#merganzer

Merganzer Family On River Pool

MERGANZER

In advance of her CD release party for Mirror Maze, we spoke to Mika Posen, aka Merganzer, about her exciting new solo project. Read a bit more into the story behind Mirror Maze, an album named by the Ottawa Citizen as number 4 in their 2015 Best Ottawa Music list.

VITALS

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/merganzermusic/

Web: http://merganzer.bandcamp.com/

Latest release: Mirror Maze (LP, November 2015)

Upcoming shows: Saturday, December 12 - Album Release Show with Bosveld, House of Common, Ottawa, ON. 8PM.

SA: How did Merganzer first get off the ground? How did you get your start in this style of music? MP: After years and years of playing in other people’s bands, I gradually started writing songs of my own. I released an EP in 2011 under the name “The Meek” - this was my first foray into composition and recording and everything in the solo project department, but I was never really happy with the product. I decided to start fresh - new name, new sound, new approach. And that new direction is Merganzer.

Merganzer is the culmination of everything I’ve absorbed in my years of collaboration with others - I’m not sure if you could really pin it as one particular style. It’s just what came out of my brain/heart/fingers at the time. There are elements of classical music, pop, and a lot of other things that I’m probably not really conscious of.

SA: In some of your songs, such as ‘Other Voices’, I get a Bjork/Sigur Ros feeling. What musicians or artists would you cite as the biggest influences on your sound? MP: Julia Holter, Scott Walker, Broadcast.

SA: Until now, what would you consider to be your biggest success? MP: I think that playing with Agnes Obel was one of the best things I’ve ever done. She’s not super well known in North America, but she’s quite huge in Europe. However, that’s not why I’d consider playing with her a personal success…it was my best gig because I got to play amazing music in stunning venues with inspiring people, and all the while I felt like I was a valued member of an incredible team.

SA: On the other hand, what is the biggest challenge you have faced, and how have you dealt with it? MP: My biggest challenge has been trying to balance my musical life with my personal life. I failed miserably for many years. I really paid for it. But I learned my lesson. Now I’m trying to prioritize what’s important…I absolutely love touring, and I adore playing shows, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of relationships with friends/family/lovers.

SA: How do you approach the song-writing process, and do you play all instruments on the recordings yourself? MP: I usually write music before lyrics. Sometimes fragments come to me at random, sometimes I improvise on an instrument and come up with something, sometimes I make collages from recordings. I played all of the instruments on Mirror Maze except for the drums and most of the percussion instruments.

SA: What are your thoughts on the Ottawa music scene? MP: There is a lot of musical activity coming out of Ottawa/Gatineau that excites me very much - there’s a fresh, unique energy here that I love.

But like any city, it takes quite a while to get to know people and to feel like you’re a part of the scene. I just came back last year after 12 years away, so I was essentially new in town…however, once Ottawa embraces you, it holds on tight! I’m overwhelmed by the support I’ve received for my album this past week. It’s unbelievable.

SA: The “Mikatron” - We’d love to hear more about this machine and how you’ve created the soundscapes  you did on  “Mirror Maze”! MP: Well it’s not really a machine that I built. It’s a collection of sounds and samples that I made.

A few years ago I sampled myself playing 30 different notes on the Violin, and I then put these samples into a keyboard - originally I intended to use this as a tool for writing string arrangements for bands, but I soon found myself running my samples through pedals and experimenting with sounds - my violin was suddenly transformed into warbly organs, breathy flutes, and growling wonky synths. I thought it would be fun to write some songs using my custom sounds, so that’s what I did…

SA: Parts of Mirror Maze were recorded during a stint living in Berlin in 2013 and 2014. What brought you to Berlin, and did you do any songwriting there? MP: I moved to Berlin because Agnes Obel invited me to join her band. I needed a change in my life, and I wanted to get out of Toronto so I jumped at the chance.

My touring schedule with Agnes was quite heavy, but in between voyages I spent a lot of time in my flat working on my own music. I was hugely inspired by Berlin - it’s a city that has gone through so many immense changes over the past century. It’s had several different identities, and a number of different revolutions - you can see some of it in the urban landscape, but the rest you have to imagine by convening with the ghosts of Berlin’s past. I did a lot of that. And that’s where some of these songs came from.

SA: In contrast to your work with Timber Timbre and Forest City Lovers, where you were responsible for adding textures and layers to the music in the forms of string arrangements, with Merganzer you are the ringleader. Do you enjoy the extra responsibility of being the sole songwriter, and do you feel pressure with this project given the success of projects you’ve worked on in the past? MP: Having a creative project of my own has been really fun, but I’ve had immense anxiety about putting it out into the world precisely for that reason - the pressure. I feel like there is a certain amount of expectation around this release, given my resume. Also I’m using an instrument that is still rather new for me - the voice.  That’s a whole new terrifying world.