Interview: The Mispers

Lurking behind a tour bus in the cold Birmingham evening, I meet up with a plethora of “J”’s: Jack, Joey and Jordan from The Mispers before their sold out night supporting Kodaline.

I promise to make it quick as we stand around in a circle to deflect the cold winds like a group of Emperor Penguins. Shaking hands, Jack asks if we’ve met before, before reducing it down to “did we hook up at that bar?” For those curious, no we did not.

The Mispers (derived from police slang meaning “Missing Persons”) are unlike anything you’ll probably hear in the next few years.

An undefinable twist of genres makes it hard to place what the band are, but whatever it is, it works. The alt-rock quintet consists of three vocalists, a guitarist and a drummer with a Clean Bandit-esque violin added on top.

“We’ve been given labels like punk, folk, dance, indie et cetera”, Jack tells me. “We refer to ourselves as “viol-indie-rock” or chocolate rock”, he continues, “but it’s a bit shit”.

“It sounds like we’re a violin band when in fact we just use violin echoes”, Joey tells me before Jack bursts in again with newly coined genre: “echo-viol-indie-rock”.

Right… “Or Echo Road indie, like the wine”.

At this point I’m completely clueless as to what’s actually going on, but it’s obvious that The Mispers are full to the brim with energy.

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Talk moves to the tour with the Birmingham show being the third to last night supporting Kodaline: “Dude, it’s awesome. It doesn’t get better than this”, Jack blurts out.

“Every venue is massive and Kodaline just have a sweet crowd wherever we go”.

“Irish people love to have a receptive crowd and Kodaline themselves are the soundest people in the world”, Joey explains before we catch Jordan (known as Jordie) and he joins the interview (if this was to be categorised as an interview).

“’Breaking Bones’ and ‘It Goes Against Us’ are probably our favourites to perform” Jack tells me, “even though they’re two new songs”.

“I do enjoying playing 'Weekend' though”, Jordan interrupts.

As this happens, the tour camera emerges and the trio erupt into cheers; they’re clearly the sentimental kind. “Expect energy tonight”, he continues, “expect tight trousers and moisture, white socks and a lot of sweating and bouncing”.

In which is replied with a “good” on my behalf, referring to the arctic resembling temperatures.

I ask the boys what music they enjoy and it’s immediately obvious that The Mispers delve deep into their musical heritages: “Arcade Fire, The Strokes, MGMT, Bombay Bicycle Club, The Beetles”, they list off before perfectly finishing with “The Spice Girls".

“If you were to pitch your music to someone who has never heard of you guys before, what would you say?”, I ask before another eruption of noise; presumably because of thinking…

“I’d hold a gun to their head”, Jack jokes, “I would say it’s like energetic indie dance rock and I’d say if you’re in the mood for dancing and getting loose in any way shape or form – pills or Pilates – we’re for you”.

Previous support acts for Kodaline, including Hudson Taylor and James Bay, have gone onto huge things, so keep an eye out for these guys.

Interview: The Mispers

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