Mika in Veronica Magazine (Dutch) - September 2012

[~Wicky~]

We have a lot of Mika interviews these days!

 

This is a Mika interview in Dutch tv guide Veronica Magazine:

 

 

 

 

 

Made some quick pictures of the interview... don't have time to translate it now, sorry! Some headlines: The author concludes that Mika isn't sex, drugs and rock and roll (Mika ate three apples in 15 minutes and drunk a lot of water) - Mika tells that he gets his energy from his public and the public from him - Since Mika performs he doesn't walk in his sleep anymore - When Mika get's on stage he falls into a black hole, he doesn't remember 'anything' afterwards - Cutting his hair was a symbolic deed, it was the start of a new life (Mika: "Not only women do it, or maybe I'm a man and woman in one") - When he becomes fifty he wants to paint his hair blue and he wants to take xtc pills like they are M&M's (my oh my) - Mika: "Love makes me a better person" - Mika: "Love is the best that ever happened to me".

[smokesignal]

Oh, my... those headlines

 

I'll try my hands on a translation.

 

Thanks for posting Nicky!

Edited September 26, 2012 by smokesignal

[IngievV]

That was a really good interview! Although I do hope he won't dye his hair blue nor swallow XTC pills like candy:fisch:

[smokesignal]

Translation (although perhaps I should have left it to the master... feel free to correct mistakes Ingie)

 

Mika 'Perhaps I'm man and woman in one'

 

Exuberant, eccentric and very much present. Multi talent Mika is totally back with a new album, The Origin of Love. But he also has new hair and a new love. And he is more candid than ever.

 

Five years ago, he broke through worldwide with the album LICM. Michael Holbrook Penniman, better known as Mika, brought humour to popbizz with songs that impudently referred to cartoons, movie stars from past times and just about every androgynous pop star from music history. Mika was all that, combined in one hypertalented person, but without showing too much about his own life. Five years later, Mika is mostly himself. It's clear that he is feeling good and no longer hides behind jokes to distract attention from himself. We meet him in a hotel in Amsterdam, where he devours three apples and liters of water in 15 minutes. Alcohol, drugs and other rock-'n-roll excesses are wasted on the British-Lebanese prodigy. He doesn't need those anyway; Mika is overactive by himself, which definitely explains his engaging personality on stage. You cannot avoid this man, and he knows it. "Music is a simple language. When I perform somewhere, there must be magic. Because I know myself: if I do well, I'm really good. But when I have a bad day, or even a mediocre one, then I'm a horror during the show. You know, I work with so many musicians that are a hundred times more talented than me. But I just pull all the energy out of my audience and hurl it back at them. It's the interaction, they can pull all my energy to them as well."

 

Sleepwalker

He has always been hyperactive, the now 30 year old (yes, that's what they say) superstar remembers. "As a child, I used to sleepwalk a lot. I've been brought home by the police several times, because I had been found in some weird neighbourhood in the middle of the night. In the end my mother had to put bars on the windows and barricade the door. The weird thing is: when I was 12, I performed for the first time and then the sleepwalking stopped. And the most bizarre: the moment I step on stage, I fall into a kind of black whole. I hardly remember anything afterwards, haha." His performances might take place in a sort of trance for Mika, he does live the rest of his life in a state of consciousness. So he was fully sane when he decided to change his wild curls for a neat short haircut. With a grin from ear to ear: "That was a symbolic deed. Simply **** off, hair, haha! It was the beginning of a new life for me. That's something that does not just apply to women, that they cut their hair all of a sudden then. Men do it as well! Although, perhaps I'm man and woman in one, haha! Short hair often looks better, I think. And it's a lot easier. I also think I'm going to dye my hair blue at some point, but then I first want to become 50. And then I'm going to take xtc pills as if they are M&M's. Then I'm just going to do everything that normal people do when they're 13 or so; I live my life backwards. But in any case, this really is a new phase in my life."

 

Out of the closet

The reason is no secret anymore. Earlier this year, Mika fi-nal-ly came out of the closet, after years of speculation in the media. Not that it was a big surprise for anyone with an ounce of gaydar, but it was still a big deal for Mika, who until that moment invariably stayed silent on the topic. He found love, and it doesn't only engulf him with happiness, but also with inspiration. A blessing for an artist, you would think. But at the same time Mika is in a permanent state of confusion. "Man, love does really weird things to your ego! On the one hand it shrinks completely, up to the point that you think you don't even have it anymore, on the other hand it completely blows up your ego. Love is all or nothing, it's the one thing in life that you cannot compromise on even in the slightest. It makes me very productive, but it can also be very destructive. Jealousy, for instance, is a terrible phenomenon. Longing, because your love is far away from you, is horrible as well. But at the same time, it makes everything very exciting. I do know that love makes me a better person. And I'm very happy with that." That Mika successfully managed to turn the butterflies in his stomach into wonderful new songs, is a bonus. "For many other artists, misery brings inspiration. Well, not for me. With a broken heart I feel bad and I write **** songs. When I'm in love, I'm full of confidence and I'm on a roll. Although I have learnt that you first have to suck before you can make something beautiful. Love makes me less afraid to fail. You have to dare to stumble to get up again. And this is by far the best thing that has ever happened to me."

[Marly]

That was a nice surprise when I was looking through the Veronica. It's a nice interview.

[krysady]

Thanks,nice interview!

[Dreamy_Queen]

Thank you for posting!

 

The part about dying hair in 50 I heard 2 years ago

 

And it is nice to know what love means for him... that he knows what it means and how it feels like...

[mari62]

Thank you! it's an interesting interview

Thank you for posting!

 

The part about dying hair in 50 I heard 2 years ago

 

And it is nice to know what love means for him... that he knows what it means and how it feels like...

yes, we already heard that

With a broken heart I feel bad and I write **** songs

I don't think that's true btw

[~Wicky~]

Smokesignal thanks for translating the article!

I didn't have time to do it.

[mellody]

t4p and translating!!

lovely interview, but... isn't he 29?