Melbourne is booming at the moment with a huge range of musical talent. From bands like The Cat Empire, Architecture in Helsinki and Courtney Barnett, just to name a few, its easy to see that this city is thriving with musicians for us to watch out for. Mihra is another one to add to our list.
Wigwam Records’ latest signing Mihra are all about the love and freedom of music, and it shines through on their sensual, elegant single Fly Screen.
Mihra found that “Being an awkward teen and seeing how cool weirdos are on stage” was one of the first influences for them to start playing music. From here Chevaunne (Vocals and Keys), Michael (Drums), Tearnu (Bass) and Nathan (Guitar) came together to create the smooth, alternative pop sounds with electric elements that is Mihra. “Our greatest influence is Shawn Fanning, the founder of Napster. Because of him we have the opportunity to be influenced by all of history’s recorded music for free. This has helped create our fusion of styles and eclectic sound”.
Mihra has recently signed with independent Melbourne based label Wigwam Records. Apart from Mihra the record label has also signed other names prominent within the Melbourne music scene: the indie, psychedelic group, My Elephant Ride and experimental-pop, alternative band Ministry of Plenty. When speaking with Mihra about what it was like now being signed with them they commented saying it’s been “Great, all the bands at Wigwam are really close and all share members so it’s a real family type thing. Being independently run we also has complete control over our music which is a big plus”.
With most artists a major worry with signing is that their music will need to change or the direction they’ve tried to achieve will be altered. For Mihra however being signed has given them the ability to focus and creatively release. “Before we were just making our music and putting it out there, but now we sit down and really plan everything out and have the support of everyone behind us to make it all happen”.
Fly Screen is the latest release for the group and is full of the sensual and atmospheric sounds that are key to Mihra. The piece is four minutes of elegance and one where you could see yourself sitting in high-rise bar, in the middle of the city with a martini in hand. The smoothness of the bass and Chev’s velvety vocals, are highlighted by the repetitive drums and cymbal snippets, which help to give body and weight to the track. Mihra are currently recoding their debut album, and if this track is anything to go by we’re in store for something amazing.
