A big old Happy Birthday to Sydney’s mop-top indie rocker Mickey Kojak! To celebrate, we sat down with the party starter and multi-instrumentalist himself to get to know him just a little bit more, and learn what the secrets are behind his addictive slew of hits, one of which being brand new track ‘Video Games’.
Mickey Kojak regularly takes his fans on wild rides, from eclectic club thumping electronic bops, to abstract slow jams that you can really sink your teeth into. As a producer and vocalist, Sydney’s rising talent takes inspiration from both new and old technologies and styles, which often craft unique and out of the ordinary paths for us to traverse down. And we’re so delighted that he’s been making new music.
Growing up in the spotlight, Mickey’s debut ‘Feel My Pain’ was a huge success landing him his first Triple J rotation, a record deal with Sweat It Out, as well as a slot at Groovin’ The Moo and Splendour In The Grass. Amongst his first shows were a national tour supporting Hayden James, Crooked Colours and special guest appearances at the Alison Wonderland Warehouse Project.
We sat down with the artist to get to know just a little bit more about him. Happy 25th Mickey!!
How did your artist name come about?
As stupid as it sounds, I woke up one morning in 2013 and the first thought in my head was “Kojak – ah, that’s a nice collection of letters, kind of symmetrical (not at all), sounds ‘ard. I put it in an ever-growing document of potential artist names (every artist worth their salt has one of these) and when it came time to start a project, it made the cut. Lame, uninspired, but honest.
How would you describe your music to your grandma?
She can’t speak english very well and I can’t speak Arabic very well. My last interaction with her was her telling me my hair looked like a “mikense” which means mop. So I don’t know, mop-top indie-rock.
Tell us about a few of your tracks; their titles and what they’re about?
My songs have always been very literal, you’ve only got so many words in a song, you gotta make ’em count. Let’s look at the most recent batch.
‘All That Acid’ is about ingesting a substance known as lysergic acid diethylamide (also known as acid, California sunshine, boomers, doses, tabs, window panes, loony tunes, lucy in the sky with diamonds and “oh shit the devil is coming out of my knee caps).
‘It’s Gonna Be Okay’ is a song I wrote with my buddy Jake Stone about all the mistakes and fuck-ups you make in your life, never thinking you’re going to recover, all the while looking for excuses and all the wrong things in all the wrong places. It can feel like you’re on your own when you make a mistake, but there are always people there willing to lend a helping hand in your time of need.
Last but not least, the latest track ‘Video Games’ – take a hot guess. It’s about staying up late, shutting yourself out from the world and immersing yourself in something you love that MIGHT not be the healthiest thing to do. I have always loved games and been around them for a long time. This year, I spent a solid 3 months doing no work, playing Assassin’s Creed and Spiderman. My manager called me up one day and says “Where have you been? What have you been doing?” and my reply was “I’ve been staying up late playing video games” – AND FROM THE ASHES, THE PHOENIX ROSE.
What do you love about your hometown?
Sydney is a great place to grow up. Hard to pin it down to one particular thing. We’ve got great weather, great food, great people. Regardless of all the nightlife and social hardships we’ve suffered over the past 5 years, we’re still a thriving and global city with a great community of music, art and Vietnamese rolls.
Career highlight so far?
My showcase at BIGSOUND 2019 truly took me by surprise. We played to a packed out Woolly Mammoth and the entire room was shaking for “All That Acid” – it was truly disgusting and I was gobsmacked afterwards. Rocked my world. Thank u brisbane fam xoxo
Fave non-music hobby?
Immersing myself into a great one-player game. Spiderman and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey on PS4, Breath Of The Wild and Mario Odyssey on Nintendo Switch.
What’s on your dream rider?
Look, I’ve had a bucket of M&M’s on there for the last five years and always thought it would be great. But when you get it, you have an obligation to finish it. I share it out to the crowd at a lot of shows and it’s a great team building exercise. But if you have to tackle it on your own, it’s a nightmare.
Dream music collaboration?
I’ve been lucky enough to tick off a few boxes already. Singing on a Bag Raiders track and having Jake from Bluejuice on a track of mine is truly unbelievable. I’ve been able to work with my super talented friends a lot as well, which is always inspiring. I would love to have either James Murphy or Soulwax produce a Mickey Kojak album. Or even just be in the room and tell me what I’m doing is shit and to change it immediately.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
In ten years, on September 20th, it will be my 35th birthday. If I am still making great music and people out there are still listening, I’ll be a happy boy.
What’s your go-to karaoke song?
Fuck Karaoke, I’ve never been an
d never will. Glad to end this on such a positive note.
Check out ‘Video Games’ by Mickey Kojak
