Combining peppy DIY beats with the rapid delivery of hard-hitting home truths, Mickey Nomimono takes you on a satirical audio tour of modern-day life in the UK covering small-town frustrations, questionable characters and soul-destroying jobs. It might sound grim – and at times it is – but you’ll find that the artist’s diatribes are often served with a healthy dollop of humour and a refreshing side of self-awareness.
Sound like your bag? Mickey’s biggest show to date takes place at Yellow Arch tomorrow evening, and you’re all cordially invited to come along for a boogie. Earlier this month, Exposed caught up with the main man himself to find out what we can expect.
Tell us a bit about yourself and how you ended up in Sheffield?
I did a sound engineering degree in Bristol. Had a great time, lost a lot of brain cells and finished my degree. I didn’t want to move home and had a few mates up here, so I just kind of ended up in Sheffield.
It didn’t take long for you to get involved with the local music scene up here, getting a job at Yellow Arch and working on some of the gigs and events there. How are you finding that?
I actually won that job in game of ping pong, or that’s the story I like to tell anyway. I met my current boss playing ping pong down at Millowners [Arms] and I convinced him that I could do sound, so now I’m production manager. It’s good fun; they’re good people down there.
When did it go from sound engineering to making your own music?
I was always making tunes. I started this project last year, so it was already conceptualised by the time I started working at Yellow Arch. Fortunately, I’ve been able to position myself so that I’m around live music all of the time, which is quite nice. Previous to that I was driving for Amazon, so it’s nice to be working around what I like doing.
One of your songs is called ‘DHL, which I imagine is a direct reference to your time working as a delivery driver.
Yeah. It’s a bit nail on the head that one, isn’t it?
There’s always a spoken word, observational element to your songs. I get the impression that you might write a lot on-the-go?
I write a lot of time, usually just on scraps of paper and stuff like that. There are a lot of words in there, aren’t there? Like ten words a second or something. Well, probably not quite that much – but yeah, a lot of time is taken up with writing things.
Photo: Lewis Evans
I saw something from you where you spoke about how you’d often write about the mundanity of everyday life, which also allowed you to expose the not-so-mundane bits. Does it have to be lived experience for you to write about it?
Erm. Yeah, but sometimes I’ll make things up. So, things might be based on experience, but I might also just make up a character to throw in there. You’ve got to have some freedom in it, you know? Just talking about delivering parcels for Amazon won’t make for a very good tune.
There are three tracks out now: ‘How Does It Taste’, ‘Mr Relatable’ and ‘DHL’. Are there a few more on the back burner?
I’ve got hundreds of things dotted around on my computer, but it’s just about getting the right ones out. I’m gonna get another single out in the next couple of months.
What sorts of things really get you stoked up to write?
It’s usually when I’m pissed off about something. It can be acrimonious and a bit nasty, but it’s usually something I find funny as well. I like to keep it tongue-in-cheek and not take myself too seriously.
What were the early sounds that laid the foundations for Mickey Nomimono?
My parents were really into drum’n’bass; my dad in particular would have loads of those records from before I was born, so I grew up listening to a lot of breakbeat, jungle, Micky Finn, Aphrodite, all of that stuff. Ian Dury is another big influence – it’s the cheeky lyrics and I think The Blockheads were amazing. There’s a big dance music influence on what I do, and I quite like the idea that I’m somewhere in the middle between dance music and indie or punk or whatever you’d like to call it.
It can be acrimonious and a bit nasty, but it’s usually something I find funny as well. I like to keep it tongue-in-cheek and not take myself too seriously.
Being a relative newcomer to the scene and the city, what are your thoughts on Sheffield?
It’s good, man. I’m from a small suburban town in Staffordshire and I’d drive into Birmingham a lot to get my big city kicks. Any city is good for me, you know? There are people who really care about music here, and there’s plenty of interesting stuff going on.
Speaking of, your headline show heads to Yellow Arch on Friday 24th of Feb. Must be a big one for you?
I’m really excited. It’s the biggest one to date and obviously a venue that I know well. It’ll be the longest set I’ve played, so there’ll be stuff I’ve never done before, and I’m changing the live set a bit by bringing a few synthesizers out with me. It’s all change. The live set’s going to be developed a lot this year and this is the starting point for it. We’ve got some good support on the night: a two-piece called Jeuce, who riff off each other really nicely on stage; an artist called Rosey PM, who’s just fantastic and has some great tunes; and there’s another really good rock two-piece playing called Juke.
“There’s a big dance music influence on what I do, and I quite like the idea that I’m somewhere in the middle between dance music and indie or punk or whatever you’d like to call it.” Photo: Lewis Evans
What normally comes across at a Mickey Nomimono live show?
I like to get up in front of people and shout at them about what I do and don’t like. It’s cathartic. When else do you get the chance to do that? I like seeing wide eyes, people catching flies in the audience, you know? But I think people will be expecting a bit of energetic, fast-paced noise. It’s loud, unapologetic, doesn’t take itself too seriously and you can dance to it. Come down and have a laugh!
Catch Mickey Nomimono headlining Yellow Arch on Friday 24th Feb with support from Jeuce, Rosey PM and Juke. Tickets (£7) and more info available here.
