Jump to content

OnStage magazine ,april (IT) - Mika in Wonderland

nicoleta

By nicoleta
in Mika News and Press

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 47
  • Created
  • Last Reply
Nezza

Nezza

Posted
Posted

Ok, it's done! It's not perfect, but better than an online translator at any rate :teehee:

 

****

 

He hasn't yet celebrated his 27th birthday, and for at least three years he has been an international star. But there's a lot more. To understand Mika's character you need to dig in to his past. As a child he lived in Lebanon, France and Great Britain, and it was during that period that his eclectic personality was formed. Colourful, sparkling, with an undeniable passion for theatricality, Mr Penniman Junior seems to have escaped from a bizzare comic-book world. Decidedly pop.

 

He had a breakthrough success in the world charts with his single Grace Kelly, written to mock the record labels who refused to promote his songs, forcing him to write songs he didn't want to, songs like Robbie Willams and Craig David sang. But instead, starting off on MySpace, this boy born in 1983, burst onto worldwide radio and in a short amount of time became defined as the new Freddy Mercury. Even Brian May, Queen's guitarist, declared himself to be a fan. Michael Holbrook Penniman Jr's - stage name Mika - first album, Life in Cartoon Motion, is an international success. From the first concerts he distinguished himself by his grand theatrics, such as his first show at Parc des Princes (a live DVD of this show was made) - an explosion of colour amongst clowns, acrobats, dancers, and musical bands. The second album, The Boy Who Knew Too Much, is practically the sequel to the first; a voyage through the adolescence of this eternal Peter Pan. From its release in September 2009, the new songs have climbed the radio charts. A sequence of distinctive videos - bright costumes and a glamourous flavour.

 

During our chat there's a word that keeps recurring like a catchphrase: weird. It means bizarre and strange, but also mysterious and magical. Could this be the key word to Mika's world? Careful though, behind every bit of magic there's a trick...

Mika, you know that this interview will also (and above all) be read by fans who have bought a ticket for your Milan concert? What should they expect?

 

It's fantastic! I've created a very ambitious show. I've tried to combine a mix of a theatre show and a concert. So I've taken a designer set from the world of opera, a film maker who works in cinema, so it's a bizarre collection of people. I've got a show director and choreographer who generally works in musicals, they've also done Sister Act and Mamma Mia. So I've fished around in the world of musicals and opera, and it's from that I've created my show.

 

Your recipe does make you think of the big musicals. Have you ever thought of writing one yourself?

 

No, I don't need to because my show's already enough like a musical. The show starts with my death. Yes, really - it's 1965 and I get sent into space because I want to go travelling a bit. My rocket goes higher and higher and eventually explodes. And I die. That's how the show starts. Everything that happens afterwards, during the concert, happens in a kind of lost world that floats in space. And it's all set in this bizarre and surreal fantastic place, which creates a contest for my songs, and all the characters in them come to life.

 

Speaking of songs, those in The Boy Who Knew Too Much are very personal and autobiographical. They speak about family, teenage dreams, heartbreak as in Touches You, Blue Eyes and Pick Up Off The Floor. Can you tell us something about your youth?

 

Normally I always say that I put my life in my songs, and I never speak about it in interviews. Because I've already put everything in them. It's true, they speak about my adolescence, but also for how I am now. I come from a very mixed and large family. I was born in Beirut, grew up in Paris until I was nine, and then in London. My dad's American, so I'm also part American. This eclectic mix saturates my music. So to understand where my songs come from you have to understand from where I come from. Mika's music isn't born from an image or a sound, but from the bizarreness of my life.

Your music's very lively and energetic, whereas the lyrics are very tough. What's your approach to life, your "perspective on life" to quote the intro to Blame it on The Girls?

 

I think that this approach gives power to a message. A song such as We Are Golden talks about being 19 or 20 and being desperate, without knowing what to do with your life. The character in the video is sitting in his room and he could even kill himself if he let too much darkness take over. The lyrics are very dark, they speak about a boy who could do something terrible to himself, whereas the melody is very euphoric and happy. There's this bizarre contrast between the two and I think this effect makes you feel better. When you see someone or you read something that references your life and at the same time you listen to music that emotionally makes you feel better the effect's very strong. That's why I do it. It's for the same reason I like doing things that seem very childlike with messages that are annoying for adults, even in songs such as Toy Boy or Lollipop - you think that they're nursery rhymes, but in reality they're really grotesque. And the message is rather dark. There, I like the contrast.

In effect it's very effective. Toy Boy's lyrics speak about a male friendship which was broken by one of the two's mum who "thought there was something wrong". Is it a message of hope or are you pessimistic about certain topics?

 

No, I think there has to be hope. Without hope there isn't any motive to write songs. A show's put together only by hope, to give it to the audience. And you listen to music because you look for it, right? It isn't a way of escaping, it's a way of making people feel better. So I think yes, with Toy Boy there's definitely hope. And I think that with songs like that all you have to do is "trick" people into inducing them to like the song first before they realise what it's really about. Because it's that way you bring them close to the problematic subject, which they normally wouldn't approach.

 

How was your first meeting with music? We know you have a classical background.

 

I was 11 years old and I had my first job at the Royal Opera House in a Strauss opera, after I'd been kicked out of school. Straightaway I loved that job. I didn't like that type of music a lot, but I loved the theatre. And I told myself "Ok, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life." I would've liked to write music for films too. But seeing as I'm dyslexic I couldn't compose for films. So that's how I started writing songs.

 

But now you're part of the Kick Ass soundtrack, the latest film adaption of a Marvel comic. How was that experience for you?

 

It started in a very stressful way. They let me see the film and they asked me,"Do you like it? Good, you have two days to write a song for it." So I got to work and I wrote it with Red One, who's part of Lady Gaga's staff. It was unexpected, and it all happened very quickly, but I loved the song from the start and now I play it at the end of my concerts. I use it as farewell music and even if I've already gone off the stage the audience waits until it's finished. They stay there and dance, it's marvellous.

If you were a comic-book superhero, who would you be and which superpower would you have?

 

I've always wanted to be able to freeze time. That way you could stop when you liked what you were doing, in a way of being in that moment a little bit longer. Or you could stop it when you hated something, because you maybe wanted a break from the horrible experience that you were going through. But the best thing would be to stop time when you were entering a shop, take everything you wanted, and then leaving.

 

With this view you'd be a lot of people's favourite superhero...

Yes, the shoplifting hero!

 

It's clear that you like fashion and you have a very particular style.

 

I like style, I don't go crazy for fashion. Some outfits from my new tour were designed by Alessandro Sartori, who is Zegna's creative director. And the shoes for the shows were designed by Christian Louboutin. The other costumes, such as those in an "opera" style have nearly all been made by my mum. The concept is that I like mixing things - my mum's costumes with outfits by famous designers and something second-hand that I find in cheap shops. For me it's not a question of fashion, but of style. Fashion is things like perfume and handbags, style is priceless.

 

So you work with your mum (and your sister) who also designed your album covers and your website. Your family's definitely dedicated to art.

 

We're a family that argues all the time because all the members work together too much! The truth is that when we started we didn't have the money to get other people involved, and nobody wanted to work with us. So we did everything ourselves. Whoever sees one of my shows needs to remember that everything you see is handmade. Everything's made in my friends and staff's houses, because we don't want to seem too expensive or perfect. Because if something seems too perfect it doesn't have any heart and it doesn't mean anything on an emotional level. So at my concerts you get a unique sensation because everything has been created with feeling and heart.

Being excited is the most important thing?

 

Exactly, I think that everything must be handmade, with heart, and it's important that it stays like that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
AnnaMariaPetra

AnnaMariaPetra

Posted
Posted

Thank you TransolatorWoman Nezza!:mf_lustslow:

 

KleptoMan(iac) :naughty:

 

:lmao: perfect! tweet that to him, that's hilarious! :lmfao:

 

:teehee: I have (I shall blame you if he doesn't think it is funny :mf_rosetinted:)

 

You really should, if you haven't already! I'm glad I already finished my coffee, otherwise it would have been spread all over my keyboard because it made me laugh so hard!:roftl:

 

 

Did I see it correctly you can win a Nintendo DS? With a style-game? Good fit next to the Mika-interview!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Dreamy_Queen

Dreamy_Queen

Posted
Posted

Thank you, the translation is great :thumb_yello:

But the best thing would be to stop time when you were entering a shop, take everything you wanted, and then leaving. - exactly my dreams when I was a kid!!! I have a shoplifting dreams similar to Mika's ones :naughty:

 

And - what about the show? I hoped there will be no more Astro-theme! :sneaky2:

Somebody knows what the rest of the gigs in this year will be about?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Abbyyy

Abbyyy

Posted
Posted
Thank you, the translation is great :thumb_yello:

But the best thing would be to stop time when you were entering a shop, take everything you wanted, and then leaving. - exactly my dreams when I was a kid!!! I have a shoplifting dreams similar to Mika's ones :naughty:

 

And - what about the show? I hoped there will be no more Astro-theme! :sneaky2:

Somebody knows what the rest of the gigs in this year will be about?

 

That's what I thought...I didn't think he'd return to the space-theme for this leg of the tour. Maybe he was interviewed for this article a while ago - before he'd decided what he was going to do for these shows :dunno:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Dreamy_Queen

Dreamy_Queen

Posted
Posted
That's what I thought...I didn't think he'd return to the space-theme for this leg of the tour. Maybe he was interviewed for this article a while ago - before he'd decided what he was going to do for these shows :dunno:

 

I hope so! I like his current show so much!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Privacy Policy

  I accept