MIKKS’ first EP “Shadow Selves” will be released this year: Jürgen Plank spoke to MIKK regarding the inspiration that the psychologist Carl Gustav Jung provided for their songs. In addition, MIKK talks regarding the moments in which her songs are created and regarding the first song she ever wrote. For the role that women play in the Austrian music business, the trained psychologist finds an analogy with CG Jung, and so the EP comes full circle. MIKK is currently presenting the songs from “Shadow Selves” on a tour through Austria and Germany, taking them to Lübeck and as supported by MYNTH will also lead to Graz.
When did you write your very first song?
Mickey: At that time I was regarding 15 years old and sang in a punk rock band. “Let the good times roll” was the name of the first song, it was just a song regarding being young. The first song for the current project was “Wild Ocean”. I studied psychology and always made music on the side. When I wrote this song, it was a very formative moment for me and I kind of tipped back into making music. That was a moment I won’t forget: I woke up in the middle of the night and wrote the song. He just had to get out.
Your first EP “Shadow Selves” will be released this year. The press release says that your songs are often regarding connections and dynamics between people, regarding relationships in the broadest sense. Aside from perhaps people with personality disorders, the most interesting thing to just regarding everyone is other people. How is that for you and how does it manifest in your music?
Mickey: Yes, people are definitely what inspires me the most. Complicated situations in particular are very inspiring when you don’t know where you currently stand and where the other person stands. When I was writing the first songs for the project I fell in love with a visual artist and it so happened that we both expressed our dynamics a lot in our art. It was very exciting to see that in music and in pictures. My music is also very much regarding myself and my doubts, also regarding projections. Many relationships are regarding projections. That’s why my first EP is called “Shadow Selves” because everyone has positive and negative dynamics and the songs are regarding the negative dynamics.
You also refer to CG Jung, who puts the self at the center, among other things, so it’s regarding the conscious and the unconscious at the same time. How is your confrontation with CG Jung and how does this flow into it?
Mickey: Exactly. For me, the confrontation with Jung is there because he dealt a lot with the shadow dynamics of people. Also in a cultural sense: how is culture and society influenced? And like family relationships, we all have our shadows. The brighter you shine, the bigger shadows you cast. The more aware you are of your shadows, the more you can do with yourself and with others. For me, songwriting is often a moment of awareness. It was often like this: the text and the sheet music are often there within five minutes. I can’t explain it, I don’t think regarding it at all. Then the song is there and I think: aha, that was in my subconscious the whole time. I wasn’t really aware of how I was doing right now. For me it is often the case that the song shows me something.
I know it more from the context of shamanism, that a channel opens and then information flows, a transcendental experience. Is that similar?
Mickey: Yeah, I can’t quite explain that. It just is. In the course of the work process, I came across CG Jung. I like his psychological views, he’s not as strict as Freud.
Staying with Jung for a moment: he also says that the male and female principles are united in the self. Would you also see it that way and how might that express itself in your music, your lyrics?
Mickey: Absolutely. I would say that the feminine is creating music and the masculine is dealing with the music business. Do I unite the masculine and the feminine when writing a song? Yes, sure too. It’s very exciting to think regarding. I already see these two principles united in many people, including in myself. And I believe that there is always an imbalance and a song will surely emerge from it. I can say for myself that the EP “Shadow Selves” has a lot to do with a destructive femininity. Destructive, because certain songs show a certain victim role attitude. But I think that’s something that is almost socially imposed on us women. Probably also in the music scene. We women are still in the minority when it comes to making music. But in songwriting itself, I think regarding the dynamics rather than the feminine and masculine. Writing a song requires a certain fragility. And what gender do you attribute that to? You can then look at it from many different angles.
Stereotypes are also there to be broken down, I would say. There is this picture of the iceberg, ten percent of which is above the water, that is what you are aware of. The rest is below the surface of the water, the unconscious.
Mickey: Exactly. I think so too, and I find that exciting. In the video for “Lights On” I am being pulled by ribbons, blindfolded, to show: We are not aware of certain things and dynamics. I wanted to show where this tornness comes from. It’s exciting: the more secure you are in yourself, the less you allow it. And I think that because a lot of my songs come from a moment of self-doubt and being torn, these are very fragile and unconscious moments. How much do you like to talk regarding someone’s weaknesses? My songs are always a dialogue: me, you. you, me You did this, I did that. In the end it is still a dialogue with yourself.
Ultimately, almost all questions boil down to oneself.
Mickey: Always, actually. Of course we are social beings, but when it comes to oneself, it’s mostly regarding oneself. Now that sounds selfish, but it’s not.
“My musical language is very intuitive.”
What musical language did you develop for the album?
Mickey: Playing the guitar comes most naturally to me. I can also play the piano, but the guitar feels closer and more spontaneous. I think: my musical language is very intuitive. The things I hear are certainly included. But it happens really intuitively, I jam and then something has to come out. Even in the middle of the night. I worked with Max Hauer on the production and it was a nice process because he arranged and contributed a lot. But I’ve always felt that the foundation sticks with me. It was very respected the way the song is and it wasn’t crammed into radio length. I think it’s mainly regarding feelings, regarding the basic feeling that you want to convey, and not regarding the fact that a song is technically insanely complex. My main instrument is definitely the voice and that is a recognition feature and I also rely on the voice quite a bit.
One of your songs is called “Heaven”, what kind of song is that?
Mickey: For me the song is extremely hopeful, soft and very loving. The song is a declaration of love, I find it very sensual, hopeful and passionate. Those are the feelings I associate with “Heaven”.
A declaration of love to life, to yourself, to all of us?
Mickey: Yes, I believe in life, in the process of life. Also in the process of being in love, for example, it’s always up and down: yes, no, yes. Uncertainty and then another extreme: Yes, cool. That’s how life is, sometimes like a wild ocean, like “Wild Ocean” and sometimes life can be “Heaven”. I believe that we often forget that we ourselves contribute to whether we create a “Heaven” or a “Wild Ocean”.
You said in the preliminary talk that you lived in Great Britain for a while and traveled in Asia. Such stays also shape you, how was that for you? Also in relation to your creative process?
Mickey: I’ve always found the British music scene very exciting and felt very comfortable there. The singer-songwriter scene definitely influenced me a lot: that it’s just normal to go to a pub on a Sunday and there’s someone with a guitar and singing regarding life. We don’t have that in that form at all. That gave me a confidence to do it and also that guitar and vocals can be enough in certain settings. Being away from home, being on your own for years has also been difficult and that’s where music became an anchor. Music is still a haven. How else did that shape me? I’m certainly open to other styles of music and people from all over the world.
It certainly brings a certain openness, but also a fragility. The nice thing regarding being abroad is that you don’t know anyone and have to make new friends. You have to get involved in this process once more and once more, which is very nice. I’ve met so many exciting people and I still get to meet exciting people on tour. But it’s also difficult: when there are friends all over the world, you always miss someone.
We have already talked regarding the feminine and the masculine principle. On our website we have a focus on women and the music scene. How are your experiences?
Mickey: That’s an exciting question. Unfortunately, what I always miss a little is the cooperation among the women in the scene. Business is tough and everyone wants to get ahead, it’s very competitive. As a female musician it’s not always easy with men, I have to say that too. Namely to really be seen as a musician and not just as a dating object per se, I’ll say it now. To be really respected for the music you make. It’s definitely different than being employed somewhere and having a fixed job. I work on the project every day, there are always emails to write or you finally take the time to really make music once more. It’s a shame that you actually have very little time for it.
What else did you notice?
Mickey: I know that from myself and hear it from other women that being a musician is a big financial challenge. I think that’s a pity. I turned 30 this year and I’m already asking myself whether I’m too old to start a music project? Of course I have in the back of my mind: yes, I would like to have a family, but how do I do that as a musician? These are questions that are already on my mind. I’ve heard from other women that it wouldn’t have been possible to make music without their husbands. Not without the financial support of the partner. I’m someone who likes to be independent, even abroad I always organized everything for myself. Having to make yourself almost dependent on a partner in order to be able to make music, I really struggle with that. The music business is absolutely not family-friendly. For me, it’s part of my femininity to think regarding it. For some, having children isn’t an issue, they choose music or a career. I can totally understand that too. But I realize I’m in a quandary there. I know female musicians who feel the same way, we often talk regarding it and then we don’t know how to do it.
Many thanks for the interview.
Jurgen Plank
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Mickey live:
4/20/2023, Graz (Orpheum), support for Mynth
01.5.2023, Seaside, Neusiedl
May 17, 2023, Belt Connection, Vienna
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Links:
Mickey
Mickey (Facebook)
Mickey (Instagram)
