 1, black & italic comments are by me:

 

"Rather silly than just pretty"

 

His first album sold millions of copies. Therefore for the second album "The Boy Who Knew Too Much", Mika just pretends he has nothing to lose.

 

By Deborah Katona

 

 

"Uberall Konfettiiiiiii!" (confetti everywhere!) Mika giggles at his concert in the evening into the microphone. He bounces across the stage, throwing golden glitter paper on the audience, shaking his long, thin body and his head of brown curly hair. Again and again he tries his hand in German. Jokes with the audience. Fidgets.

 

When we meet him only two hours earlier in the Munich Hotel Cortina, we can't feel much at first of the hyperactive Mika. (don't know how to express that better, they mean he's not as hyperactive there as at the gig) He sits in a big chair, a plate of pasta on his knees. The pop star is polite. Stands up to say hello, asks us to sit down, immediately puts away his food.

 

Mika is in a standby position, a bit reserved. The brown doe eyes look shyly at first. But as soon as he hears the first question, he starts to laugh. Throughout the entire interview it sounds, this inviting laugh. (they mean he has a nice laugh and laughs often during the interview)

 

Like a little boy he sometimes babbles and babbles without drawing a breath. Starts new sentences before he has finished the previous one. He IS "The Boy Who Knows Too Much". And he shares it with everyone.

 

Mika, in the video for your new single "We Are Golden," you dance around pretty lightly dressed, only in underwear and with golden sneakers. Honestly, does anything still embarass you after doing such a video?

 

(Laughs) Nothing (laughs again). Absolutely nothing. And that's why I wanted it. I looked at the second albums by other artists, especially those that are crap. The biggest difference between the first and the second record is if you feel that this person is hiding, trying to protect themselves and taking fewer risks. Then I thought to myself: I have to deal with this horrible thought that I have to produce a second album and that I am competing with myself. That's why I'm now just acting like I had nothing to lose. That's just what it looks like in reality. I have to deal with that. This video reflects my attitude towards the second album.

 

How many people were standing around you while you were dancing there half-naked?

 

Oh, not that many. Perhaps 16.

 

16? Well, I think I'd have a problem with being almost naked in front of 16 people.

 

Believe me, you're getting used to it. They're not bothered by it at all. That's all very relaxed. But I'm surprised now that someone from Germany says something like this (laughs).

 

What was the strangest thing you've ever done as a teenager?

 

I was 14. One morning, my mother started to cry when she walked into my bedroom. I was just scrubbing my wall with a sponge. There was a stain, but I wanted my walls white. White. White. White. (laughs)

 

Why didn't you just paint your walls?

 

Oh, I've done that too. When I was about 11, I decided that everything should be white. That's why I painted our complete living room white, every single little piece of furniture.

 

Are you still doing this?

 

In my house pretty everything is white.

 

Why?

 

No idea. I guess anything else would constrain my thinking. (it might mean that he'd be too distracted, no idea what he actually said) And I love the idea of filling a room with ideas. With perversions. With fantasies, and all such things. And that's why I don't want anything distracting on the walls.

 

That's a big difference to your videos, they're always very colourful.

 

Maybe that's the same as with fashion designers who create these amazing garments. They always wear only black. Black T-shirt. Black jeans. It's somehow the same.

 

Do you sometimes want to be 15 again?

 

Do I?

 

I don't know, you tell me.

No. I run away from it as fast as I can.

 

But if you were 15 again, what would you do differently?

 

(Thinks for a long time) I would like to say that I would take a lot of drugs, party every night and not apologize for anything. But the truth is: If I were 15 again ... oh whatever. That's ok. I'll just do all those things when I'm 58. Then I'll sit on the balcony, with a bathtub full of ecstasy and scream at people (really screams) "I will die anyway, so I don't give a damn!" (laughs)

 

Why not now?

 

It's not the right time for it yet. No, I was only kidding. If I were 15 again, then ... then ... I would no longer be scared.

 

Be scared of what?

 

Of just everything. I was scared of other people. Scared of what they might say about my weight. Scared of being beaten up. Scared of approaching anyone. Scared of what others might think of my music. I was simply scared of everything. I was really a coward.

 

In an interview you once said that you used to be an oddball. Today you seem pretty confident. What happened?

 

I'm just confident now because I know what I'm doing. And quite honestly, I'm still having problems with my insecurity. Put me into a room full of strangers and tell me to enjoy myself. Then I don't know how to act. So I hide in the corner, drink too much and go home. After that, I'm annoyed because no one has talked to me. When in fact this is my own fault. But you know, when I'm on stage, it is completely different. There, I know how to act. There, I don't have to be afraid of what anybody thinks about me. On stage I have nothing to lose.

 

Well, your fans, perhaps?

 

No. It's not like that. When I'm on stage, I do not think about my fans - I think of myself and make the music for me. I think that's why my fans are standing behind me so much. They know that I'm performing for the right reasons. In any case, not because I want them to join a fan club or something.

 

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mellody

mellody

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part 2. part 3 will take a while, as i now have to record the bayern3 interview. :bleh:

 

Let's talk about your new album. What is so special about it for you?

 

There is nobody else who makes the kind of music like I do. Really no one. My music does not come out of a fashion or a trend. It arises because it makes me happy. If you listen to it, what echoes out of your speakers reminds you of a mix of the wacky Tim Burton movies and the Disney stuff. From each song to the next, all these crazy colors and shapes and swirls and emotions develop, and I love it. I wanted the bedroom walls of my youth to explode and fly up into space. That's why the cover looks like this.

 

Why did you decide on the album title "The Boy Who Knew Too Much"?

 

Because it sounded like a movie.

 

The one by Alfred Hitchcock?

 

Yes, exactly that one. I love this movie and I love Hitchcock. That's why I wanted my album to feel like a movie. If you watch Hitchcock, you always have the feeling to be with the best stalker in the world. And I was a stalker when I was younger (laughs). I've certainly felt that way.

 

What do you mean by that?

 

I was a stalker, because I was not brave enough to act. My song "I See You" is exactly about this.

 

You're often compared to the Scissor Sisters and seen as the next Robbie Williams. Does that bother you?

 

Nope, I don't mind.

 

With whom would you not like to be compared?

 

Oh, that's interesting now (thinks for a long time). I don't know. Maybe ... (thinks again). Oh no, I won't say anything about that now. Otherwise I would have to say something bad about another artist. No, no, I will not do that! (Laughs)

 

The 80s sound is currently pretty en vogue in pop music. There's La Roux, there's Little Boots, MGMT, and many others. You're music is like that too. Are you afraid of the other artists?

 

Oh, I like their music. I think they are good.

 

So you're not scared that they might take your pole position and you sell less records?

 

No. I do not think that I sound like them. All right, they get their inspiration from the '80s. And some people say about me that my music sounds like 80s. But I do not think that our sound is similar. I think it is slowly going back towards not being bad anymore to be a pop musician. Previously, I sometimes had to listen to things like: "Oh, you're making pop music. That's disgusting." At that time, indie bands were en vogue. Then I came, and before me a few like the Scissor Sisters, and now look at that. There's Gaga, La Roux, Florence and the Machine, and all those. Nowadays, pop music is brought forward more and more by more and more artists. That's great.

 

Your first album "Life in Cartoon Motion" was a huge success, with six million sold copies. Has that put you under pressure for the follow-up?

 

Let's put it this way: If my first album had sold half a million times, it also would've been a huge success. From zero to half a million. Right? So back then it didn't matter how many records I'd sell. I was a nobody before that. But no matter what once used to be, I will always force myself to do something which I am personally proud of. I have nothing else. This is no joke for me. I do not do this because I want to be famous. When I think of having to be a star to promote my album, I feel like I want to harm myself (it might even be translated with "kill myself" :shocked:). But I release CDs, which I think are good and which therefor should do well. They have to. I'm a pop musician, not an indie artist. That's just the vice of pop music. My records must be well received. How well, that lies in God's hands, but well.

 

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