Dear readers, in this article we have the pleasure to offer you an interview with an eclectic German band with Pyshc, Prog and Krautrock sounds. Please welcome Miss Mellow.
Hi how are you?
“Hi, we are good!“
What is the meaning of your band name Miss Mellow?
“It originates from the song “Miss Mellow”, which our Bassist Stocki wrote many years ago and is also on the album. It’s about his girlfriend who we are also all very close with and her calming presence in life. Plus it sounds nice and easy and it’s good to have some femininity represented in the band since we are four guys.“
Your sound incorporates elements of Psychedelia, Prog, Kraut and more, where does your passion for these musical genres come from?
“It is a different story for all of us. Growing up in the 2000s the music from 60s and 70s had a bigger impact on us than contemporary music at the time because it felt more honest and original. Maybe thats the same for a lot of artists our age. We just like these kinds of music because it is musically demanding, emotional, groovy, but also rough and loud. Without knowing each other back then as teenagers we still grew up with the some bands, which connects us now as adults. For us those are very including genres regarding cultures and different artforms. It allows us to combine all of our influences into one psychedelic journey.“
Your self-titled debut album was released in February 2023, how would you describe this work?
“Well it has been a lot of work. Most of the songs are very old, written years ago by Stocki or Josh in their small bedrooms as students. Then we molded and transformed them in our practice room to something new and then bringing them back to the studio to alter them again. Recording and mixing was done mostly by ourselves, especially Stocki and Josh, and since we did that for the first time there was a lot of trial and error involved. We got some professional help from our friend Alex towards the end which was definitely needed. So it took some time, was also frustrating at times, especially not knowing if anyone would actually care about our work. But in the end a lot of people did, which makes us proud and happy! So in one sentence we could maybe describe it as the end of a very long psychedelic journey where we all discovered ourselves musically.“
Long tracks full of tempo changes and elaborate passages, how does the creative process of your music take place?
“The songs were all pre produced at home by Stocki or Josh, then we would jam them in our practice room and eventually change them over time. Songs just feel different when you play them live with instruments so you should always be open for change, input and ideas by others. Lengths, breaks and transitions mostly were decided spontaneously while praciticing.
Now we are changing our process a bit and just bring small drafts for the band to work it out in the room, getting the whole band even more involved.“
Both the music and the vocals are very intense, what themes do the lyrics deal with?
“Theres no real intention to make it all intense, we also like it easy and mellow.
Themes of the lyrics are mostly to navigate through live, understanding things, or just stories we like.“
Your sound is addictive, will there be a chance to hear you live in the near future?
“Our next show will be on the 09.11.23 at the Ampere in Munich, until then we are working creatively. We hope to organise some mini tours after our Vinyl release on the 10.11.23, besides that we regularly play shows in Munich.“
Germany has always been rich in artists especially in Prog and Rock music, how do you see the modern scene in your country?
“There are a lot of great unknown bands in the German underground scene. The problem lies more in venues and people willing to pay to watch them.“
How difficult (if at all) is it to establish yourself on the market with a more refined genre such as yours?
“If there is no place for us we just have to create one ourselves. I think people who share our taste in music will like our music as well. It’s difficult to put clear labels on us but just take your time, listen for a while – and then like it or not.“
Do you have any other activities or artistic passions outside of music?
“Here I think we are all different. Some don’t really care about art or paintings, some of us though are very interested in all sorts of art in general.
But for our music we get inspiration from lots of different forms of art like books, paintings or movies. Some also enjoy painting, crafting or designing.“
Music is constantly evolving, how do you see the future of your genre?
“We dont really have a specific genre, although we mostly call it psychedelic rock, but there are lot of influences.
Defininitions of genres are getting blurrier and many bands dont really fit into one specific genre. We just want to do our thing and if we want to make a hip hop song we want to do it without being restricted, just look at King Gizzard, what those guys are doing is just the dream. We think many people also appreciate this kind of musical freedom, because we feel that the taste of people also became much broader in the recent years and is not restricted to specific genres. In the general I think the future for psychedelic music looks very good, people seem to dig the genre more and more and there will be a lot of possibilities to evolve here.“
I thank Miss Mellow for the interview and wish them all the best for the continuation of their artistic career.
Read our Review of their debut album here: [Review] Miss Mellow – Miss Mellow
