Miccoli: At ‘Home’ With A Nice Cup of Tea

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<h4 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>We've featured&nbsp;British/Italian sibling trio Miccoli a few times here. Made up of twins Adriano (Vocal and Guitar) Alex (Piano, Vocal, Guitar and Clarinet) and their sister Francesca (Vocal, Piano and Harmonica) they're an&nbsp;adult alternative/indie pop band from Birmingham, whose&nbsp;sibling harmonies are both haunting and evocative. </strong></h4>

 

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<h4 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>In short Miccoli&nbsp;take us away on a wave of gorgeous, ethereal, wafting, mesmerising, melody…</strong></h4>

Now we’ve had the opportunity to pick their brains and find out how they tick. 

 

<p style="text-align: justify;"><span class="s2"><strong>EP: What's the Miccoli story?</strong> </span></p>

M: In a nutshell an Alternative/Indie Pop band consisting of a trio of siblings from Birmingham, UK – writing, recording and singing their way through life.

EP: Is it difficult working together as siblings or do you feel your close relationship helps? Do you operate as a democracy, or is one member more dominant than the rest? And do you feel excluded at times, Francesca, being the non-twin?

M: I think its easier working with your siblings, you can be brutally honest, and we are all on the same page – wanting to make the best music possible, so no space for egos nor tantrums. Don’t get me wrong we have our moments and some epic arguments, like most families, but I guess that’s where the democracy approach comes into play and then the question is asked… “What’s best for the music” and eventually we come to an agreement. Most of the time it’s fairly plain sailing.

Francesca: Having grown up with them you don’t really see them as twins just as your big brothers, they do have their Tweedle Dee Tweedle Dum moments though – like wearing the same clothes by accident, ordering the same meal at restaurants –  hearing the same thing twice – its funny more than anything.

EP: We’ve covered a couple of your songs over the past year, we’re struck by your gorgeous sibling harmonies, and lush videos. Who comes up with the concepts for your videos? You’ve done a lot in Thailand, why that particular (gorgeous) location?

M: It’s definitely a group effort, someone will normally have an initial idea or location in mind and we’ll brain storm and build from there, it’s one of the most enjoyable parts of what we do, conveying the message or emotion of the song through a different medium.

We were lucky enough to be given the opportunity to play in Malaysia through a company called Clarion, so while we were on that side of the world we ventured The Floating Markets in Thailand, to film “Devices”, the scenery just seemed to fit the song perfectly.

EP: What’s been your experience of the music industry? What do you think about the current state of how music is going? What advice do you have for anyone just starting out?

M: I would say it’s like swimming in shark infested waters with no coast guards in site, but eventually you reach dry land, where you can clearly see them coming.

To be frank, current state of music is dismal, where have all the bands gone? The current main stream scene seems to be saturated with solo artists and over processed tunes, most of it sounds like transformers fighting, amongst other things! Labels need to invest in bands and more original sounding material.

Our advice to folks starting out – remain positive, enjoy the process and never compare yourself to others, we are all on our own journeys – most importantly do it because you love music.

EP: If you could start all over again, what, if anything, would you do differently, and if so, why?

M: Surprisingly nothing, we are big believers in things happening for a reason, every mistake we’ve made…we’ve learnt from and every victory we’ve had…We’ve appreciated that bit more.

<p class="p1" style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span class="s1">EP: Who are you musical influences? Your personal influences?</span></strong></p>

M: We have been influenced by so many musicians over the years, but the ones that have had a profound effect on us have been super bands like Fleetwood Mac, The Police, Queen to name but a few.  When it came to learning about Vocal arrangements Simon & Granufkel in our eyes are the masters of harmonies – you almost get two songs for the price of one when you listen to some of their songs.

Personal influences – Our Nan always told us to do what made us happy, life is short so live it to the full.

EP: What should we expect from Miccoli in the next year?

M: At the moment it’s all about finishing up our album then hitting the road to perform it, even though we enjoy working in the studio, it’s such an adventure being on the road and performing for an audience.

EP: What question do you wish someone would ask you in an interview, but nobody ever does?

M: That’s a good question we are all big tea fans, we consider ourselves tea connoisseur…. So any opportunity we get to talk about tea we are in after all tea is the new rock n roll.

<p style="text-align: justify;">You can find Miccoli on their <a href="http://www.miccoli.co.uk/" target="_blank">website</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.soundcloud.com/miccoli" target="_blank">SoundCloud</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/miccolimusic" target="_blank">YouTube</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/miccolimusic" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/miccoliofficial" target="_blank">Twitter</a>.</p>

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