MiMi Soya

I arrive at the Purple Turtle in Camden one hour before Mimi Soya’s show starts and I recognize Jorja’s ginger hair and contagious happiness as soon as she walks past me. Chris and Mike take me backstage, hoping for a quiet place where I can interview them. 'Tell me about you, where you’re from and how you got together’ I ask them on the way. 'We’re from Brighton’ they say proudly. Mike then continues, 'Chris and I grew up together in different bands and then we thought we’d just join and make our own group. We had a couple of singers and then Jorja came along’. 'It’s been four years already’ Chris points out.

The first question is one of those obvious ones. 'Im sure you must be tired of answering this one’ I say, 'but where does your name come from?’ They all laugh. 'We get that question asked a lot’ says Jorja, 'but unfortunately we have quite a bland answer, it’s just something that sounds good! It doesn’t mean anything at all, we just love it! It’s better than having a generic name like The something’. Joey, the drummer, quiet until then: 'I was wondering what it meant too! The first singer we had just came up with it!’ After knowing them for barely five minutes you can tell what these four are like. Young, friendly guys that love music. I mean it. I would just sit in a pub and drink some pints for hours with them.

Mimi Soya’s music is a kind of rock-punk fusion, 'there are quite a lot of different music influences, including pop, rock and punk, yeah’. 'Do you write all the lyrics?’ 'Yeah, mainly Jorja’ but she interrupts all of a sudden 'but when you’re writing a song you can’t just write it all by yourself. We all get together and work on the songs. We write songs about everyday experiences, we don’t make up songs that just don’t mean anything! We write songs about any random things too, like something someone says’. In fact, their new EP is named 'Can’t Stand Pop’ after 'someone said that to me’ says Chris. 'Nowadays not many artists actually write their own songs’ I say, 'It hasn’t really got enough heart for me’ starts Mike, 'It’s not like old school music, touring, writing your own songs. People are lucky enough to get signed, and then the label puts everything else around them’.

When I asked if they would ever consider applying for the X Factor, they all burst out laughing. Then Jorja tells me that she actually went to the auditions 'when I just turned 16. It was the worst thing I've done in my life. It was so fake, everything was so fake.’

Well, lets talk about your music then, Deathwish is one of your most catchy songs, do you consider it your best song?

'No, It’s one of our first and oldest songs, and I think it was a step in the future of what our sound was going to be like. A lot of our new songs we write in the same way. We love that song, though.'

Are touring and singing live your favourite part?

'Yeah, definitely’ says a convinced Jorja, 'we had a show not long ago in Oxfordshire, and the audience was singing the lyrics of all of our songs, that was just amazing!’ 'They were trying to touch Jorja’ says Chris. 'In Holland there were people that were coming to all our shows’

What artists do you look up to?

'I (Jorja) started with a big R&B and soul background, so I always look up to artists like Lauren Hill, she takes my breath away and she’s definitely an inspiration’. Then Mike goes on: ’In terms of looking up to other bands they would be those who have been around for a long time and haven’t been dropped. Blink had an album in which every track was consistently good, so, you know, that would be cool.’

What’s the hardest part of getting your music out there?

'If you want people to hear your music, you need the time. You’ve got to show it. If you’ve got a recording, you’re half way there, so we have put lots of effort to get our songs recorded. The rest of it is just promoting it.'

Do you do much of that promotion on the Internet?

'Yes, most of it is Internet based. Everybody goes on the Internet, everyone’s on Facebook, Twitter,’

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

'Well in my case (Mike), someone told me that you can have all the promotion put into you, and all the money behind you, but the most important thing is to have a well written song.'

Where do you see yourselves in a couple of years?

'Hopefully recording, doing shows, and I (Jorja) would just like to be touring all the time, It’s one of the main things I like to do!'
'In two years time I would like to have had a successful album’ says a confident Mike. 'I mean, not working full time, not having another job’ I ask if they all have other jobs, and they all look resigned, 'Unfortunately’ they say.

Watching Mimi Soya later that night was an absolute surprise. No wonder they said they love touring, these four Brighton musicians really live the music they sing, and a 5 or 6 song set list is far too short for a band that could spend hours on stage. Their new album, I Can’t Stand Pop Bands came out June 14th. Check out their official myspace, (www.myspace.com/mimisoya).