Teenage Kicks - Oh No Miriam

I recently stumbled upon the music of the Swedish indie/lofi-act Oh No Miriam, and I really liked to see that on her myspace-page she listed France Gall as her influences and revealed that "Sometimes when I listen to music I like I imagine in my head that it is my music". I kind of do the same thing myself so it was no big surprise that I liked this minimalistic acoustic lofi-pop. I e-mailed some questions to her:


I've just discovered your music, how long have you been active with "oh no Miriam" and who are you? What intstruments do you play?

Not for so long at all. For one and a half year, or maybe more like two. My sister (Rebecka Ingrid Simone) has played and I guess I got inspired by her. I don’t know how to describe who I am. Ehh I am seventeen years old and I live in Stockholm. I like vulgarity, and criticism. I can’t really play anything, but I hit on the piano and blow in the harmonica and sometimes I hit things in the table in a rythm. That's kind of it, but if there is anything in my recordings I have forgotten that's also me, I have done everything in my recordings, except that my sister sometimes sings in the background and I have also done a duet with Mitchell Rathberger.


I did some research about you (checking google) where I found an article about you over at Swedesplease. net where the writer compares you and your music to the movie Juno and the music of Kimya Dawson's. What would you say are your most important influences? How would you describe your music? I really like it, it kind of reminds me of Daniel Johnston and Bobby Baby. Have you heard them?

I haven’t heard Daniel Johnston, but I have listened to Bobby Baby quite a lot before. Once she wrote something nice about my music to me at myspace and I was so happy and told my friends. My influences are teenage movies and everything in my life. Actually everything that has to do with teenagers. Sometimes I also get inspired by things I hear in stores or on the bus, songs that goes sort of like ”Sexy, sexy, sexy” or ”Shake my hips yeah yeah” of some reason. I guess it’s because I like shaking my hips and I like when people are sexy, but I like when they aren’t to. I have no idea how to describe my music. It’s kind of like my diary, very honest. Parts of it is probably to honest.


So... are you planning to do an album? Do you think it's important to release cds these days?

I think it’s important that people do albums. I love to buy cd’s and almost never download. But I don’t know if I want to do an album. If someone offers to help me I wouldn’t say no, but it’s not one of my highest priorities.


My blog is really a blog about my friends, but you're the first I've done this kind of micro interview that I don't know at all. Do you think I should change the name of the blog? If yes, to what? thomas-using-his-big-ego-for-
an-excuse-to-stalk-people-who- do-music-he-rather-
would-do-if-he-could. com?

I don’t think I could give a better proposition than that. I like the name vanbloggen and I could concider to accept being called one of your friends, that..s okej:)