Denmark, much like the rest of the planet, is currently riding some sort of 90's revival wave. You don't have to look too far to find platform shoes, ironic Ace of Base shirts and album covers that look like MS-Paint in 3D. You do however have to spend time digging through the epileptic nightmare that is seapunk to find the gems. Mendoza being without doubt one of them. Her debut track "Love Druggie" has exploded on YouTube and social media lately. Racking up views faster than you can say be-ba-ba-bada-bo. We sat her down for a minute to talk about, well, herself.VICE: How'd Mendoza come about?
Mendoza: My friend Sahar and I started out as a Dj-duo called SlumblogMillionær. We actually performed more than we dj'ed. We weren't really that skilled at it but it was good to get some experience being on stage.About a year ago I started making my own music. Well actually I don't produce it myself, it's my friend Niels Kirk.Where'd you find him?
Niels used to be one of the managers for Slumblogmillionær. He heard this song I'd written on my guitar and a week later we took it to the studio. We only used about 15 minutes on the production. We made a few adjustments here and there. That's what became 'Love Druggie'.Did you stick it up on YouTube the same day?
Well, I wanted to wait a bit until I was ready. At the time I was pretty busy with SBM and didn't want to mix the two things together. I also had a bit stage fright to take care of. Being on a stage easy when you are just a DJ, but singing is much more intimate. It's probably the thing that means the most to me and showing something that "real", whether recorded or live, makes me kind of fragile.So yeah, it took us a while but one day we were like fuck it, let's just cross our fingers and put it out there.And that's the story of your first single..
Actually the song isn't even released yet but it's got a ton of views. It hasn't had any airplay, no media or blogs have written about it. Or actually, maybe a few young blogger girls have.
Where'd they find it? Slumblog?
Probably. It's really important for me to differentiate the two projects though. I don't want people to see it as something originating from SBM. It's two different sides of myself. Mendoza is more personal for me.Is there a scene for this sort of music in Denmark?
Right now the whole Brooke Candy/Mykki Blanco wave is hitting. There are a lot of new artists in Denmark who all look pretty wild. Check out Devon Seven for instance. I think we all share more in common visually than we do musically though.People born in the 90's are teenagers and grownups now. Maybe it's some sort of nostalgia wave going on?How about you, are you part of this whole 90s nostalgia trip?
Yes, I can't really run from that. I have just as much focus on the future though. It's kind of a retro-futuristic thing. It would be a shame to simply label it 90's retro.
Retro-futuristic you say? That's a new one.
It's hard to describe music. But it is definitely inspired by the 80's, 90's and contemporary music like 'Trap'. I'm not a fan of trap music but some of its elements fits into what I do.Then what are you inspried by?
If I told you what else inspires me you wouldn't be able to hear it in my music at all. White Stripes, Depeche mode. Even Marilyn Manson. I listen to that pretty much every day. I can't find anything else that stimulates me in the same way so I just keep them on repeat.What have you got in the pipeline?
This November we're locking ourselves into the studio to record my album. Which will hopefully be out early 2014. There will be a new song out soon though. Everyone is spitting out songs all the time but I'd rather wait to get things done properly. I'm not in a hurry.More music:Is Vaporwave The Next Seapunk?Brooke Candy Wants You to Wiggle Your Dick..
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Mendoza: My friend Sahar and I started out as a Dj-duo called SlumblogMillionær. We actually performed more than we dj'ed. We weren't really that skilled at it but it was good to get some experience being on stage.About a year ago I started making my own music. Well actually I don't produce it myself, it's my friend Niels Kirk.Where'd you find him?
Niels used to be one of the managers for Slumblogmillionær. He heard this song I'd written on my guitar and a week later we took it to the studio. We only used about 15 minutes on the production. We made a few adjustments here and there. That's what became 'Love Druggie'.Did you stick it up on YouTube the same day?
Well, I wanted to wait a bit until I was ready. At the time I was pretty busy with SBM and didn't want to mix the two things together. I also had a bit stage fright to take care of. Being on a stage easy when you are just a DJ, but singing is much more intimate. It's probably the thing that means the most to me and showing something that "real", whether recorded or live, makes me kind of fragile.So yeah, it took us a while but one day we were like fuck it, let's just cross our fingers and put it out there.And that's the story of your first single..
Actually the song isn't even released yet but it's got a ton of views. It hasn't had any airplay, no media or blogs have written about it. Or actually, maybe a few young blogger girls have.
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Probably. It's really important for me to differentiate the two projects though. I don't want people to see it as something originating from SBM. It's two different sides of myself. Mendoza is more personal for me.Is there a scene for this sort of music in Denmark?
Right now the whole Brooke Candy/Mykki Blanco wave is hitting. There are a lot of new artists in Denmark who all look pretty wild. Check out Devon Seven for instance. I think we all share more in common visually than we do musically though.People born in the 90's are teenagers and grownups now. Maybe it's some sort of nostalgia wave going on?How about you, are you part of this whole 90s nostalgia trip?
Yes, I can't really run from that. I have just as much focus on the future though. It's kind of a retro-futuristic thing. It would be a shame to simply label it 90's retro.
It's hard to describe music. But it is definitely inspired by the 80's, 90's and contemporary music like 'Trap'. I'm not a fan of trap music but some of its elements fits into what I do.Then what are you inspried by?
If I told you what else inspires me you wouldn't be able to hear it in my music at all. White Stripes, Depeche mode. Even Marilyn Manson. I listen to that pretty much every day. I can't find anything else that stimulates me in the same way so I just keep them on repeat.What have you got in the pipeline?
This November we're locking ourselves into the studio to record my album. Which will hopefully be out early 2014. There will be a new song out soon though. Everyone is spitting out songs all the time but I'd rather wait to get things done properly. I'm not in a hurry.More music:Is Vaporwave The Next Seapunk?Brooke Candy Wants You to Wiggle Your Dick..