Micachu, along with her band the Shapes, makes pop music, but don’t expect the polished sound of Rihanna or Katy Perry. Instead, her catchy hooks are given a ramshackle accompaniment, consisting of homemade instruments and even a vacuum, to give them a shambolic charm. But while the music may sound thrown together, it’s anything but. Micachu studied composition at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, but her musical education has been varied. She’s been a grime DJ, releasing the mixtape Filthy Friends with fellow MCs and musicians, performed with the London Sinfonietta and her debut album, Jewellery, was produced by Matthew Herbert. She’ll be playing the Birds Eye View Film Festival in London on Friday, March 11th.The Creators Project: Can you tell us what you're doing at the BEV Film Festival?
Micachu: [I’m] doing the soundtrack to the Hanzel & Gretel film made by Lotte Reiniger. It’s ten minutes and I’m playing music off a tape deck with material thematically associated to each character.How does this differ or compare with your other musical endeavors?
It’s to a film—mostly I write to nothing!Is film a big influence on your work?
Not particularly but I enjoy watching them.Apart from BEV, what else have you been up to lately?
Organizing and writing.You've written music for orchestras and you also write pop music. Do you take a different approach when composing these works? Are they two separate entities or is it all just music?
Hopefully all just music, although it would be nice of me to suggest the two entities are not dressed differently; the approach with Chopped & Screwed [Micachu and the Shapes’ recorded collaboration with the London Sinfonietta] for instance, writing-wise, was a compromise between memory in terms of structure (verse/chorus/bridge) and notation.You make your own homemade instruments to perform with. Can you tell us a little about these?
[It’s a process of] trial and error but hopefully the turn out is exotic. It’s about how nice it is to make your own thing and then have no one tell you how to play it (the instruments are string-based so far though, which hones it down somewhat… it’s not from outer space).How important are these homemade instruments in creating your individual sound?
Half…What music inspires you?
OFWGKTM [Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All] and Let’s Wrestle.Are there any new album releases on the horizon?
Yes, hopefully sounding like Bring Me The Horizon!Chopped & Screwed is out on Rough Trade on March 28th.
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Micachu: [I’m] doing the soundtrack to the Hanzel & Gretel film made by Lotte Reiniger. It’s ten minutes and I’m playing music off a tape deck with material thematically associated to each character.How does this differ or compare with your other musical endeavors?
It’s to a film—mostly I write to nothing!Is film a big influence on your work?
Not particularly but I enjoy watching them.Apart from BEV, what else have you been up to lately?
Organizing and writing.You've written music for orchestras and you also write pop music. Do you take a different approach when composing these works? Are they two separate entities or is it all just music?
Hopefully all just music, although it would be nice of me to suggest the two entities are not dressed differently; the approach with Chopped & Screwed [Micachu and the Shapes’ recorded collaboration with the London Sinfonietta] for instance, writing-wise, was a compromise between memory in terms of structure (verse/chorus/bridge) and notation.You make your own homemade instruments to perform with. Can you tell us a little about these?
[It’s a process of] trial and error but hopefully the turn out is exotic. It’s about how nice it is to make your own thing and then have no one tell you how to play it (the instruments are string-based so far though, which hones it down somewhat… it’s not from outer space).How important are these homemade instruments in creating your individual sound?
Half…What music inspires you?
OFWGKTM [Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All] and Let’s Wrestle.Are there any new album releases on the horizon?
Yes, hopefully sounding like Bring Me The Horizon!Chopped & Screwed is out on Rough Trade on March 28th.