Mr. Little Jeans
Interview by Alex Teitz
It has been 2 years since PoketKnife was released. Mr Little Jeans is back with a new EP, Fevers, and new tour. Mr Little Jeans is Monica Birkenes, originally from Norway, now in LA. Her music is synth pop with a magic feel. FEMMUSIC was able to have a brief e-mail interview leading up to her Denver show.
FEMMUSIC: Can you describe your songwriting technique?
MLJ: I like to go in the booth and freestyle over a track that we make in the studio that day. Could just be a beat and a bass line. It helps a lot if I like it and also helps if it’s fairly stripped down as it makes it easier to write to for me. Then me and the producer generally spend some time piecing together all the mumblings that I recorded and see if it makes a melody. If it does I take it home and write the lyrics. If it doesn’t then we keep going, make another track and see if I get any ideas from that. I generally like to write the lyrics at home and take my time with it if I have the opportunity to.
FEMMUSIC: What was the biggest challenge making the Fevers EP?
MLJ: We originally had a different production of fevers (the song) which we loved, but felt like it didn’t quite fit in with the rest of the songs. So we spent a long time trying to figure out a balance of keeping what we loved and making if flow with the rest of them. Worked out in the end!
FEMMUSIC: How was your approach to Fevers different from PocketKnife? What do you think you learned making PocketKnife?
MLJ: Well with Pocket Knife I had a whole new world to figure out as I’d never made a record before and I was still figuring out how to write songs. But I think one of the hardest part of making PocketKnife was finding the right people to play the different parts; like producers and mixers and labels for example. With Fevers I already had a great team in place, but the thing that is always a challenge is the songwriting. It’s a hard to control and I never know what’s gonna happen, how I’m gonna feel or what’s gonna come out so it’s always a little nerve wrecking before you get some actual songs down.
FEMMUSIC As a woman in the music industry have you been discriminated against?
MLJ: I think I’ve been lucky to be shielded from it as both me and my manager work hard to screen who I’m surrounded by both business-wise and creatively. I would never let anything like that pass as ok, and so far I’ve felt nothing but respected.
FEMMUSIC: What one thing would you change about the music industry?
MLJ: I think there is a lack of long term support for the artists at most record labels these day. It’s less about developing artist and more about throwing a bunch of shit at the wall and seeing what sticks. Most artists/bands need a little more support than what’s given to them and it feels pointless singing so many acts without even the intention of getting behind it properly. Sign less and develop and support more would be my wish to the record labels specifically. It would also be nice if the majority of the money made would go to the artists themselves rather than everyone else but.