I was introduced to the energetic and catchy musical stylings of MS MR during my research leading up to the Governors Ball and I'm so happy that they have found a place in my life.
I got to sit down with the New York-based duo and chat about their first Gov Ball experience and what went into the making of their debut album. I also saw their live set and they absolutely nailed it; I love their stage presence!
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| Lizzy & Max, MS MR |
Have you
guys been a part of Governors Ball before?
Max: We
haven’t! This is both of our first Governors Ball as musicians, and as fans.
Even though we are a New York band, we haven’t been here yet, so this is cool
for us.
How did you prepare for this show?
Lizzy: We didn’t
prepare too much. We used to be much more nervous about shows. I remember at
the beginning, I would agonize all day about a show that night and be so
anxious. Now that we’ve been doing it for about a year, it’s wonderful to
feel this sense of calm and I think, honestly, that just makes for a better
performance. I think the more relaxed and engaged and fun we’re having in a
very real way, it translates into the performance. For us, we got here this
morning and we’ve been super excited for the show all year since we found out
about it. It’s our favourite line up of the summer and it’s awesome to play here
in our home city. And so we got here and we’ve been drinking.
M: Started the
day off with whisky Redbulls. Questionable mixing.
L: We have tons
of friends from the city who are coming out today so it’ll be a great day for
us to perform as artists but also a great day for us and all of our friends and
it’s nice to do both those things. That won’t be the case at every festival,
but because we’re home, it’s something a little bit special.
For people
who haven’t heard your music yet, how would you describe it to them?
M: Our umbrella
term is pop and we’re really proud that it’s pop music and not shy away from
that at all. It’s dark, moody, atmospheric, it’s a mixed bag. But pop is
definitely the key term.
Being from NYC, has the city influenced you and has it played a role into where you are today?
M: Absolutely.
L: In a huge way.
We can’t overstate enough how important it is to us that we are both New York
residents and that we made our music here and what a huge influence it’s had on
the music. For us that means a variety of things. One, that we’ve been a part
of this incredible music community and so many of our friends are artists and
musicians or are on the business side of things. So we’ve been a part of this
world for a while. I think people expect it to be a little bit more competitive
between bands, but that’s really not the case. Especially in New York, which is
really interesting given the nature of the city. But also, just the city
itself. We recorded in Max’s bedroom closet and incorporated the sounds of the
city into the music.
M: Along those
lines, I think there’s something uniquely New York about the DIY way we made
the record. You have to make albums in apartments and work with what you have
and that was a big part of our recording process. We don’t have a studio, we
just have a microphone and a keyboard so we’re just going to fucking do this
and make it work. And I think that was uniquely New York.
L: I always
write my best lyrics and melodies when I’m walking around and I’m definitely
that weird person down the street singing into their phone. I don’t know what
it is, maybe it’s something about being in motion, but now that I know I write
that way, I should be walking around cities more. New York is hugely important
to us, something we’re very proud of, which is why Governors Ball for us is
such a special thing. It feels like a little bit of a homecoming and to be on
this list of incredible list of artists playing. The fact that it’s our first
year, our first record, that we’re on this line-up…it’s a huge deal for us.
We even matched — yay for florals!
- Christina
Follow my adventures on Twitter: @christinaaa28
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