for Gigwise.com
Anyone who has heard Mika Miko’s new album ‘We Be Xuxa’ will know they’re not a band with a long attention span. Their songs are bratty, trashy sub 120 second punk splurges that shake and rattle and never ever outstay their welcome. Meeting the band on an unfeasibly hot May afternoon has led to the dressing room venue becoming like a sauna, this being a Barfly however you have to add the word toilet in there somewhere so for all parties involved we move outside to bands home from home, their van. The band, consisting of sisters Jenifer and Jessica Clavin, Michelle Suarez, Jenna Thornhill and relatively new recruit (and sole male) Seth Densham gather around a small table strewn with celebrity gossip magazines and bottles of beer. “Oh my God, it’s Beth- look!” screams Michelle spotting a picture of Mika Miko’s touring buddy in her magazine alongside Kate Moss and Victoria Beckham, “Why is she in there? It’s so weird.” She says, which when you think about it- it really is.
As we’re in Liverpool (MM are here to play a show with Black Lips and a million other cool American bands- all congregated outside the van, the interview is interrupted a few times by the softly spoken members of the Soft Pack) talk turns to the cities musical heritage, “Imagine if your home town became like a theme park of your life! Says Seth, “how weird would that be?” They all agree that the Magical Mystery tour is something they will venture to do next time they are in town and in many ways Liverpool’s local scene is mirrored by that of the current LA and Smell Club set up but instead of Cast, The Coral and Shack they have HEALTH, No Age and Abe Vigoda. 1-0 LA. “Y’know, the greatest thing is that none of us sound the same as each other, we just made friends with this bunch of bands and we actually see them way more often on tour in Europe or across America than we ever did when we lived in LA.” Says co-vocalist Jenna. “The greatest thing is too, that when we go away touring (MM are currently on a 6 week tour of Europe) that when we come back there’s a whole new wave of bands coming through and they sound totally different to everything that was happening when we left.” Do the band ever get sick of being asked about were they’re from though? As if one venue in one city defines who they are somehow? Jenna jumps in, “I get sick of trying to answer the same question in a different way every time. Most rock journalist’s suck so bad at the moment, they’re all stuck three years ago because they didn’t do their homework and it’s not that hard Y’know?” A lone copy of NME sits idly on the table in front of us.
So, who exactly is the eponymous Xuxa? “She was a nude model, a singer, an actress- she had a kids TV show too which was so cool” says Michelle. “My parents are from Argentina so I’d see Xuxa on TV whenever we went there on vacation; she was always on at a weird time- like 6am. I don’t remember first seeing Xuxa, I just remember Xuxa being there since I was a child. There’s a picture of me, I think I was about four and they had to put a gate around the TV to stop me watching it- like the thing that should stop you falling down the stairs that was used in my house to stop me watching Xuxa because I’d get so excited I’d wanna dance with the TV!” Much of the talk about Mika Miko’s new album is that they have managed to get nearer to harnessing and capturing the live show onto a record, do the band feel they have managed this? Jenna starts,“ I never really thought that the way you sound live should necessarily bear any resemblance to how you are on your albums but then people would come up to me and say about how big the difference is. Then again I don’t know what we sound like live though because I’m always on the stage!” Michelle then interjects, “I’d far rather people liked us live than on record because if I like a band and then go see them live and they’re bad it really sucks and it’s way more disappointing. I get really attached to music and if I love a band and they let me down I can’t listen to that anymore.”
As the interview threatens to run into the bands stage time (we turn off the Dictaphone 15 minutes before they’re due on) Mika Miko run out of the van and go attempt a slap dash and rudimentary sound check. As far as bands go you’ll struggle to find a more friendly and welcoming bunch and the sense of gang mentality between them is infectious, be sure to check out ‘We Be Xuxa’ but more-so go see the band live, they won’t let you down.
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