MIKA in US Press - 2015

[Starlight]

I loved that film when I was little. Maybe Mika should write film music too!

Oh yes!!!! That would be perfect!!!

[Marilyn Mastin]

I loved that film when I was little.  Maybe Mika should write film music too!

I really hope he will do that!

[mamiam]

I really hope he will do that!

 

And so do I - both film music and musicals, in addition to new albums...

 

Love,love

me

[teenagedreamer98]

And so do I - both film music and musicals, in addition to new albums...

 

Love,love

me

 

Yeah, maybe there should be a musical based around his songs, like We Will Rock You for Queen and Mamma Mia for ABBA.  That would be amazing.

[Starlight]

Yeah, maybe there should be a musical based around his songs, like We Will Rock You for Queen and Mamma Mia for ABBA. That would be amazing.

Omg I just love your ideas! He would really deserve it. Let's hope, maybe one day!

[teenagedreamer98]

Omg I just love your ideas! He would really deserve it. Let's hope, maybe one day!

 

Aw thanks!  Let's keep our fingers crossed!

[dcdeb]

http://www.wisconsingazette.com/music/mika-stops-hiding-with-no-place-in-heaven.html

 

 

Written by Jan Janssen, The Interview Feed

Thursday, 27 August 2015 06:55

 

Mika stops hiding with ‘No Place in Heaven’

 

 

Mika is one of pop music’s most uniquely talented artists. The Anglo-Lebanese singer burst into the spotlight with his superb debut album, Life in Cartoon Motion, which has sold nearly 6 million copies since its release in 2007. 

 

Since then, he has continued to demonstrate the gift for sweet melody and catchy hooks that has become his trademark, along with a voice that evokes the spirit and register of Elton John, Freddie Mercury and David Bowie.

 

His new album, No Place in Heaven, is perhaps the 31-year-old singer/songwriter’s most potent and inspired artistic achievement yet. Evoking vintage pop and sprinkled with emotionally charged love songs, No Place in Heaven is the result of a two-year period of intense dedication. The album has in part been conceived as an act of personal liberation for the artist, who in recent years has admitted the difficulty of coming out and being open about his sexuality, now saying, “I no longer want to hide.”

 

Of course, when you’re a mega-selling pop idol like Mika, it is practically impossible to live beneath the radar. Today, the tall, lean singer best known for songs like “Grace Kelly,” “Relax, Take it Easy,” “We Are Golden” and “Elle me dit” (“She Tells Me,” recorded in English as “Emily”), is embracing life more fully than ever and his new album is conceived in part as a more intimate portrait of his life.

 

“Until three years ago I was very resistant to revealing myself: on TV, in (magazine and print) interviews. Then I started to do the opposite. I stopped trying to protect me, to be afraid to show my inner life. I won the battle!,” Mika says. “I began talking about myself, explaining who I am, as if I had found a sort of candor in my way of being and making music. I also decided to stop putting distance between me and my songs. This album, No Place in Heaven, is my diary.”

 

Born in Beirut, Mika was barely a year old when in 1984 he and his family were forced to flee the country in order to escape the Lebanese Civil War. Mika lived first in France and then, from the age of 9 onward, he grew up in England. Growing up, he dealt with the challenges of being dyslexic and also suffered from intense bullying.

 

A few years ago, Mika opened up about being gay and having to overcome the stigma that comes from a Middle East culture on his father’s side: “I was scared of not being accepted by my family. No one in my family is gay. No one in my extended family is gay. It was a very foreign, alien thing. You’re scared of being judged. Then you realize there is nothing to be afraid of if you are happy. I fell in love. I lost love. I found it again. I reached a point where I was like, ‘You know what, I’ve lived my life and I’ve never pretended to be anyone else.’”

 

Mika, is this the most personal album of your career?

 

This album is much more intimate and personal. There are no metaphors or turns of phrase to mask my feelings. Having come from a Middle East culture, I felt weighed down with a sense of shame for a long time, and this album is a way of escaping that paranoia.

 

This is an album that speaks of freedom, of becoming an adult — the person we want to become is always more interesting than who we are. But I don’t want to be a role model, a model for others, that’s something that scares me. I write songs that are part of the process of living and expressing my life.

 

Why did you choose this particular, rather sad title for the album?

 

The title is not sad. On the contrary, it’s joyful. If I find place in heaven, that’s fine, otherwise there’s no problem — I won’t go there at any price. This goes against the culture in which I grew up, though. My Lebanese side includes a healthy dose of paranoia in dealing with personal issues.

 

Now I feel I’ve finally been able to knock down the wall, to break out of that shell. Now I understand that the real shame is to keep inside certain things. Years ago when I would give interviews I would avoid talking about serious personal things, I kept everything at a distance. Now it’s my time to free my soul.

 

The title also kind of makes you wonder why a guy who is 31 can say that there’s no place in heaven for him. It’s a liberating title and it’s all about shaking off the concept of shame and wrestling with the concept of living in the moment more.

 

Is there an overriding emotional theme to your music?

 

Joy! But in my songs there is always a conflict between the immediacy of melody and very blunt words that reek of truth. The album No Place in Heaven is perhaps difficult to understand immediately. You discover the meaning by listening to it several times, reading the lyrics. I talk about love, but also about suffering, ecstasy and violence. A mix of conflicting feelings, which makes my music emotionally true. 

 

In one song, for example, I wonder if there is a love story that is truly full of joy. But maybe that doesn’t exist — there. Maybe it you can only find that at Disneyland where a romantic date is totally happy. Maybe there will be 10 fantastic minutes, 40 unforgettable, but then 20 horrible minutes. But we seem to be programmed to remember only the good things. 

 

You wrote this album while living in California?

 

Yes, in Laurel Canyon (Los Angeles). My inspirations are first and foremost Elton John, Billy Joel, and the golden age of pop songwriters from the ‘70s. I first started working in a huge, very modern studio in Los Angeles, but I ran away after a week, because it wasn’t the place where I wanted to write an album. So I went to the Apple store, bought a computer, bought a piano, called my musicians and we moved into a 1950s era house in L.A. But what I didn’t know was that Orlando Bloom had been living in that house and there were always tourists and fans standing outside waiting for him! But I stayed there for three months and it was very beautiful and intense.

 

What was the experience like? 

 

I was kind of inspired by the story of how Elton John composed his Yellow Brick Road album at a place called The Castle in France, where he would compose in the morning and record in the afternoon. The house in Los Angeles was like a little factory. We would record and write in the living room, different musicians would come in and out, some would be waiting in the garden. It was a very creative atmosphere. I was constantly writing. During those three months, I maybe left the house four or five times. I wanted to write a record that felt like it came out of a bubble. 

 

Your new album has a very distinct French chanson influence to it.

 

I spent a lot of time growing up in Paris and my first musical education came through the French songs of Gainsbourg, Françoise Hardy, Barbara Moustaki, Rita Mitsouko, etc. I’m not afraid of melody — it’s part of my training. I had wanted to sing in French for a long, long time, which I finally did on my previous album, but I knew I could not write in French myself, because in my head I think in English. So I had to wait until I met Doriand, a lyricist who interprets my ideas and can put that into French. 

 

“All She Wants” seems to be a very autobiographical song? Is it about your own mother?

 

Of course. It’s about a mother who dreams that her son will get married, find a good job, have a family and lead a traditional kind of life. But she always believed in me and stood by me even if though she knew I wasn’t going to be that kind of son. Today my mother works with me (as his stylist) and we are very close. My mom does my clothes for all my shows and she’s become a gypsy without realizing it!

 

But I am convinced that if I were a more “normal” son, with a beautiful wife and many children, it would be better for her. I think she’s 90 percent happy with who I am, but inside her there will always be that 10 percent of desire for normality, which I can’t give her. That’s part of the inspiration for the song, because even though I have a very good relationship with my mother, a singer/songwriter always finds inspiration in the “grey” area, in the darker side of reality. 

 

How would you describe your childhood and having to move from one country to another with your family? 

 

It was difficult for me. I felt like an outsider wherever we went. It was like being shipwrecked. Twice we lost everything and I grew up knowing what it’s like having money and then not having any money at all. Now I can appreciate that this kind of economic instability was a gift from God. Even though my family didn’t have an easy or normal life, it was full of love. And love is the most important thing. 

 

What was your life like going to school in France? 

 

As a child I hated school, because I could not read and write and the French school system was rather cruel. When we went to live in England and I started attending a school in London, I was told: “You’re stupid, you’re dyslexic.” It was the first time I had experienced that kind of taunting. At my French school we all wore uniforms, but in England that wasn’t required. I started to wear my own clothes. I would show up at school wearing bow ties and shirts with polka dots and that’s when I started to have a lot of problems. 

 

How did you deal with the bullying? 

 

It made me want to succeed and prove myself. Bullying is a way of punishing people for being different and to try to make everyone be the same and be less special. My mother always gave me a lot of encouragement. She told me that you only need to have one great talent or skill and that will overcome all the other disadvantages that I had because of my dyslexia. She understood that my being different and having a very creative side was my gift to succeed in life.

[Littlelady]

Thankks for sharing, Deb

[Chy]

http://www.wisconsingazette.com/music/mika-stops-hiding-with-no-place-in-heaven.html

 

 

Written by Jan Janssen, The Interview Feed

Thursday, 27 August 2015 06:55

 

Mika stops hiding with ‘No Place in Heaven’

 

 

Mika is one of pop music’s most uniquely talented artists. The Anglo-Lebanese singer burst into the spotlight with his superb debut album, Life in Cartoon Motion, which has sold nearly 6 million copies since its release in 2007. 

 

Since then, he has continued to demonstrate the gift for sweet melody and catchy hooks that has become his trademark, along with a voice that evokes the spirit and register of Elton John, Freddie Mercury and David Bowie.

 

His new album, No Place in Heaven, is perhaps the 31-year-old singer/songwriter’s most potent and inspired artistic achievement yet. Evoking vintage pop and sprinkled with emotionally charged love songs, No Place in Heaven is the result of a two-year period of intense dedication. The album has in part been conceived as an act of personal liberation for the artist, who in recent years has admitted the difficulty of coming out and being open about his sexuality, now saying, “I no longer want to hide.”

 

Of course, when you’re a mega-selling pop idol like Mika, it is practically impossible to live beneath the radar. Today, the tall, lean singer best known for songs like “Grace Kelly,” “Relax, Take it Easy,” “We Are Golden” and “Elle me dit” (“She Tells Me,” recorded in English as “Emily”), is embracing life more fully than ever and his new album is conceived in part as a more intimate portrait of his life.

 

“Until three years ago I was very resistant to revealing myself: on TV, in (magazine and print) interviews. Then I started to do the opposite. I stopped trying to protect me, to be afraid to show my inner life. I won the battle!,” Mika says. “I began talking about myself, explaining who I am, as if I had found a sort of candor in my way of being and making music. I also decided to stop putting distance between me and my songs. This album, No Place in Heaven, is my diary.”

 

Born in Beirut, Mika was barely a year old when in 1984 he and his family were forced to flee the country in order to escape the Lebanese Civil War. Mika lived first in France and then, from the age of 9 onward, he grew up in England. Growing up, he dealt with the challenges of being dyslexic and also suffered from intense bullying.

 

A few years ago, Mika opened up about being gay and having to overcome the stigma that comes from a Middle East culture on his father’s side: “I was scared of not being accepted by my family. No one in my family is gay. No one in my extended family is gay. It was a very foreign, alien thing. You’re scared of being judged. Then you realize there is nothing to be afraid of if you are happy. I fell in love. I lost love. I found it again. I reached a point where I was like, ‘You know what, I’ve lived my life and I’ve never pretended to be anyone else.’”

 

Mika, is this the most personal album of your career?

 

This album is much more intimate and personal. There are no metaphors or turns of phrase to mask my feelings. Having come from a Middle East culture, I felt weighed down with a sense of shame for a long time, and this album is a way of escaping that paranoia.

 

This is an album that speaks of freedom, of becoming an adult — the person we want to become is always more interesting than who we are. But I don’t want to be a role model, a model for others, that’s something that scares me. I write songs that are part of the process of living and expressing my life.

 

Why did you choose this particular, rather sad title for the album?

 

The title is not sad. On the contrary, it’s joyful. If I find place in heaven, that’s fine, otherwise there’s no problem — I won’t go there at any price. This goes against the culture in which I grew up, though. My Lebanese side includes a healthy dose of paranoia in dealing with personal issues.

 

Now I feel I’ve finally been able to knock down the wall, to break out of that shell. Now I understand that the real shame is to keep inside certain things. Years ago when I would give interviews I would avoid talking about serious personal things, I kept everything at a distance. Now it’s my time to free my soul.

 

The title also kind of makes you wonder why a guy who is 31 can say that there’s no place in heaven for him. It’s a liberating title and it’s all about shaking off the concept of shame and wrestling with the concept of living in the moment more.

 

Is there an overriding emotional theme to your music?

 

Joy! But in my songs there is always a conflict between the immediacy of melody and very blunt words that reek of truth. The album No Place in Heaven is perhaps difficult to understand immediately. You discover the meaning by listening to it several times, reading the lyrics. I talk about love, but also about suffering, ecstasy and violence. A mix of conflicting feelings, which makes my music emotionally true. 

 

In one song, for example, I wonder if there is a love story that is truly full of joy. But maybe that doesn’t exist — there. Maybe it you can only find that at Disneyland where a romantic date is totally happy. Maybe there will be 10 fantastic minutes, 40 unforgettable, but then 20 horrible minutes. But we seem to be programmed to remember only the good things. 

 

You wrote this album while living in California?

 

Yes, in Laurel Canyon (Los Angeles). My inspirations are first and foremost Elton John, Billy Joel, and the golden age of pop songwriters from the ‘70s. I first started working in a huge, very modern studio in Los Angeles, but I ran away after a week, because it wasn’t the place where I wanted to write an album. So I went to the Apple store, bought a computer, bought a piano, called my musicians and we moved into a 1950s era house in L.A. But what I didn’t know was that Orlando Bloom had been living in that house and there were always tourists and fans standing outside waiting for him! But I stayed there for three months and it was very beautiful and intense.

 

What was the experience like? 

 

I was kind of inspired by the story of how Elton John composed his Yellow Brick Road album at a place called The Castle in France, where he would compose in the morning and record in the afternoon. The house in Los Angeles was like a little factory. We would record and write in the living room, different musicians would come in and out, some would be waiting in the garden. It was a very creative atmosphere. I was constantly writing. During those three months, I maybe left the house four or five times. I wanted to write a record that felt like it came out of a bubble. 

 

Your new album has a very distinct French chanson influence to it.

 

I spent a lot of time growing up in Paris and my first musical education came through the French songs of Gainsbourg, Françoise Hardy, Barbara Moustaki, Rita Mitsouko, etc. I’m not afraid of melody — it’s part of my training. I had wanted to sing in French for a long, long time, which I finally did on my previous album, but I knew I could not write in French myself, because in my head I think in English. So I had to wait until I met Doriand, a lyricist who interprets my ideas and can put that into French. 

 

“All She Wants” seems to be a very autobiographical song? Is it about your own mother?

 

Of course. It’s about a mother who dreams that her son will get married, find a good job, have a family and lead a traditional kind of life. But she always believed in me and stood by me even if though she knew I wasn’t going to be that kind of son. Today my mother works with me (as his stylist) and we are very close. My mom does my clothes for all my shows and she’s become a gypsy without realizing it!

 

But I am convinced that if I were a more “normal” son, with a beautiful wife and many children, it would be better for her. I think she’s 90 percent happy with who I am, but inside her there will always be that 10 percent of desire for normality, which I can’t give her. That’s part of the inspiration for the song, because even though I have a very good relationship with my mother, a singer/songwriter always finds inspiration in the “grey” area, in the darker side of reality. 

 

How would you describe your childhood and having to move from one country to another with your family? 

 

It was difficult for me. I felt like an outsider wherever we went. It was like being shipwrecked. Twice we lost everything and I grew up knowing what it’s like having money and then not having any money at all. Now I can appreciate that this kind of economic instability was a gift from God. Even though my family didn’t have an easy or normal life, it was full of love. And love is the most important thing. 

 

What was your life like going to school in France? 

 

As a child I hated school, because I could not read and write and the French school system was rather cruel. When we went to live in England and I started attending a school in London, I was told: “You’re stupid, you’re dyslexic.” It was the first time I had experienced that kind of taunting. At my French school we all wore uniforms, but in England that wasn’t required. I started to wear my own clothes. I would show up at school wearing bow ties and shirts with polka dots and that’s when I started to have a lot of problems. 

 

How did you deal with the bullying? 

 

It made me want to succeed and prove myself. Bullying is a way of punishing people for being different and to try to make everyone be the same and be less special. My mother always gave me a lot of encouragement. She told me that you only need to have one great talent or skill and that will overcome all the other disadvantages that I had because of my dyslexia. She understood that my being different and having a very creative side was my gift to succeed in life.

it sounds familiar...

[teenagedreamer98]

http://www.wisconsingazette.com/music/mika-stops-hiding-with-no-place-in-heaven.html

 

 

Written by Jan Janssen, The Interview Feed

Thursday, 27 August 2015 06:55

 

Mika stops hiding with ‘No Place in Heaven’

 

 

Mika is one of pop music’s most uniquely talented artists. The Anglo-Lebanese singer burst into the spotlight with his superb debut album, Life in Cartoon Motion, which has sold nearly 6 million copies since its release in 2007. 

 

Since then, he has continued to demonstrate the gift for sweet melody and catchy hooks that has become his trademark, along with a voice that evokes the spirit and register of Elton John, Freddie Mercury and David Bowie.

 

His new album, No Place in Heaven, is perhaps the 31-year-old singer/songwriter’s most potent and inspired artistic achievement yet. Evoking vintage pop and sprinkled with emotionally charged love songs, No Place in Heaven is the result of a two-year period of intense dedication. The album has in part been conceived as an act of personal liberation for the artist, who in recent years has admitted the difficulty of coming out and being open about his sexuality, now saying, “I no longer want to hide.”

 

Of course, when you’re a mega-selling pop idol like Mika, it is practically impossible to live beneath the radar. Today, the tall, lean singer best known for songs like “Grace Kelly,” “Relax, Take it Easy,” “We Are Golden” and “Elle me dit” (“She Tells Me,” recorded in English as “Emily”), is embracing life more fully than ever and his new album is conceived in part as a more intimate portrait of his life.

 

“Until three years ago I was very resistant to revealing myself: on TV, in (magazine and print) interviews. Then I started to do the opposite. I stopped trying to protect me, to be afraid to show my inner life. I won the battle!,” Mika says. “I began talking about myself, explaining who I am, as if I had found a sort of candor in my way of being and making music. I also decided to stop putting distance between me and my songs. This album, No Place in Heaven, is my diary.”

 

Born in Beirut, Mika was barely a year old when in 1984 he and his family were forced to flee the country in order to escape the Lebanese Civil War. Mika lived first in France and then, from the age of 9 onward, he grew up in England. Growing up, he dealt with the challenges of being dyslexic and also suffered from intense bullying.

 

A few years ago, Mika opened up about being gay and having to overcome the stigma that comes from a Middle East culture on his father’s side: “I was scared of not being accepted by my family. No one in my family is gay. No one in my extended family is gay. It was a very foreign, alien thing. You’re scared of being judged. Then you realize there is nothing to be afraid of if you are happy. I fell in love. I lost love. I found it again. I reached a point where I was like, ‘You know what, I’ve lived my life and I’ve never pretended to be anyone else.’”

 

Mika, is this the most personal album of your career?

 

This album is much more intimate and personal. There are no metaphors or turns of phrase to mask my feelings. Having come from a Middle East culture, I felt weighed down with a sense of shame for a long time, and this album is a way of escaping that paranoia.

 

This is an album that speaks of freedom, of becoming an adult — the person we want to become is always more interesting than who we are. But I don’t want to be a role model, a model for others, that’s something that scares me. I write songs that are part of the process of living and expressing my life.

 

Why did you choose this particular, rather sad title for the album?

 

The title is not sad. On the contrary, it’s joyful. If I find place in heaven, that’s fine, otherwise there’s no problem — I won’t go there at any price. This goes against the culture in which I grew up, though. My Lebanese side includes a healthy dose of paranoia in dealing with personal issues.

 

Now I feel I’ve finally been able to knock down the wall, to break out of that shell. Now I understand that the real shame is to keep inside certain things. Years ago when I would give interviews I would avoid talking about serious personal things, I kept everything at a distance. Now it’s my time to free my soul.

 

The title also kind of makes you wonder why a guy who is 31 can say that there’s no place in heaven for him. It’s a liberating title and it’s all about shaking off the concept of shame and wrestling with the concept of living in the moment more.

 

Is there an overriding emotional theme to your music?

 

Joy! But in my songs there is always a conflict between the immediacy of melody and very blunt words that reek of truth. The album No Place in Heaven is perhaps difficult to understand immediately. You discover the meaning by listening to it several times, reading the lyrics. I talk about love, but also about suffering, ecstasy and violence. A mix of conflicting feelings, which makes my music emotionally true. 

 

In one song, for example, I wonder if there is a love story that is truly full of joy. But maybe that doesn’t exist — there. Maybe it you can only find that at Disneyland where a romantic date is totally happy. Maybe there will be 10 fantastic minutes, 40 unforgettable, but then 20 horrible minutes. But we seem to be programmed to remember only the good things. 

 

You wrote this album while living in California?

 

Yes, in Laurel Canyon (Los Angeles). My inspirations are first and foremost Elton John, Billy Joel, and the golden age of pop songwriters from the ‘70s. I first started working in a huge, very modern studio in Los Angeles, but I ran away after a week, because it wasn’t the place where I wanted to write an album. So I went to the Apple store, bought a computer, bought a piano, called my musicians and we moved into a 1950s era house in L.A. But what I didn’t know was that Orlando Bloom had been living in that house and there were always tourists and fans standing outside waiting for him! But I stayed there for three months and it was very beautiful and intense.

 

What was the experience like? 

 

I was kind of inspired by the story of how Elton John composed his Yellow Brick Road album at a place called The Castle in France, where he would compose in the morning and record in the afternoon. The house in Los Angeles was like a little factory. We would record and write in the living room, different musicians would come in and out, some would be waiting in the garden. It was a very creative atmosphere. I was constantly writing. During those three months, I maybe left the house four or five times. I wanted to write a record that felt like it came out of a bubble. 

 

Your new album has a very distinct French chanson influence to it.

 

I spent a lot of time growing up in Paris and my first musical education came through the French songs of Gainsbourg, Françoise Hardy, Barbara Moustaki, Rita Mitsouko, etc. I’m not afraid of melody — it’s part of my training. I had wanted to sing in French for a long, long time, which I finally did on my previous album, but I knew I could not write in French myself, because in my head I think in English. So I had to wait until I met Doriand, a lyricist who interprets my ideas and can put that into French. 

 

“All She Wants” seems to be a very autobiographical song? Is it about your own mother?

 

Of course. It’s about a mother who dreams that her son will get married, find a good job, have a family and lead a traditional kind of life. But she always believed in me and stood by me even if though she knew I wasn’t going to be that kind of son. Today my mother works with me (as his stylist) and we are very close. My mom does my clothes for all my shows and she’s become a gypsy without realizing it!

 

But I am convinced that if I were a more “normal” son, with a beautiful wife and many children, it would be better for her. I think she’s 90 percent happy with who I am, but inside her there will always be that 10 percent of desire for normality, which I can’t give her. That’s part of the inspiration for the song, because even though I have a very good relationship with my mother, a singer/songwriter always finds inspiration in the “grey” area, in the darker side of reality. 

 

How would you describe your childhood and having to move from one country to another with your family? 

 

It was difficult for me. I felt like an outsider wherever we went. It was like being shipwrecked. Twice we lost everything and I grew up knowing what it’s like having money and then not having any money at all. Now I can appreciate that this kind of economic instability was a gift from God. Even though my family didn’t have an easy or normal life, it was full of love. And love is the most important thing. 

 

What was your life like going to school in France? 

 

As a child I hated school, because I could not read and write and the French school system was rather cruel. When we went to live in England and I started attending a school in London, I was told: “You’re stupid, you’re dyslexic.” It was the first time I had experienced that kind of taunting. At my French school we all wore uniforms, but in England that wasn’t required. I started to wear my own clothes. I would show up at school wearing bow ties and shirts with polka dots and that’s when I started to have a lot of problems. 

 

How did you deal with the bullying? 

 

It made me want to succeed and prove myself. Bullying is a way of punishing people for being different and to try to make everyone be the same and be less special. My mother always gave me a lot of encouragement. She told me that you only need to have one great talent or skill and that will overcome all the other disadvantages that I had because of my dyslexia. She understood that my being different and having a very creative side was my gift to succeed in life.

 

Thank you for sharing!  I can totally relate to the last part.

[Kumazzz]

Thanks a lot for posting Deb !

http://www.wisconsingazette.com/music/mika-stops-hiding-with-no-place-in-heaven.html
 
Written by Jan Janssen, The Interview Feed
Thursday, 27 August 2015 06:55

Mika stops hiding with ‘No Place in Heaven’

Mika is one of pop music’s most uniquely talented artists. The Anglo-Lebanese singer burst into the spotlight with his superb debut album, Life in Cartoon Motion, which has sold nearly 6 million copies since its release in 2007. 
 
Since then, he has continued to demonstrate the gift for sweet melody and catchy hooks that has become his trademark, along with a voice that evokes the spirit and register of Elton John, Freddie Mercury and David Bowie.
 
His new album, No Place in Heaven, is perhaps the 31-year-old singer/songwriter’s most potent and inspired artistic achievement yet. Evoking vintage pop and sprinkled with emotionally charged love songs, No Place in Heaven is the result of a two-year period of intense dedication. The album has in part been conceived as an act of personal liberation for the artist, who in recent years has admitted the difficulty of coming out and being open about his sexuality, now saying, “I no longer want to hide.”
 
Of course, when you’re a mega-selling pop idol like Mika, it is practically impossible to live beneath the radar. Today, the tall, lean singer best known for songs like “Grace Kelly,” “Relax, Take it Easy,” “We Are Golden” and “Elle me dit” (“She Tells Me,” recorded in English as “Emily”), is embracing life more fully than ever and his new album is conceived in part as a more intimate portrait of his life.
 
“Until three years ago I was very resistant to revealing myself: on TV, in (magazine and print) interviews. Then I started to do the opposite. I stopped trying to protect me, to be afraid to show my inner life. I won the battle!,” Mika says. “I began talking about myself, explaining who I am, as if I had found a sort of candor in my way of being and making music. I also decided to stop putting distance between me and my songs. This album, No Place in Heaven, is my diary.”
 
Born in Beirut, Mika was barely a year old when in 1984 he and his family were forced to flee the country in order to escape the Lebanese Civil War. Mika lived first in France and then, from the age of 9 onward, he grew up in England. Growing up, he dealt with the challenges of being dyslexic and also suffered from intense bullying.
 
A few years ago, Mika opened up about being gay and having to overcome the stigma that comes from a Middle East culture on his father’s side: “I was scared of not being accepted by my family. No one in my family is gay. No one in my extended family is gay. It was a very foreign, alien thing. You’re scared of being judged. Then you realize there is nothing to be afraid of if you are happy. I fell in love. I lost love. I found it again. I reached a point where I was like, ‘You know what, I’ve lived my life and I’ve never pretended to be anyone else.’”
 
Mika, is this the most personal album of your career?
 
This album is much more intimate and personal. There are no metaphors or turns of phrase to mask my feelings. Having come from a Middle East culture, I felt weighed down with a sense of shame for a long time, and this album is a way of escaping that paranoia.
 
This is an album that speaks of freedom, of becoming an adult — the person we want to become is always more interesting than who we are. But I don’t want to be a role model, a model for others, that’s something that scares me. I write songs that are part of the process of living and expressing my life.
 
Why did you choose this particular, rather sad title for the album?
 
The title is not sad. On the contrary, it’s joyful. If I find place in heaven, that’s fine, otherwise there’s no problem — I won’t go there at any price. This goes against the culture in which I grew up, though. My Lebanese side includes a healthy dose of paranoia in dealing with personal issues.
 
Now I feel I’ve finally been able to knock down the wall, to break out of that shell. Now I understand that the real shame is to keep inside certain things. Years ago when I would give interviews I would avoid talking about serious personal things, I kept everything at a distance. Now it’s my time to free my soul.
 
The title also kind of makes you wonder why a guy who is 31 can say that there’s no place in heaven for him. It’s a liberating title and it’s all about shaking off the concept of shame and wrestling with the concept of living in the moment more.
 
Is there an overriding emotional theme to your music?
 
Joy! But in my songs there is always a conflict between the immediacy of melody and very blunt words that reek of truth. The album No Place in Heaven is perhaps difficult to understand immediately. You discover the meaning by listening to it several times, reading the lyrics. I talk about love, but also about suffering, ecstasy and violence. A mix of conflicting feelings, which makes my music emotionally true. 
 
In one song, for example, I wonder if there is a love story that is truly full of joy. But maybe that doesn’t exist — there. Maybe it you can only find that at Disneyland where a romantic date is totally happy. Maybe there will be 10 fantastic minutes, 40 unforgettable, but then 20 horrible minutes. But we seem to be programmed to remember only the good things. 
 
You wrote this album while living in California?
 
Yes, in Laurel Canyon (Los Angeles). My inspirations are first and foremost Elton John, Billy Joel, and the golden age of pop songwriters from the ‘70s. I first started working in a huge, very modern studio in Los Angeles, but I ran away after a week, because it wasn’t the place where I wanted to write an album. So I went to the Apple store, bought a computer, bought a piano, called my musicians and we moved into a 1950s era house in L.A. But what I didn’t know was that Orlando Bloom had been living in that house and there were always tourists and fans standing outside waiting for him! But I stayed there for three months and it was very beautiful and intense.
 
What was the experience like? 
 
I was kind of inspired by the story of how Elton John composed his Yellow Brick Road album at a place called The Castle in France, where he would compose in the morning and record in the afternoon. The house in Los Angeles was like a little factory. We would record and write in the living room, different musicians would come in and out, some would be waiting in the garden. It was a very creative atmosphere. I was constantly writing. During those three months, I maybe left the house four or five times. I wanted to write a record that felt like it came out of a bubble. 
 
Your new album has a very distinct French chanson influence to it.
 
I spent a lot of time growing up in Paris and my first musical education came through the French songs of Gainsbourg, Françoise Hardy, Barbara Moustaki, Rita Mitsouko, etc. I’m not afraid of melody — it’s part of my training. I had wanted to sing in French for a long, long time, which I finally did on my previous album, but I knew I could not write in French myself, because in my head I think in English. So I had to wait until I met Doriand, a lyricist who interprets my ideas and can put that into French. 
 
“All She Wants” seems to be a very autobiographical song? Is it about your own mother?
 
Of course. It’s about a mother who dreams that her son will get married, find a good job, have a family and lead a traditional kind of life. But she always believed in me and stood by me even if though she knew I wasn’t going to be that kind of son. Today my mother works with me (as his stylist) and we are very close. My mom does my clothes for all my shows and she’s become a gypsy without realizing it!
 
But I am convinced that if I were a more “normal” son, with a beautiful wife and many children, it would be better for her. I think she’s 90 percent happy with who I am, but inside her there will always be that 10 percent of desire for normality, which I can’t give her. That’s part of the inspiration for the song, because even though I have a very good relationship with my mother, a singer/songwriter always finds inspiration in the “grey” area, in the darker side of reality. 
 
How would you describe your childhood and having to move from one country to another with your family? 
 
It was difficult for me. I felt like an outsider wherever we went. It was like being shipwrecked. Twice we lost everything and I grew up knowing what it’s like having money and then not having any money at all. Now I can appreciate that this kind of economic instability was a gift from God. Even though my family didn’t have an easy or normal life, it was full of love. And love is the most important thing. 
 
What was your life like going to school in France? 
 
As a child I hated school, because I could not read and write and the French school system was rather cruel. When we went to live in England and I started attending a school in London, I was told: “You’re stupid, you’re dyslexic.” It was the first time I had experienced that kind of taunting. At my French school we all wore uniforms, but in England that wasn’t required. I started to wear my own clothes. I would show up at school wearing bow ties and shirts with polka dots and that’s when I started to have a lot of problems. 
 
How did you deal with the bullying? 
 
It made me want to succeed and prove myself. Bullying is a way of punishing people for being different and to try to make everyone be the same and be less special. My mother always gave me a lot of encouragement. She told me that you only need to have one great talent or skill and that will overcome all the other disadvantages that I had because of my dyslexia. She understood that my being different and having a very creative side was my gift to succeed in life.

 

 

Wisconsin Gazette - August 27, 2015

http://issuu.com/wigazette/docs/wig_-web-_082715

 

 

 

[Marilyn Mastin]

Absolutely wonderful T4P!

The first line of the text says it all. The rest is icing on the cake.

I love US publicity, because it's just what he needs to get better known there.

[Emelyne412]

Thanks a lot Deb !

This interview is very beautiful !

[crazyaboutmika]

Thank you Deb  Great interview

Edited August 31, 2015 by crazyaboutmika

[mamiam]

Thanks a lot Deb - the interview is great!   The name of the man who wrote this,  seems like he's a scandinavian...

 

Love,love

me

[kreacher]

http://hifimagazine.net/blog/?os_album=mika-no-place-in-heaven

 

Very positve July 2015 review by J Matthew Cobb of NPiH from HiFi Magazine that i don't recall seeing before.

Edited October 12, 2015 by kreacher

[mamiam]

http://hifimagazine.net/blog/?os_album=mika-no-place-in-heaven

 

Very positve July 2015 review by J Matthew Cobb of NPiH from HiFi Magazine that i don't recall seeing before.

 

Thanks a lot Dee!  This's amazing - and it warms my heart to read all kind of good reviews for NPIH...  

 

Love,love

me

[Kumazzz]

Thanks a lot for posting !!

http://hifimagazine.net/blog/?os_album=mika-no-place-in-heaven

Very positive July 2015 review by J Matthew Cobb of NPiH from HiFi Magazine that i don't recall seeing before.

HiFi Magazine

http://hifimagazine.net/blog/?os_album=mika-no-place-in-heaven

Posted July 21, 2015 by J Matthew Cobb

Back to simpler pop with a dash of edge on Brit star’s fourth disc

 

 

 

Brit singer Michael Penniman Jr., stage name styled as MIKA, hasn’t made a big break in the U.S. of A. The closest he’s ever achieved was “Grace Kelly,” a nine-year old gem pickled with a bubbly Beatles-meets-Queen pop. Although it stalled at number 54 pop, it went to number one in his native land. Since then, MIKA has released a handful of albums that have added extra gems in his crown as a UK pop star. They have been decent exercises but pointed out how often American ears aren’t exactly hip to European musical trends. Had the groovy R&B-meets-bubbly ’80 pop workout of “Lola” been released as a single off of 2012′s The Origin of Love, MIKA may have had been blessed with half the success of new soul crooner and fellow Brit singer-songwriter Sam Smith. No, he’s not an emboldened blue-eyed soul crooner in any sense of the word — his vocal style is more like a unique mesh of Rufus Wainwright and Tyler Glenn. But his track record of unveiling an attraction to warm melodies, classic pop sensibility and colorful harmonies makes up for any shortcomings.

 

Never a complete stranger to bubbly melodies, MIKA returns to those good vibrations on his fourth LP, No Place in Heaven. On this round, he reinforces it. Surrounded once again with producer Greg Wells and a short list of contributing producers (The Nexus, Martin Terefe, Gustave Rudman), this effort retreats back to the paint strokes of playful pop of the ’60s, the style that was most poignant in his first album. It’s missing the high value names of his previous set (Pharrell Williams, Benny Benassi, Nick Littlemore), but it doesn’t need such ammunition for this type of record. You can hear “Footloose” rhythms and Beach Boys-esque harmonies on “All She Wants.” Fun strokes of summertime are embedded in the Martin Terefe-produced “Staring at the Sun,” a song that beats like a throwback Donna Summer track. Old soul feels out the curves of “Rio,” which spins like a distant cousin of Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie.” But the disc leaves a little room to play outside the conventional MIKA box. One Direction pop is showered on “Talk About You” while “Promiseland” digs into the pop-rock flavor of Maroon 5. MIKA’s classically-blessed piano and the Mumford & Sons-like rhythmic shuffle finds its place inside the singer-songwriter mode of the satisfying title track. As an openly gay singer, he uses the good mechanics of the song to frame an awkward conversation with God, where he asks for forgiveness for his sin and reaches into the pits of uncertainty for a solemn request (“Father, if there’s a heaven, let me in”). His gift of storytelling opens up room for some serious name dropping on “Good Guys.” Inside the Disney pop majesty, he creates a celebratory homage of past gay icons: “Thank you Rufus, thank you Auden and James Dean/Thank you Emerson and Bowie for my dreams/Wilfred Owen, Kinsey, Whitman and Rimbaud / Thank you Warhol, thank you patience, thank you Porter and Cocteau.”

But it’s safe to say that “Oh Girl You’re the Devil” is the album’s mightiest offering. It falls in the same category of the non-single “Lola.” His label (Casablanca) will probably sleep on it, but there’s no denying the clever funk and those infectious riffs resembling Eddie Kendricks’s 1976 disco dirty “He’s a Friend.”

Although MIKA places more of a spotlight on uptempo tracks on No Place Like Heaven, he does make time for warm Elton John piano ballads like “Hurts”  and the bittersweet tribute to Freddie Mercury on “Last Party (“Who knew that mercury could rise so fast/Enjoy the party ’cause this is out last”).

Expect the record label to once again focus on releasing singles that tickle the fancy of his devout UK fan base. But there’s more on No Place In Heaven for us to dig, enough to make him a viable import. It will be up to us, based on our own inclination, to take that leap of faith to make that archaeological dig. What we will inherit will be exceptionally good to our ears.

Edited October 14, 2015 by Kumazzz

[mer]

 

Thanks a lot for posting !!

HiFi Magazine

http://hifimagazine.net/blog/?os_album=mika-no-place-in-heaven

Posted July 21, 2015 by J Matthew Cobb

Back to simpler pop with a dash of edge on Brit star’s fourth disc

 

 

 

Brit singer Michael Penniman Jr., stage name styled as MIKA, hasn’t made a big break in the U.S. of A. The closest he’s ever achieved was “Grace Kelly,” a nine-year old gem pickled with a bubbly Beatles-meets-Queen pop. Although it stalled at number 54 pop, it went to number one in his native land. Since then, MIKA has released a handful of albums that have added extra gems in his crown as a UK pop star. They have been decent exercises but pointed out how often American ears aren’t exactly hip to European musical trends. Had the groovy R&B-meets-bubbly ’80 pop workout of “Lola” been released as a single off of 2012′s The Origin of Love, MIKA may have had been blessed with half the success of new soul crooner and fellow Brit singer-songwriter Sam Smith. No, he’s not an emboldened blue-eyed soul crooner in any sense of the word — his vocal style is more like a unique mesh of Rufus Wainwright and Tyler Glenn. But his track record of unveiling an attraction to warm melodies, classic pop sensibility and colorful harmonies makes up for any shortcomings.

 

Never a complete stranger to bubbly melodies, MIKA returns to those good vibrations on his fourth LP, No Place in Heaven. On this round, he reinforces it. Surrounded once again with producer Greg Wells and a short list of contributing producers (The Nexus, Martin Terefe, Gustave Rudman), this effort retreats back to the paint strokes of playful pop of the ’60s, the style that was most poignant in his first album. It’s missing the high value names of his previous set (Pharrell Williams, Benny Benassi, Nick Littlemore), but it doesn’t need such ammunition for this type of record. You can hear “Footloose” rhythms and Beach Boys-esque harmonies on “All She Wants.” Fun strokes of summertime are embedded in the Martin Terefe-produced “Staring at the Sun,” a song that beats like a throwback Donna Summer track. Old soul feels out the curves of “Rio,” which spins like a distant cousin of Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie.” But the disc leaves a little room to play outside the conventional MIKA box. One Direction pop is showered on “Talk About You” while “Promiseland” digs into the pop-rock flavor of Maroon 5. MIKA’s classically-blessed piano and the Mumford & Sons-like rhythmic shuffle finds its place inside the singer-songwriter mode of the satisfying title track. As an openly gay singer, he uses the good mechanics of the song to frame an awkward conversation with God, where he asks for forgiveness for his sin and reaches into the pits of uncertainty for a solemn request (“Father, if there’s a heaven, let me in”). His gift of storytelling opens up room for some serious name dropping on “Good Guys.” Inside the Disney pop majesty, he creates a celebratory homage of past gay icons: “Thank you Rufus, thank you Auden and James Dean/Thank you Emerson and Bowie for my dreams/Wilfred Owen, Kinsey, Whitman and Rimbaud / Thank you Warhol, thank you patience, thank you Porter and Cocteau.”

But it’s safe to say that “Oh Girl You’re the Devil” is the album’s mightiest offering. It falls in the same category of the non-single “Lola.” His label (Casablanca) will probably sleep on it, but there’s no denying the clever funk and those infectious riffs resembling Eddie Kendricks’s 1976 disco dirty “He’s a Friend.”

Although MIKA places more of a spotlight on uptempo tracks on No Place Like Heaven, he does make time for warm Elton John piano ballads like “Hurts”  and the bittersweet tribute to Freddie Mercury on “Last Party (“Who knew that mercury could rise so fast/Enjoy the party ’cause this is out last”).

Expect the record label to once again focus on releasing singles that tickle the fancy of his devout UK fan base. But there’s more on No Place In Heaven for us to dig, enough to make him a viable import. It will be up to us, based on our own inclination, to take that leap of faith to make that archaeological dig. What we will inherit will be exceptionally good to our ears.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

for me and other hispanian speaker any difficult for understand like.

shipwrecked. reek of truth. truly full of joy . taunting bullying. bow ties shirts with polka dots . or skills . bubbly. soul crooner.  not emboldened . short comings . style poignant. into the pits .

translate more or less that:

náufrago. hedor de verdad. verdaderamente lleno de alegría. burlándose de la intimidación. arco camisetas lazos con lunares. o habilidades. burbujeante. crooner alma. No envalentonado. deficiencias. estilo conmovedor. en los boxes.

But very good enterview that i I congratulate the author of the interview recognizer songs.

lo siento si no gusta los MInions and Bob King or Sandra Bullok for adds.

Edited March 2, 2017 by mer

[RAK1]

http://hifimagazine.net/blog/?os_album=mika-no-place-in-heaven

 

Very positve July 2015 review by J Matthew Cobb of NPiH from HiFi Magazine that i don't recall seeing before.

Well he got it wrong about this part

'Expect the record label to once again focus on releasing singles that tickle the fancy of his devout UK fan base.'

Firstly about actually releasing anything, only TAY, and tickling the UK fanbases fancy, I think most of us are still berating the record company about not releasing Promisland!

[teenagedreamer98]

Well he got it wrong about this part

'Expect the record label to once again focus on releasing singles that tickle the fancy of his devout UK fan base.'

Firstly about actually releasing anything, only TAY, and tickling the UK fanbases fancy, I think most of us are still berating the record company about not releasing Promisland!

 

We all want Promiseland as a single!  But I thought All She Wants is also a single in the UK?  I don't know if it counts, because there is no music video.

One thing that hasn't "tickled my fancy" is the lack of UK dates.  Only one, which I can't attend.  But of course I'm happy for the fans who can.

[Marilyn Mastin]

Well he got it wrong about this part

'Expect the record label to once again focus on releasing singles that tickle the fancy of his devout UK fan base.'

Firstly about actually releasing anything, only TAY, and tickling the UK fanbases fancy, I think most of us are still berating the record company about not releasing Promisland!

I agree with you!

The review is great but the record company always release the wrong songs as singles. Promiseland is awesome.

[kreacher]

i was researching (Mika & Adele actually) and found this little tidbit in an interview with Valentino's designers Pier Paolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri from June 2015 on Yahoo Style
 

YS: I realize that there are a lot of cultural influences that go into your work, but Maria Grazia, I understand that you’re very into music…
MGC: I love music! Music is important to our job, like art, like books. We are obsessed with books. We don’t have enough time to read as much as we want. I really believe that if you want to speak about your time, you have to be very open about other arts. I am very happy that my kids tell me what is cool. They give me more information about the world because fashion is not only about dress, it’s about time. You have to know your time. Music and books are a way to know your time.
PP: You can see everything and not look at anything. It’s about eyes, it’s about the way you see. Kids give you a different perspective on things.
MGC: We were so lucky when we came to New York for the Met Gala and went to a little concert for Mika in Brooklyn. That was great. And Mika is another Italian artist, and then we went around the city together to see the new Whitney Museum. We could speak about our emotions, our point of view. Our job is incredible because you can meet so many interesting people. I like to speak with other people and have a different moment.
PP: Yeah, it’s about sharing emotions, sharing impressions. It’s about this different perception of what you see wherever you are.
MGC: We came back very tired! [Laughs] Because in three days we did trapeze, concerts, Whitney, Met Ball, interviews for photo shoots in two and half days, burger at the Four Seasons, which we loved.

full interview on https://www.yahoo.com/style/maria-grazia-chiuri-pierpaolo-piccoli-interview-120501910808.html

 

 

i knew Pier Paolo was at Mika's Brooklyn gig, but it sounds like Maria Grazia was as well   

Edited November 10, 2015 by kreacher

[Marilyn Mastin]

i was researching (Mika & Adele actually) and found this little tidbit in an interview with Valentino's designers Pier Paolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri from June 2015 on Yahoo Style

 

full interview on https://www.yahoo.com/style/maria-grazia-chiuri-pierpaolo-piccoli-interview-120501910808.html

 

 

i knew Pier Paolo was at Mika's Brooklyn gig, but it sounds like Maria Grazia was as well 

Mika isn't Italian!

I can understand why people get confused though.

[kreacher]

Mika isn't Italian!

I can understand why people get confused though.

 

i noticed she said that too

 

Maybe his Italian is that good that he can even fool real Italians now