Mirrors

Mirrors

12 August, 2009
by: Gina Louise

When three educated young fellows from Brighton come together and compare their interest in 1920s foreign literature, you wouldn't necessarily assume that the outcome would be some 80s style synths. Yet electro boys Mirrors formed in just this way, and have claimed that their myriad of eclectic influences has led to a new genre of 'pop noir' - a melodramatic minimalism reminiscent of the emergence of early synth music, and echoing the keyboard ambience of OMD and Echo and the Bunnymen.

They are not currently signed, but don't think this is the last you will see of them, as they are being stealthily chased by a few of the big record labels. We managed to catch James New before Mirrors spiral into the mainstream for a few quick questions about the origins of their sound.

OK, let's begin at the beginning. Two of you were in Mumm-ra; how did you all come together and when did it click that you could make good music together?

We were all aware of each other's musical endeavors. Tate and I had moved to Brighton and were looking to start something new, and we soon found two more like minds in the shape of Ally and Josef.

We felt that the music coming out of the UK was lacking something; it all felt very lazy to us. We wanted to create something much more theatrical, dense, and cinematic whilst preserving a sense of mystery.

The music you make is highly complex, what's the writing process like: is it highly collaborative or do people bring in almost complete ideas?

It is interesting you find our music complex. We make an effort to make our songs simple both musically and structurally. The complexities come through the way we build these melodies. Adding multiple layers over our honest simple melodies is the basis for our sound.

You've talked in the past about wanting the aesthetic and ideas to be as considered as the music, is this the fundamental ethos behind Mirrors?

We'd like to make a dent in people’s perceptions of what pop music can be. We make contemporary pop music but we don't want to present it lazily to the outside world.

The krautrock movement and late 80's electronica have been wildly touted, but you seem to be giving it a modern twist with elements that sound not unlike David Holmes or M83. What's your current listening?

We're always interested to hear new things. We don't like to tout names as it can be misleading for people who don't know us yet. People draw their own conclusions when they listen to our music anyway, and we don't feel it would be beneficial to reel off a long line of influences. Mirrors is very much our own world.

You're on record as saying that you want each gig to be special and you're selective about dates you've played. In that sense how do you approach a festival show like Latitude and what can people expect from a live Mirrors show?

We've had to be selective so far, but festivals will be slightly different. When you only have 20 minutes to change over it is hard for a band like us to achieve the show we have in our minds. It is not ideal, but festivals are an important part of a bands growth and something we enjoy doing. Until then, shows incorporating the full Mirrors experience will be put on by us in smaller more suitable venues where we have time to map out every aspect of the evening.

Latitude is a famously diverse festival with an amazing theater and comedy roster. Is there anything outside the realm of music influencing or compelling Mirrors?

We draw our inspirations from everyday life. It may be from impressions of traveling, a TV programme, reading a book, anything that's interesting to us. Even an interviewers questions.

What are you looking for in a label?

Frankly we are not necessarily looking for a label, just an investment. To this point we have 'A&R'd' ourselves and have become very selective about the people we choose to work with. We're looking for label who understands the band's ambitions.

Mirrors music is inherently cinematic. Would you ever consider soundtracking a movie?

It's certainly something we'd be interested in. We make visuals for all of our songs and are constantly exploring the relationship between sound and vision. It's early days; we still have a debut album to record and that's certainly our priority right now.

Mirrors debut single ‘Look At Me’ is out on 7” and download through Pure Groove now. Mirrors headline Moshi Moshi’s night at The Garage on the 14th August.

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Gina Louise