I recently had the opportunity to review Miccoli band’s single, called “Lights,” from Miccoli’s EP 1/2, which will drop May 12. It’s an excellent single and the band will be in L.A. in June, with other dates and venues to follow.
Since the BBC designated Miccoli as “ones to watch,” I thought I request an interview. The band was kind enough to grant one. Here’s what they had to say.
What is the most trouble you’ve ever gotten into? There’s been a few – for legal reasons will stick to the milder stories. We were invited to a party at Chateau Marmont on Sunset in LA – free drinks, canape/hors d’oeuvre – of course music to our ears, like throwing gasoline on a bonfire. One band member who shall remain nameless – mistook the kitchen for a restroom, we were either escorted or carried out. So classy!
What’s your favorite song to belt out in the car or the shower? Going to have to go old school on this one; and it changes depending on mood – default Fleetwood Mac “You can go your own way.”
What kind of guitar do you play? Adriano majority of the time it’s a Martin acoustic dreadnought, for full band I switch between a Fender Telecaster and a Gibson Memphis ES-335 Satin
What musicians influenced you the most? A bit Like passive smoking (but in a good way), the songs our parents used to play subconsciously sunk in, from all the Motown greats to Police, James Taylor, Carly Simon, Carol King The Carpenters, The Beatles – our main influences have to be Simon & Garfunkel and Fleetwood Mac, the masters of song writing, harmony arrangements and guitar riffs.
In my review of your single, I described your musical style as “alternative rock.” How would you describe it? It really is a tough one for even us to pinpoint, as we don’t see ourselves as one thing or another, our sound is really a melting pot of all our influences – melody, guitar riffs and harmony arrangements – we hope we’ve created something that is unique and identifiable to us.
Where do you find inspiration for your songs? To be honest anywhere and everywhere, a strange look from a passerby, a movie, a book, a twitter post, whatever – for us it’s about being present as much as possible in life and should inspiration strike in that moment – record it asap, be it on a phone, scribble it on a napkin and save it for later, until you are ready to piece all your ideas together.
What is your songwriting process? Does the music come first and then the lyrics? Our process is always evolving as we change, things that may have had appeal before may not excite us in the same way, one thing is constant though – we love to write in dimly lit, quite rooms slumped over a piano or guitar and in true British form consuming copious cups of tea. Generally, if we have a strong riff we will continue down that path; similarly, if we have a strong lyric then we’ll keep playing until a memorable melody is born that fits.
So far, has “Lights” beenwell-received by the critics?By listeners? Since you guys are one of the first to hear it, it’s still a bit of a secret at the moment. A taster of the video was aired on UK National TV and the response has been great, people seem to love the energy of the track, its sentiment and style.
Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/music-interview-miccoli_us_58f4ec90e4b048372700da32
Miccoli (Band) 