Mirrors : Q & A

Definition of Mirror:
1. A surface capable of reflecting sufficient undiffused light to form an image of an object placed in front of it.
2. Something that faithfully reflects or gives a true picture of something else.
3. Something worthy of imitation.

When considering the elusive and somewhat mysterious existence of Brightonian four-piece Mirrors, it’s possible that all 3 definitions have a relevance to their being, or at the very least lend weight to why this is their moniker.  For here is a band who to date have played few live shows, who whilst being tipped for big things have had practically zero coverage in the music press and who are already ensconced by the majors in a bidding war, all desperate to get a contract in place with these self-proclaimed “pop-noir” purveyors.  So its ironic that at this stage they still remain slightly shrouded in mystery.

The defunct NME touted Mumm-Ra is a good starting place as purportedly some of it’s former members make up Mirrors, although the band have taken steps to remove any transparency to avoid that lesser known history being dredged up time and time again.  And it’s easy to see why, for there is no resemblance to the sound of the former, nor is their current aesthetic.   Instead here is an intelligent art-pop group, with a cinematic edge and a darkly distinctive ostentation that welcomes pretention and the highbrow comparisons they have already been labelled with. 

Ostensibly they are influenced by the creativity of 19th and 20th century authors, poets, architects, composers and philosophers, including Byron, Erwin Blumenfeld, Debussy and Harold Pinter.  Surprising then that Mirrors have cultivated a sound to replicate the over-indulged 80’s, when synths were throbbing, vocals were rich and heavyweights such as Depeche Mode and OMD were causing arena mayhem.  Yet arguably the only 2 Mirrors tracks available to listen to already portray a deeper understanding of this celebrated era of music than much of the other thousands of bands attempting their own renaissance.  For many the 80’s revival has become a huge bone of contention, but in fairness to them it’s unlikely they have even heard of Mirrors, let alone caught a few bars of their electronic scoring.

Live, their show explores the conceptual realms of visual stimuli with the music being backed up by dramatic abstract films and syncing strobes that harness the beat and set up of every song.  Again pretention reigns, but when it’s done as dramatically and succinctly as this it becomes an exhilarating form of live show that potentially could merge the boundaries some have put in place between music and art, in a very believable manner.

Perhaps 2009 won’t be the year that purports to nail down Mirrors as a contender for any accolades that befit new music or even allow them large notoriety, but I would lay down my hard earned cash to say 2010 will make pop-noir invincible and Mirrors respectfully next years White Lies success story.  In fact William Hill is beckoning to me as I write, so while I’m gone here’s a little introductory Q & A courtesy of Ally Young (sythesizer and vocals) for your taste-makering buds.


4or The Record: For anyone that hasn’t heard of Mirrors, tell us the story of how the band originated.
Ally Young: I suppose we just gravitated towards one another. We were all aware of each others musical endeavors, and individually felt we had taken them as far as we wanted to. It seemed like a natural progression to start making music together.

4TR: Why did you call yourselves Mirrors?
AY: It’s a very clean, precise sounding word. It just seemed to suit the bands rigid aesthetic.

4TR: You describe what you do as ‘pop-noir’, what do you mean by that?
AY: It’s a phrase we coined ourselves. We wanted to stress the fact that we write “pop” music but felt we didn’t fall into any one particular category. We think it’s an accurate reflection of the music we make.

4TR: Was that the sound you always aspired to create when the band formed?
AY: Yes. We went through various incarnations of the “mirrors” sound, but we had a very clear goal in mind and we knew once we found our sound that this was it.

4TR: There has reportedly been a lot of interest in Mirrors from various record labels, has any decisions been made about who you will be working with?
AY: Well we’re still talking to people at the moment however our focus is on finishing our album and creating an incredible live show.

4TR: Given the slightly worrying state of the music industry today, what kind of label would you want to work with?
AY: We’ll work with the label that we feel best understands the band and it’s ambitions.

4TR: Debut single ‘Look At Me’ was released recently, what kind of reception has it had so far and what is it about?
AY: Like a lot of what we do, people have very strong opinions about the track. Some people think it’s the greatest track this year and some people, well, don’t. We feel it’s good to evoke such a strong reaction, whether it’s positive or negative.

4TR: How does the writing process work within the band, both lyrically and musically?
AY: It’s traditional in the sense that all our songs generally start with a melody or chord progression.  We then build the track, very slowly, piece by piece in our studio. Often there are several manifestations of a song before we find a groove we’re happy with.

James writes the lyrics. We all sit and talk about the words. We try and be economical with our words. We try to avoid narrative in our lyrics as we feel a lot of lyrics can read like that. We would rather try and write lyrics which are personal to us.  We don’t want to lecture people and be transparent in meaning .  We want people to journey into the music and the words and the sound of James’ voice

4TR: You cite influences including 19th and 20th-century foreign authors, directors, composers, poets and philosophers.  In what way do they influence the music or motivations of Mirrors?
AY: As a band we tend to be influenced by many different things. Heston Blumenthal boiling the perfect egg, Gary Kasparov plunging his opponent into perfect zugzwang or watching an old Jan Svankmajer movie. These influence us just as much as listening to the latest Carl Craig record. It’s what we talk about and that will inevitably have an effect on our music.

4TR: What about musical influences?
AY: Honestly, We don’t pay a lot of attention to what’s going on around us. Generally our influences are electronic, especially those artists who manage to imbue stark electronic sounds with emotion and feeling.

4TR: People have already likened you to music/musicians of the 80’s, including Depeche Mode, New Order and Tears For Fears – do you agree with any of the comparisons so far?
AY: Well, yes, they are obvious reference points. But I think our sound is much denser than these bands and what we do sounds very contemporary. We are living in the 21st Century, the world around us will inevitably influence our music.

4TR: What can we expect for the rest of 2009 from Mirrors and what is your ultimate dream?
AY: We would like to alter the way people approach commercial/pop music. We want pop music to be an experience, not just a song.

Words: Francesca Strange

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