Mini Mansions, the indie pop trio led by Queens of the Stone Age bassist Michael Shuman, are set to tour Australia this November, in support of homegrown legends Tame Impala, thankfully though they’re also going to play two very special headline shows in Melbourne and Sydney.
The boys are set to hit up the Ding Dong Lounge in Melbourne on Sunday, 8th November and GoodGod Small Club in Sydney on Thursday, 12th November as they zig-zag across Australia with Tame Impala, playing to sold-out crowds in some of our grandest arenas.
Ahead of their visit we caught up with then band’s frontman Michael Shuman to find out a little bit more about the music that’s shade his impressive career.
Early Days: Beatles Radio
“I wouldn’t say my parents were like huge music fans, but I guess my dad was briefly in a band when he was in high school and, like they’re hippies from NY basically.
They’re definitely not hippies anymore but they were then and they, well my dad started my musical journey. They made me play piano when I was four or five years old and you know gave me Beatles records and my dad played me a lot of Pink Floyd, that was kind of the big one for me.
They [parents] didn’t have any vinyl when I was growing up. They had CDs and I would poke through them, but I couldn’t really [with cds] pull out a bunch of records and go like ‘oh wow that’s amazing’.
But there was this station in LA, where on Sunday morning they’d broadcast a show called ‘Breakfast with the Beatles’ and so it’d be all day just Beatles on the radio on the station. So like my dad, whatever we were doing, say like driving to baseball practice, or Hebrew school or some shit, we’d just listen to that – so that’s how I got introduced to The Beatles.”
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First Record He Ever Bought
“The first record I was ever given was given to me for christmas one year and it was MC Hammer’s 2 Legit 2 Quit. But the first record I bought, like I remember going to Fedco which is like a a Walmart type place and I remember buying Green Day Dookie and the Offspring Smash on the same day.
I think I was in third grade, so I was about seven or eight years old. In third grade I went to my first Green Day show and you know I remember dressing up as Green Gay to halloween, like that to me when it came out for a kid, especially at seven years old it was punk rock. Like ‘holy shit this is some serious shit’.
I still think those early records were great pop punk records, like you soon find out that that was really not what punk rock is based off of, but they carried over everything you wanted from punk but on a mainstream level. For a kid who didn’t know anything about it [punk] that was a perfect introduction to that world.”
Soundtrack To His Music Career
“I think I got my first electric guitar, I switched from piano to electric guitar when I was also seven years old. I had a band called ‘Four Leaf Clover’ I remember we made our own shirts. When I was 11 I started this pop punk band, and playing in that band was the first show I played at a club, and we made our own flyers you know in Jr High, our parent drove us to the show, and thats when I stated playing shows.
During this time NOFX was a big deal, Beastie Boys, Rage Against The Machine and all that stuff. Whatever was alternative or angry or whatever when I was a young kid that’s what turned me on. But at the same time I have this love for the Beatles, they’ve always been my fave since day one so I’ve always had that psychedelic pop thing within me.”
Favourite Beatles Record
“With Beatles records it always depends on what mood you’re in, but for some reason one of my favourites is Magical Mystery Tour – it just has some songs on there that do it for me. Like even though it’s really upbeat there’s a lot of tracks that are really dark and weird so I really like that record.”
Best Records Of 2015
“I’m not great at discovering ‘new music’ so I always go back to the classics. I usually have one records a year, or two that I actually go buy and this year I guess Father John Misty’s I Love You, Honeybear was big one for me.
So is the new Alabama Shakes record. That one really surprised me, I didn’t really listen to the old records, but this new one blew me away, this record I just loved, loved!”
Descert Island Record?
“Gorillaz – Plastic Beach, it just fits with the island theme. I was like 15 or 16 then their first one come out and I had just started getting into Blur and when that record came out I thought it was the coolest thing evert cause I’d never heard mixing hip hop and pop in that way. Like I’d heard hip hop and metal, but this was something different that I’d never experienced and I’ve been a fan of the band ever since. I’m a big Damon Albarn fan. I saw him a few nights ago for the first time and that was amazing.”
