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Last weekend, Milke stormed to victory in Gigwise’s annual Indie Idle competition at the Camden Crawl. The decision was unanimous. Our three judges – Ellie Giles, A&R of Fiction Records, Martin Boyle of Artrocker and Piers Hernu of the Mail on Sunday – were bowled over by the London band, who look destined for very big things.
Here keyboardist Andrew Kornweibel talks to us about their victory and just what Milke plan to do next.
You've just won Gigwise's Indie Idle competition - are you pleased?
Yeah, we feel like Susan Boyle getting her first kiss. To be honest I wasn't paying too much attention to it until the Friday when we each played a track to the judges off CD. I went down with my manager and got pretty nervous coz they really laid into some of the other acts. But they gave us a glowing review, and then I thought I really wanted to win the comp. So come Saturday for the performance I was really hyped and had the goal set in my mind. I was so happy when they announced us as winners, we all were. I felt like it was great support for us, and proof for us that we're really onto something and have a great band and music and package, that we've got something special. It's nice to get the recognition from the industry judges like that.
How did it feel to get such a good reception from the judges?
They all seemed to agree you've got a "finished" sound. Yeah that was great. One of the judges started off on a tangent about "the death of shoe gaze indie", and everyone thought he was talking about us and saying we were bad, but then he went on to say we were "heralding in a new era of great British pop", so he flipped it. Relief! And we're fine with that praise! They all said we were the most polished band, in a good way, great songs and structures and sounds and performance, it made us feel like all the attention to detail we put in, and all the time we've spent on the song writing is paying off. There's loads of bands out there that jam and have great haircuts but can't write a song for shit, so it's nice that the judges recognised that we stood above that.
They weren't so impressed by your dress sense though. What inspires your style?
When Ellie said she didn't like Ra's bow tie I kind of knew we'd won to be honest. If they're going to have a go at something like a minor styling accessory then you know they don't have anything to complain about. Our style has a concept, it's a story, it's a feeling and an emotion to reinforce the music, but I'm not going to spell it out, people have to pick up on it themselves.
I think playing in a small brightly lit bar at 3pm makes it a bit hard to create the atmosphere we really want, which is more big-stage and powerful. Then it would all make sense. Check out the footage from our headline show at the Art Rocker stage later that day, I think it all makes sense then. Bow tie and all!
What did you think of fellow finalists Viva City and Laura Hocking?
Yeah I really liked them! I think Laura Hocking is great, but I don't really follow that kind of music much. Viva City is obviously more our style musically, electronica and voices, I thought some of their production ideas were great, the synths sounded fat and interesting, and they did a really great show. Nice guys too. Northerners always are affable.
As part of your Indie Idle prize, you got to headline a gig at the Purple Turtle - how did that go?
That was great! By then the crowd was really messy, and people were pouring into the Purple Turtle because other venues were closing. People were going mental to our set, especially the dancier tracks, and poggo-ing about with big smiles on their faces. We got a great reaction, and people were yelling for more at the end. The band were really buzzy after the win, so I felt we played really well and had a great time together. Those are magical moments that is what making music and being in a band is all about.
Have you decided what to record and release as your 7" single?
We want to make it a bit special, but we haven't decided yet. We might put a track out called Alien that's not a single, but it's a really special track to us, with Maybe I'm Crazy on the other side. Or we might do something else which we have in mind which would be really special and unique, something the fans can collect and hold onto.
When did you get together and start making music as Milke?
We've been together for a bit over two years, but we've both been busy with other stuff as well, since I've got a solo project, Ra has work, it's hard to slot it all in. But this year it's our number one priority, and it's going to step up.
What inspires your sound? We think it sounds like an electro-pop treat. Are you big pop fans?
To be honest I'm not a massive pop fan, certainly not current pop. Lady Gaga makes me feel sick, she sucks in so many ways it's breathtaking. The pop I listen to is the MGMT, Friendly Fires, Roisin Murphy type. But I listen to a lot of 80's pop, like The Cure, Eurythmics, and recently I've been loving A Flock of Seagulls. I want a t-shirt! My brother used to listen to them when we were kids, so it probably reminds me of home.
You've done a host of remixes already - how did your remix of Justice's 'We Are Friends' come about?
I was on the promo list for Virgin, and they were sending out remixes of it, but they were all just cut-ups of the original, none of them were particularly original, and didn't take the track somewhere else. So I said they needed another mix of it for the big-rooms, and they said I could it as long as I delivered it in two days. So I got busy... I liked my remix, it's quite big room, like a tougher Stuart Price kind of vibe, mixed with a bit of Cirez D, and the record company loved it too, ended up on a few comps and stuff.
When can we expect to hear an album from the band?
Before the end of the year for sure. We're ready to go! We're always writing new songs, and we've got some amazing new tracks that we're excited about, but we've got enough for an album so we're ready run with it. Our next single is Maybe I'm Crazy, that's out in June through my own label Gulp Communications.
What about live show? Are you heading on the road this year?
We love playing live, so we'd love to get out there. We've got some more festivals coming in now we've won Camden Crawl so that's pretty exciting. We'd definitely be on the road to support the album and the next single. Plus we're getting some bookings in Paris and probably Germany too, so that's great. I love travelling with music, it's the best.
Gigwise Indie Idle Final
