Claiming he is hyper active – mostly because he is making music, eating and conducting an interview all at the same time – the lad found music as a result of the influence of his family. “It was really my dad that always got the pans and pots out to play drums,” he describes. “Then there was my uncle scratching the guitar, with the whole singing thing – it was quite fun!” Indeed, being handed a guitar at 13 then drums at 15 (thanks no less to his sister’s ex-boyfriend) and later a bass, microphones and basically anything else he could put his hands on, Mika found the world of music appealing and intriguing, as it was a release from the mundane life of being a normal teenager.
“I had the full support – both mentally and financially – from my parents. I played in many bands as a lead singer or drummer, while at the same time, I started raving hard on techno and jungle!” It’s not difficult to see where the infatuation for music that leans on bass came from then, is it? “I always was into reggae, grunge and all sorts of music,” he explains. “Really, bass music is all very connected to all that. It’s all the same thing, just said a different way. I now have a couple of projects where I’m lead singing as well.”
Studio wise, the bass fiend is working on new material within what he describes as coming from no particular genre. “It’s some heavy hybrid shit,” he says. “Otherwise, I’ve done a tune with Lady Leshurr, Foreign Beggars, Virus Syndicate and D.Ablo. There are also some others I can’t reveal at this point. I also just cracked a remix for Angel Haze called Werkin’ Girls. There is also something from one of my side projects on Claude Vonstroke’s DirtyBird imprint coming up too.”
With that, his unique flexibility is always evident in not just his music and productions, but also his live performances. “I have always created and played diverse music,” he says. “In some ways though, that has dragged me behind because for a while there, if you weren’t doing one particular genre you were practically doomed. Now I still do ‘me’ and find it funny that the same people that were cock-blocking me before have now all bought tickets for the bandwagon! But however bitter this might sound, I truly feel blessed to finally have made it to where I am – and to remain standing at the same time!
“And no matter which way I look at it, the culture for me will always be around a mix of food, music and so on. It’s a beautiful thing and it’s the only true way to call this an evolution, in my opinion. It’s been happening since the ‘20s with blues and country, then with jazz, classical and into the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s. Nowadays, you’ve got the Neptunes smashing cubano and raw hip hop beats for The Clips. And then you’ve got Timbaland cutting futuristic crunk mayhem too. I’m sure we can dig a lot deeper, and find the evolution of music via the mix of cultures all the way to the birth of Jerusalem!”
Philosophy aside, the man of bass is heading down under again for what will be his third or fourth visit – clearly he’s lost count. Regardless, he closes out with some words about what to expect: “I will be playing a lot of new stuff and there will be a very different vibe to it all. There will still be loads of energy, but a lot of deepness within the set as well. Also, while I’m in Australia, I plan to get some sun and hang with my close mates N’fa and Mr Fish, who recently both had babies – although not with one another!” And with the laughter, the line went dead. But the bass will live on forever.
BY RK
