Next up on MIMR we bring you the latest rip-roaring effort from Indie songstress Maisie Johnson who is starting to turn a few heads with ‘Start Again’ released yesterday (30th October) only cementing her position as a artist to watch.

Oozing uber coolness and talent by the bucket load Maisie is certain to make light of the competition and the track is a blissfull gaze into the talents that will lift her to the next exciting chapter.

I spoke to Maisie about the single and her future plans.

MIMR: Tell us about the new single Maisie, what’s it about and what influences does it draw upon?

Maisie: To be honest with this song it kinda just reflects on new beginnings and stuff! Nothing too smart haha just something everyone relates too, dependant on what they take from it as well. For me, I had just left a musical project when I wrote this, and started this one.

MIMR: How has this year been for you as an artist?

Maisie: It’s been great! I’ve learnt lots about myself as an artist and what I want from it, and it’s all been about establishing that I think? I’m just really excited for the next coming months, and what my music could potentially achieve if I work hard enough!

MIMR: What’s does the future hold for you, any goals you have set?

Maisie: I want to keep developing my sound, and do as much as possible. Haha and have a good time whilst I do it. And form a proper fan base.

MIMR: All set for Christmas, what is your favourite festive song?

Maisie: Oh wow. Guess it has to be The Pogues – Fairytale of New York. Can’t go wrong!

You can listen to the track right here!

http://hyperurl.co/maisiejohnson

A discovery of a new and exciting band is always a wonderful thing and the next band are no exception. MIMR presents Alt-pop groovers Champion Of Youth who are ready to speak up and be counted in the current, vibrant and bussling manchester music scene.

I spoke two members of the band to talk about their music and the joys of playing live.

MIMR: It’s great pleasure we welcome another new band to the blog. Who are Champion Of Youth and was it clear from the start which direction your music would go in?

JOHN AMMIRATI (vocals, guitars): Thank you. Champion of Youth is/are Scott, Drew, Seb, James and me, doing our thang in Manchester.
I don’t know if the direction of the music was clear from the start. My imagination is very limited, so I like to be surprised.

SCOTT CHALLINOR (drums): I think so, we always seem to be working towards a cohesive sound for us as a band. We have many disagreements about parts of songs and structures but it’s always the music that benefits from those discussions.

MIMR: Really enjoying the EP at the moment, tell us more about the making of these tracks and will they be proceeded by more releases in the near future?

JA: Thank you very much. We thank Christ we got to record with Keir Stewart at Inch Studio. He’s a badass. A beautiful man. He’s worked with the Fall, Durutti Column, etc., he’s amazing. We recorded with Steve Hanley’s bass amp, Morrissey’s Viva Hate guitar, we loved it. Keir was decisive too, which we need because we can waffle and bicker like motherfuckers. We want to record the next batch of singles and the album with him too, but we haven’t told him yet. Do you think he’ll say yes?

SC: I loved playing the old Ludwig kit in the studio… I took so many takes just so I could play it for longer. Not sure which songs we’ll be recording next but I’m looking forward to getting started.

MIMR: If you could have written one song by any other artist/band which one would it be and why?

SC: ‘Schizophrenia’ by Sonic Youth. Love this song, chiming guitars, Steve Shelley at his best on the drums, Thurston and Kim’s voices used to full effect. One of my favourite songs.

JA: ‘Happy Birthday to You’, by the Hill sisters. I’d use the royalties to climb the Bridge to Total Freedom in a weekend intensive.

MIMR: Looking forward to catching a live show very soon, what’s your favourite thing about playing live?

SC: When songs come together to sound their best because of the pressure and adrenaline – either that or they fall apart.

JA: Playing live feels like nothing can go wrong, even when it does go wrong. And the shit does go wrong.

MIMR: Thanks for chatting to us on the blog, where can we keep in the know with the band and listen to the EP?

SC: My favourite way to keep up with Champion of Youth news and most other artists is via Twitter (@CHAMPIONofYOUTH).

JA: You can subject yourself to our EP on Bandcamp or Spotify.

You can check out the EP here:

https://championofyouth.bandcamp.com/

Hailed as one of the finest upcoming Indie Rock n Roll bands in the north west Ravellas from wigan triumphantly return to the blog with their latest release ‘Colour Me Sweet’ which is s uplifting, raucous indie anthem with electrifying riffs and stomping beats perfect for a boogie on the dancefloor

MIMR spoke to the band about the release as well as their future plans.

MIMR: Great to have Ravellas back on the blog, how has 2017 been for the band?

Ravellas: Nice to be back. 2017 has been really good to us. We went on our first proper tours supporting Highly Suspect, which ended at a sold out Koko in London, then we went onto support one of our hero’s growing up Tom Clarke on his solo tour celebrating The Enemy debut album. We’re really happy with the music we’ve put out this year as well and hoping to have some more music out before the years done.

MIMR: Tell us about the new single, what’s the story behind it?

Ravellas: We had a jam and were tryna get some new material together. Jonny had shown us this half idea with the lyric “Colour me sweet with sugar please.” And then some more nonsensical lyrics and straight away we thought it makes no sense but it’s proper catchy! We went down a bit of soppy love song route for a while with a bit more jingle jangle guitars and struggled to get it finished as it wasn’t really us. It was only really after Jonny flipped the meaning of the song on its head to recite a kind of hedonism fuelled night out with some clever and some not so clever metaphors that the rest of the song just fell into place.

MIMR: Festival season is over for another year, did you experience any of them over the summer and what’s your favourite thing about them?

Ravellas: We managed to do a few yeah and it’s definitely one of the best things about being in a band. Getting to hang with other bands getting pissed and having a chance to showcase your music to potentially new people who’ve never heard of you and getting to soundtrack a tiny part of their summer is what I love the most about it.

MIMR: What does the future hold for you guys, more releases?

Ravellas: We’re tryna lock ourselves away a bit before 2018s here and get some more songs written and recorded. For us, Ravellas are at their best when we’re writing music cause that’s what we’re best at. We have a few unreleased tracks that were really eager to get out there. The feedback we’ve been getting for a song we’ve got recorded called ‘Reputation’ is unreal so we can’t wait for people’s to hear it.

MIMR: Thanks for dropping in, all the best with the single. Where can people keep up to date with the band?

Ravellas: Facebook.com/weareravellas
@weareravellas