INTERVIEW: MIMO –

How was the filming process and experience behind the video?

It was so much fun, but so much work (laughs)! David Dicso really came through with his artistry and we were able to pull it off with only me and him on the set. The video is also an ode to my childhood dream of being like Scatman John (laughs)! He was such a huge obsession for me as a kid and made me want to be as cool as him, growing up. This is why I framed him and it was paying respect to what he has done by blending Jazz, scat and MC’ing.

The single comes off your new album Mars Took Over – what’s the story behind the title?

Mars is the planet that rules our assertiveness and the way we move in the world. Mine is in Gemini and I wanted to showcase the embodiment of melodies & lyricism. This body of work is a celebration of that duality and fluency between singing and rapping. When Mars takes over it’s pretty much saying I can be everything I am unapologetically. It means that you fully welcome who you are and stand in your power. 

How was the recording and writing process?

There’s always the beats and music selection prior to writing, and I was very blessed to work with Adriatic and Strange Dust for that. I then wrote all the songs in October-November 2021 in New York and went straight to recording “An Introduction” in Bushwick. The rest of the songs were recorded in Montreal, in the middle of a cold winter (laughs) but we made it happen. My process is always very intuitive and I let the words and songs come to me, so it’s often a work in progress until I feel it’s completed. 

What role does New York play in your music?

That’s my lover, my foe and my friend (laughs)! New York influences my music so greatly, I wouldn’t even know where to start. I’m such a New Yorker in ways you can’t know if you don’t live this type of crazy city life. Mainly, I think you can hear those influences in songs like Funghi and Sunflower Head where the flow and tone are very playful but also blaz, in a sense. I think New York has that zesty but cool debonnaire feel too.

Where did you find the inspiration for the songs and lyrics?

I always write from a place of truth and relate it to how Blues music is often born. I feel, I sit in the pain and emotions and then I have to transmute it. That’s the magic of experiencing those hardships and joys: you get to use them and inspire other things to evolve and be created from them. The way I write often comes from gibberish and humming, a very Blues and Jazz feel I use from my music background. I love to set a flow and cadence and then lay the words that will support that story. They are both as important to me. It’s again a super intuitive process and I try to stay open and not limit myself to recipes or forms that have worked before.

What else is happening next in MIMO’s world?