DANI56 Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/M/Mika/2009/10/05/11299531-sun.html British pop star Mika's mega-hit, Grace Kelly, propelled his 2007 debut, Life In Cartoon Motion, to sell six million copies around the world. At the time, the Lebanese-born, London-based singer-songwriter-pianist, whose falsetto recalls Freddie Mercury of Queen, referred to the CD as "his schoolyard album." So his just-released sophomore effort, The Boy Who Knew Too Much, naturally is his "adolescent album," with its first single, We Are Golden, an attempt to recreate the feeling of being a 17-year-old again. "I really love where I've come from but I know I can't write another Lollipop (also a hit from Cartoon Motion)," said Mika, 26, while in Toronto earlier this summer for an album listening session at a Queen Street West restaurant. "'Cause if you do something twice in something as brutal as pop music, well your career is over. The thing about pop music is that it is a level playing field. You could be a 16-year-old that's just come out of your bedroom with a bunch of demos or you could be U2, and you all compete against each other. Despite genres, despite how established you are, despite your last record, it's always down to the song. So it's a brutal game. It's a good one though." Given his success, Mika had his choice of producers for The Boy Who Knew Too Much but wound up working again with L.A.-based Greg Wells (Katy Perry, OneRepublic, Pink) in London. "I went back to the people that I love," said Mika who was nominated for a 2008 best dance recording Grammy, along with Wells, for the song Love Today. "And the reason was that (Greg) allows me to produce. He takes me to a higher, better place, in terms of my music and he has a lot of skill. But there were a lot of things that I thought I would do, which I didn't end up doing. Because to tell you the truth, all you need's a piano." After starting to record in L.A., Mika returned to London and a routine work schedule every day included waking up at the same time (10:30 a.m.), arriving at Olympic Studios at the same time (11:15 a.m.), have a standing lunch reservation at the Italian restaurant, Riba, and a beer at the Red Lion Pub every night (8:45 p.m.). "Being OCD, being kind of totally neurotic and lost in your own world, and working on my own, I needed some sort of structure," said Mika, who kicks off his North American tour on Oct. 12 at Toronto's Sound Academy. "One thing I'm terrified of is indulgence. And I think discipline enables you to get around that and I think it helped me forget a lot of the pressure that was out there from the first record just by getting lost in this ridiculous discipline that I jumped into." Mika said he intially took his fans feelings into consideration when writing songs for The Boy Who Knew Too Much but soon realized he had to write songs for himself. In other words, his flamboyant style, kind of a dizzy pop-dance hybrid, remained intact. "There's an element of the absurd that I really love. (I) really love this sense of heightened emotion. I exaggerate things in order to reinforce certain emotions and that isn't necessarily cool, that isn't necessarily fashionable, but it's totally relevant to survival. Probably a very Lebanese instinct. When the bombs are going down, the restaurants, as long as they possibly can, they won't shut down. And it's a very kind of elated sadness, elated joy. I think that's a major part of what I do. The Lebanese thing is really important because they're very resilient people, they're very celebratory, as in they celebrate life and they exaggerate life, and they're so resilient." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fmbm Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Was just about to post this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DANI56 Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share Posted October 5, 2009 (edited) Was just about to post this sorry! Edited October 5, 2009 by DANI56 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iadoremika Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 (edited) I figured it was Canadian/Torontonian when they mentioned Queen West. But I like this article, thanks for posting! Edited October 5, 2009 by iadoremika Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louiza Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Really nice article!! t4p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertina Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Mika said he intially took his fans feelings into consideration when writing songs for The Boy Who Knew Too Much but soon realized he had to write songs for himself. did we ask him for anything? maybe we just asked to have How much do you love me and Holy johnny in the new album... let's say we are happy with the final result anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greta Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Mika said he intially took his fans feelings into consideration when writing songs for The Boy Who Knew Too Much but soon realized he had to write songs for himself. did we ask him for anything? maybe we just asked to have How much do you love me and Holy johnny in the new album... let's say we are happy with the final result anyway nooope, I'm too snob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweet Knees Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 I love reading, but after a few it really makes you think how frustrating it must be for Mika to have to answer similar questions, but in a different way, all the time. He does a great job though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gracekelly85 Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 thanks forposting, Dani! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mari62 Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Italian restaurant, Riba kudos to Lebanese people! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FREDDIESDOUBLE Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 All over the world theres a red lion pub Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Droopsy Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 His hair looks grey in that pic!! t4p! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellody Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 great article, t4p! i love the additional insight he gives here into the making of of his album. he wanted to take our feelings into consideration when making the album, aww, how sweet of him! but looking at the result, i'm glad he didn't (whatever he meant by it...), it's perfect the way it is now! he can take our feelings into consideration for the tour instead, lol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatagordinha Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Mika said he intially took his fans feelings into consideration when writing songs for The Boy Who Knew Too Much but soon realized he had to write songs for himself. did we ask him for anything? maybe we just asked to have How much do you love me and Holy johnny in the new album... let's say we are happy with the final result anyway Yeah that must be what he meant I'm still not over the fact that HMDYLM isn't there though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellody Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 hmm, don't know if he meant hmdylm and hj, he talked about writing songs, not about the decision which ones would be on the album... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyn Mastin Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Good article T4P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sienna Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 I love reading, but after a few it really makes you think how frustrating it must be for Mika to have to answer similar questions, but in a different way, all the time. He does a great job though. I have thought about that too! How can he stand it? But I agree, he does it very well. I'm just waiting for a new Travolta story! Thanks for posting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kodes100 Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Thanks Dani for posting another interesting article from The Boy! More insight into Mika's process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IngievV Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 His hair looks grey in that pic!! t4p! Because of all the stress he gets from having to cope with crazy MFCers all the time:roftl: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkly1 Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Mika said he intially took his fans feelings into consideration when writing songs for The Boy Who Knew Too Much but soon realized he had to write songs for himself. did we ask him for anything? maybe we just asked to have How much do you love me and Holy johnny in the new album... let's say we are happy with the final result anyway He used to text me ALL the time asking what I wanted on the new album, I kept telling him to do an Elvis cover but whould he listen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willywonka Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 He used to text me ALL the time asking what I wanted on the new album, I kept telling him to do an Elvis cover but whould he listen That's coz you weren't assertive enough, learn from Mrs. P! That'll do! I texted him: Mica, Wonka wants Loverboy on your next album... No matter what you do, include it or be spanked when you get home later on! What d'ya want for tea? Spaghetti with Nutella or Nutella with Spaghetti? And don't forget you still have to rub those bath tiles, buy the goddamn bleach pen on your way home! Signed: Momma:sneaky2: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewokwicket Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Thanks for posting Dani, I liked that article, I've gotten a bit bored reading the same kind of interviews now, but this one was great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kodes100 Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 I texted him: Mica, Wonka wants Loverboy on your next album... No matter what you do, include it or be spanked when you get home later on! What d'ya want for tea? Spaghetti with Nutella or Nutella with Spaghetti? And don't forget you still have to rub those bath tiles, buy the goddamn bleach pen on your way home! Signed: Momma:sneaky2: You know Wonka - you are slightly mad - but I knind of like it. Hahaha!:thumb_yello::roftl: P.S. I keep forgetting that you are a Lady & I always think of pirates when I see your posts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natmika Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Wonka is a woman?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willywonka Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 You know Wonka - you are slightly mad - but I knind of like it. Hahaha!:thumb_yello::roftl:P.S. I keep forgetting that you are a Lady & I always think of pirates when I see your posts. Hi Hi Captain! Wonka is a woman?! Wonka iz no woman, Wonka is a Ladypirate... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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