It took four years, two albums and dozens of hits for Mika to finally come to Brazil. It was worth waiting. Responsible for the best show of Planeta Terra Festival edition 2010, the singer had the ocean fans that attended the festival sounding loud and transformed the park into a mere extension of his playful and multicolored stage. Owner of a voice capable of putting down the dance floor divas in tribal house remixes (everyone knows Peter Rauhofer right?) and author of lyrics that inspire adolescents in their natural age crises, Mika is the Freddie Mercury of the millennial generation. With no flag raisings, exercises tolerance and at the same time amuses even those who do not care for the sexuality spell.
In the cab on my way here, I was thinking about what would be my first question and thought it would be better to start by sharing something- which already gives the tone to this interview. Your first album is very special to me. At that time, 2006/2007, I was living in France and going through a period of many discoveries when for the first time I found natural being gay. It was the first time I was proud instead of ashamed of who I am.
Itâs good to start of like this. Itâs wonderful to hear that. Itâs almost the reason for an album like mine. Like it was made for this. Itâs funny, âcause Iâve heard other people, that at the time were in their twenties, say the same thing. Theyâd say they were going through a tough moment and by listening to the album ended up changing, felling moreâŠ.
âŠstrong?
Itâs not actually strength. Itâs like a little bird that pulled them by the shirtâs sleeve and changed their direction . A little push. I think the main reason I agree with that is for the fact that I wrote this songs for the same reason. I write to feel better about aspects of my own life. My songs seem to tell stories about other people, but deep inside theyâre about me. I only imagine characters so that people can identify more easily. If it works for me, even when everything is lousy, maybe it will have the same effect on other people.
Tell us how it was before music⊠I look at you and see a kid in his room making loads of creative stuffâŠ.does that make sense?
My room was a workshop, but not always I did things that creative. I liked to built, made scenarios and environments with my toys. I also made clothes and listened to a lot of music. I was a child that enjoyed building worlds. My mom thought I was a bit autistic âcause sheâd catch me cleaning the walls with a little brush. I wanted them perfectly white. As time went by, she started to worry. These fantasies are common around seven year olds, and fade away till the age of thirteen. But to me it got worse. By the time I was fifteen I was doing that even more. She decided I should pick something out of all that to work with. I ended up being expelled from school âcause Iâd stay too much in my own world, so she made me study music. I had really tough lessons with a Russian teacher. Hours of practice. I hated it. But I got good really fast so soon jobs on theaters and opera houses started appearing. Then I started dividing my time, one semester Iâd go to school, the other I worked. At school things were still horrible. I was socially rejected and suffered homophobic attacks.
How were these experiences in school?
Horrible. It wasnât easy dealing with this growing up thing. Those who disagree with or try to make this bullying and homophobia problems small is talking bull. I think Iâve found a way to bounce back by being good at something. I chose music. I believed that like this Iâd win some freedom and would respond to the attacks in a strong way, but not needing to directly confront my aggressors. I wanted to pulverize them.
You managed to do that quite wellâŠ
I was obsessed with it. I kindda formulated something by accident in my head. Today I look back and understand what I was doing. I always suffered a lot with the labels throwed at me, so I decided to always reject any kind of label. Itâs rather different attitude from someone who struggled for political rights in the 60âs in the United States, for example. Itâs the opposite of that. I was young and lived in a different context, thatâs why I focused on expanding the borders of tolerance. I always say that tolerance is much more important. Labels are important to people who depend on them to live and make politics. Once I was on tour through north Africa, in a country notoriously known for having an oppressive and anti gay political system, and during my show I sang âBilly Brownâ. Around 46 thousand people singing a song like that is tolerance, not politics and it has nothing to do with labels. I research theatre and am very inspired by Michael Hutchtence (INXS). He was a very important person for male physicality in pop culture. He would, for example, move his shoulders like a woman, but in a masculine way. When I go on stage and dance in a more feminine way I also make a call for tolerance. If you do something similar on the street or a bar perhaps someone will approach you. I can do it on stage no matter if the audience is straight, gay or something else. And they end up reacting the same way. Theatricality is very important to me. Itâs my approach. Each person can have their own. But of course sexuality is something that goes through my albums. I talk about that more than any other pop artist in the world, but I do it in a way that deceives people who might never bring it up. Thereâs no politics in my music. Itâs almost an ambush.
But political involvement is important for achieving legal rights.
Little by little Iâm getting more involved on the political aspect, as Iâm getting older. Recently Iâve wrote to a column for the Italian journal La Repubblica in which I respond to a recent homophobic comment from Berlusconi (referring to the Italian prime ministerâs declaration that answered to accusation of having harassed a Moroccan under aged girl saying that itâs âbetter to be passionate about girls that being gayâ).
What do you say on the article?
Itâs not out yet, but basically I say that in any other developed country in the world a political leader makes such comment and get nothing but taps in the back instead of negative repercussion. Itâs not funny. He and everyone who supports him should be ashamed. Itâs stupid. And I write that in a moment where my album is on the top in various segments of the Italian market.
We never get to know anything about you. How do you keep yourself far from the midia harassment?
Iâm a mystery. I have a lot of secrets, some are good and others that embarrass me since I was young. âThe Boy Who Knew too Muchâ is a reference to the youngster whoâd pretend to go to sleep and climb out the window to throw himself at clubs till 5 a.m. Iâm not that perfect.
And what do you do for fun?
Same as everybody. I go out, but to places where there are no photographers. I drink, do stuffâŠyou knowâŠlike everyone. But no one reads about it. I donât give it all. I put everything in my songs and not on interviews. I think itâs important to wake up in the morning and be able to do a show, write a song, do my job and not fell like Iâve sold every aspect f my life. And that helped me a lot. The tour of my second album was three times bigger than the first oneâs. I think that only happens because Iâve kept myself relatively focused. Maybe one day that will change, but for now Iâm pretty happy the way it is.
What can we expect from the third album?
Itâs going to be ultra pop. Way more than the second, but way different from the first. Itâs not about childhood nor adolescence. Thereâll be different stories. Youâll be able to fit it in the whole of my carrier, but at the same time will see new things. Thereâs something about my music that is hard to explain. I donât consider myself cool or uncool, fashionable or out of fashion. Iâm kindda anything. My music is not pop, or indie, or electronic. It remains there in a weird place among all of that. Itâs like a bubble. And I know that when I do something good is really hard not to get involved. A song like âHappy Endingâ, for instance, simply works and thatâs it. I want it to be like that, full of melody and not fitting in any genre. Youâll see.
Do you watch Glee?
Yes. My next album is super âGleeâ.
They should have a Mika special episode.
Iâm not as famous in the U.S. as you think.
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Iâll suggest it to Fox.
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