25 jun COPENHELL 2024: An interview With Mimi Barks. Get to know her here
Foto: Mimi Barks // Nicolai Hegelund
Interviewet med Mimi Barks foregik på engelsk, men kan læses på dansk her.
Mimi Barks performed on Saturday at Copenhell 2024. Bands of Tomorrow had the pleasure of meeting with her and her band, after the show, for a very honest and open interview about herself, her music, and her new upcoming album. In this article we invite you to sit down with all of us, while Mimi tells us about her process of writing music, what she is proud of regarding her new album, she discloses new information about what happened to some of her previous work, and then we had a full on laugh by the thought of having sex in a moshpit. .
Mimi originates from Germany, but is now living in London. While living in London she have met Jamie and Charles, who now is a permanent addition to the project. Present during the interview were all three of them, Jamie, who is doing production and DJs (on the left), Charles, who is on drums (on the right), and Mimi, who are the songwriter and vocalist (the middle). Her new album ‘This is doom trap’ is coming up, and will be released on the 26 of September 2024, but is able to pre-order at the moment. Related to the release of her new album, she is going on a release tour, for seven days in the UK, in October 2024.
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Interviewer: ‘How would you describe your music’, as in “my music are…”, and then you finish the sentence?
Mimi: My music is ‘Doom Trap’. It got the despair, and the dread of the doom side of music, and the trap, and the metal of the modern age and rage.
Interviewer: Why did you start making music?
Mimi: Uhm, fuck, well I started making music because I had to. It had a cathartic energy for me. You know writing shit down helps, but not as much as shouting it. By shouting it you can really work through your own internal abyss and trauma.
Charles: Yeah, it becomes therapeutic.
Interviewer: Where do you find your inspiration for your music and style?
Mimi: You know, before London, I lived in Berlin… So, I would say Berlin nightlife, the techno scene… A fucked-up youth…
Jamie: … Mimi has very good way of mixing her German input, and her London input, like this combination of styles. I think she’s very good at being between that classic German techno energy, and that gritty London energy, when it comes to her style. So, it’s a mix, it’s a combination of things.
Interviewer: Do you have any artist that you find inspiration from?
Mimi: Yes. The prodigy, Marilyn Manson, Bullet for my Valentine, Bring me the Horisont, Michael Jackson
*All three of them laughs*
Mimi: … Oh, and Mac Miller. I love Mac Miller.
Interviewer: What is the most important thing to you, when you make music?
Mimi: That it’s authentic. I don’t like to go into so called ‘sessions’, where you get with other people and be like “now we are creative and write a track”, that’s not how I work. For me I can only write when I feel it, and when the inspiration is coming to me. I wish that I could just sit down, and put myself into the mood, but I could never go into a studio session with myself and be like “oh, today I’m going to write about this”, that’s know how that shit works. It’s whatever is on my mind, if nothing is on my mind, I’m not going to write, like, I’m not going to write for months… But, when it comes, it will come in almost like one go, it’s almost like I’m puking out the song. When I’m at my lowest, that’s when I’m writing songs…
Jamie: …Yeah, it’s like you are completely making music for yourself and you don’t give a fuck about, if others give a fuck. It’s whatever…
Mimi: …Yeah, there is never a plan. When I go in to write music, its just whatever happens, like whatever comes out of my brain.
Jamie: Yeah, you don’t write a trap song one day, and a metal song the other day…
Mimi: … No, it’s whatever I’m inspired by at the moment. Whatever situation I’m in, at that time. It’s really unpredictable and I never know… Uhm even during the process, I don’t know what the fuck is going on, until it’s there. You are in this weird state where you don’t realize anything. Like you think you will be there for 5 minutes, but then 5 hours later you are still there, and you’ve recorded vocals, made a track, trying different things, and then ’bam’, it’s there, and then, I know, this is more on the hip-hop side, or this is more on the metal side’ But I don’t know from start, there is no recipe for that shit.
Interviewer: So, by that, fans of you can be like, ‘oh she haven’t made anything for a year, I guess she’s doing well’…
*Everybody laughs*
Mimi: Yeah, but you know, to be honest, it’s a constant battle I have with myself. I used to romanticize depression… And I still talk myself into this illusion, that I can only create through despair and depression. I’m trying to find a way where I can heal myself, and still be able to create and be motivated. Cause at the end of the day it’s all just conditioning, like the way I have conditioned myself.
Interviewer: What is the coolest place you could imagine playing?
Mimi: The pyramids.
Charles: On top of the Eiffel tower!…
Mimi: On top of the Eiffel tower is a weird one, because no one can hear what you are playing?
Charles: … No, because the speakers are down at the ground.
*All three of them laughs*
Mimi: … I think the next step, would be at a cruise ship.
Interviewer: What song on your new album ‘This is doom trap’, have you worked the most on?
Mimi: If by ‘worked the most on’ you mean, ‘it was a tough one to give birth to’, uhm… Well for me music and the visual aspect of being an artist is 50/50, so I think the new track… Ha, fuck this is going to be a spoiler!… Uhm, Mirtazapine – it’s an antidepressant in the UK – That was the one I worked the most on, in terms of video production. The video is not out yet, but it’s going to drop with the album release. I can’t go into detail, but it’s incredible! There are multiple versions of myself and I flew to another continent to shoot it.
Interviewer: It sounds very interesting!… What do you think people will be the most surprised about, if they knew ‘this thing’, about This is doom trap?
Mimi: Uhh… The outro haha…
Jamie: I know what I would say. I think this, is the most authentically you.
Charles: I agree with that, yeah.
Jamie: Yeah, I think it’s the most true to you. Out of everything you have released, I think this is THE most you.
Mimi: Oh wow…
Jamie: Yeah. I’m excited.
Mimi: I mean… I agree, actually, which is interesting…
Charles: Well, we spoke about how you’ve evolved as an artist, with ‘Enter the void’ and then ‘Deadgirl’. Like there were differences in that, just because of what Mimi was going through that time. And then there is ‘This is doom trap’, and it’s just a whole new era. It’s not completely different, but you can see the change.
Mimi: Yeah, like, I’m not ‘Enter the void’ anymore. I’m not ‘dead girl’ anymore. I’m this new version of myself and now that the album drops, I’m actually still that. Usually when the album drops, I’m not ‘that’ anymore. Because it’s such a long time, from the process of creating the music, mixing, shooting the videos, creating the artwork, so, at the time it drops it’s like ‘oh I can’t really relate to that version of myself anymore’. But with this album, this is still me. I mean, we always try to create to our best potential at the time, and we were never satisfied with what we can do at the time, but I think with ‘This is doom trap’, I’m actually satisfied. For once I’m satisfied with the product, and I can’t wait to drop it, because it’s just a whole circle. It’s old ways, old versions of myself, that led to this moment, to this message that this album have.
Charles: Yeah, it’s massive.
Interviewer: Is there a song on ‘This is doom trap’, that deserves extra attention, according to you?
Charles: All of them!
*Everybody laughs*
Mimi: Uh… Uhm… Yes. This one track that we played today, which is not released yet, it has a feature on it, that I can’t disclose, but it is going to be one of the singles, and the lyrics are on the edge of what’s acceptable. But for me it’s full-on female empowerment. It’s got another female feature on it, and we…
Jamie: … It absolutely SMASH! like, SMAAASH!…
Mimi: …Yeah, haha, we fucking slayed!…
Jamie: … it’s just sooo good!
Mimi: Yeah, I just can’t wait to drop that, cause it’s one the most provocative tracks on the album, and the balance between my vocal, with the intensity, and the feature that is on, with a beautiful melody, and angel-like, seraphine-like vocals. To me it’s just like history. It’s going to be one of the top songs for sure… Like people are going to hate it, or people is going to love it. Either or, there is nothing in between. With this you cannot be like ‘I don’t know’. You either hate it, or you love it, so, I’m excited to see what happens… The song is called ‘Warm girl’!
Interviewer: Is there a history to the title ‘This is doom trap’?
Mimi: Well doom trap is what I call my music, and what I find to describe my personality, as well as the musical output… Uhm, hah, I like this question, uhm… Well, there’s two meanings, and I only realized this later on. First of all. The first meaning is, it’s a statement. It’s like THE album. THIS is doom trap. Everyone always ask me ‘what is doom trap?’, and I’m like THIS, is doom trap. For the first time I’m like, this is me! It’s like I’m in symbiosis, I’m in total peace with myself, and in putting this album out. It’s totally authentic, and me, and there is no doubt in my mind about it.
But the second meaning, which I only realized later on… I actually never talked about this before… But my first manager completely fucked me over. He deleted my work online, and blackmailed me for money, to get my work back. Like eleven of my music videos. He stole my YouTube channel, and other channels, and renamed them to ‘This is trap metal’. So, what I’m doing now, is; this is a new era. I’m like ‘fuck you, you can keep my old work… A decade of work… Have it, eat my work’. THIS IS DOOM TRAP, and the other thing, is the past. Fuck him, we are going to do it my way, because it’s not down to him to determine if I go through rebirth…
Jamie: Which is all the more reason to listen to THIS album, because fuck the old shit. This will go straight to Mimi; this is her shit!
Mimi: … You just got the best information. Everyone is just like ‘where the fuck are the videos?’. Well, yeah. Here it is…
Interviewer: Well, the next question goes, ‘when you listen to the album you have to…’ and then you finish the sentence.
Mimi: Hm, when you listen to the album you have to… Have sex while you’re in a moshpit.
*Everybody burst out laughing*
Jamie: … To be fair, if someone have sex in one of our moshpits? Fair play, you get backstage for life…
Mimi: Yo, you get guestlist for life, if you can have sex in a moshpit!
*Everybody laughs on*
Interviewer: Well you heard it here first!
Mimi: Haha, is there going to be an English version of this, so I can actually promote that?
Interviewer: Yes, there is! But last, I just want to ask if there is anything else you want to share about the album, or yourself?
Mimi: Yeah, we have a headline coming up, in October. It’s a UK tour, so come fly over!… Seven days, all over the UK, that is going to be the ‘This is doom trap’ UK release tour.
Jamie: Yeah, come down, and fuck in a moshpit!
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As you can hopefully read, Mimi and her band were a delight to be sitting down with. They were easy to talk and laugh with, and as you can hopefully read out of the interview, she is a very authentic, honest and open person. She isn’t scared to talk about things that in society is normal to be toned down or is taboo. She is just as open in reality, as she seems through her music. At the same tome the band seemed very supporting of each other and having a great dynamics together. If you want to read more about Mimi Barks you can read the review of her Concert at Copenhell here.*
This interview is a part of Bands Of Tomorrows covering of Copenhell, which have resulted in multiple reviews of concerts during the four days of rock n’roll and metal. Don’t miss the opportunity to peak through to the backdoors of Hell, and read the other concert reviews here.*
* The reviews from Copenhell only exist in Danish.
Foto: Mimi Barks // Nicolai Hegelund
