If you haven’t already heard of MiC LOWRY, then get ready to familiarise yourself with these five lads from Liverpool.
Made up of Akia, Ben, Delleile, Kaine and Michael, the vocal harmony group have been perfecting their craft for a number of years, and have gained recognition along the way in the form of a MOBO Award, a support slot on Boyz II Men’s tour and a performance at Glastonbury Festival.
However, in one of the most significant moments of their career, MiC LOWRY have just been announced as a support act for the European leg of Justin Bieber’s Purpose tour. Alongside this, they will be headlining their own UK tour, and if that wasn’t enough, they have released a brand new track called ‘Oh Lord’ today, which just received its first radio play on Scott Mills’ Radio 1 show!
We grabbed a quick chat with the band to discuss their new single, touring with Bieber and what they’re hoping to achieve next.
For those who are unfamiliar with MiC LOWRY, please tell us a bit about yourselves and how you were formed.
We’re a 5-piece band from Liverpool. We all went to the same high school but we started singing together at workshops run by a local youth arts organisation. We really enjoyed singing and harmonising together so we decided to form a group, we’ve been singing together for about 5 years now.
Your new single is out today, can you tell us about it?
The single is called ‘Oh Lord’. The track fuses our raw acoustic sound with a moody electronic vibe. The harmonies give a real atmospheric aura to the song as well. It uses a Phil Collins sample on the chorus, making it feel really familiar. It was written by a Swedish collective called “The Family”. They came over to Liverpool to record it with us at Parr St Studios, they’re really cool guys. We hope people enjoy the track as much as we do!
You’re known for your slick covers but you also write your own music too. How do you go about creating your own music?
We always write our tracks with just acoustic guitar and vocals to start because a good song should always be able to stand on its own when all the production is stripped back. The music then comes later, however, we always make sure the vocals draw the main focus. It’s hard sometimes though when 5 of us are coming up with a range of different ideas in a session, but eventually we come up with something we all agree on!
What sets you apart from other male groups in the industry?
There aren’t many frills attached to what we do. We’re all about good vocals and tight harmonies. I think people are attracted to the rawness of what we do. We’ve been compared to a few bands, however, I think that’s just stereotypes, I think the thing that sets us apart is that we focus on the vocals where as a lot of other male groups tend to concentrate on slick dance routines etc..
How would you describe each member in one word?
Ben – Grandad
Akia – Hot head
Kaine – Joker
Michael – Talker
Delleile – Crazy
You recently announced that you’re going to be opening for Justin Bieber on the European leg of his Purpose tour – how did this opportunity come about?
A member of his camp had seen one of our shows last year and when they were booking a support act for the tour they thought we’d be a good fit. They got in touch with our camp and asked us if we were interested in joining him on the tour, we said yeah of course!
You’ll be visiting a number of different countries during the Purpose tour – which venue/country are you most excited to perform at?
We’re really looking forward to visiting lots of countries that we’ve never played in before but I think we’re most excited for the six shows at the O2 in London!
You’ll also be performing a series of headline UK shows beforehand – what can fans expect from you during your tour?
Yes, we’ll be starting off our tour on the 22nd of September in London. We’ll be playing lots of new material in the show including the new single. We’ll also be playing some of our older stuff too and we’ll throw in some of our most popular covers as well. The gigs are always more enjoyable when you know people have bought tickets specifically to see you, we can’t wait!
It’s going to be different to our previous shows, more energy, bigger vibes and a whole load of tunes. We’re also bringing a little something new to our set for the fans to see that we know they will enjoy.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given during your time together?
Talent counts for nothing if you haven’t got the right work ethic to make things happen.
Every bad phase is just a moment, all moments pass you just have to push through and soldier on.
You’ve gained a number of celebrity fans over the years including Zendaya and Little Mix. Who are your biggest musical inspirations?
We all have different individual inspirations, but as a group, we’re heavily influenced by 90s RnB groups like Boyz II Men, Jodeci, Destiny’s Child and more modern artists such as Drake and Frank Ocean,… we all have a lot of Motown in our roots too.
That new Frank Ocean with a little bit of classic @jsullivanmusic ??? pic.twitter.com/RAgsZ8PRqT
— MiC LOWRY (@WeAreMicLowry) September 4, 2016
From performing at Glastonbury to winning a MOBO award, you’ve already achieved a great deal. What’s been your career highlight so far and what would you like to achieve next?
We’ve had some unbelievable experiences over the course of our career. One of the highlights has to be when we supported Boyz II Men on their UK tour a couple of years back. They’re such a big inspiration to us, it was an honour to share the stage with them. [In terms of our next achievement] A hit single would be nice!
Finally, do you have a message for your loyal supporters?
We really appreciate all the love we’ve been shown over the past few years. It gives us the motivation and the belief we need to stay on our grind. Thanks for coming on this journey with us!
Thank you for your time, and good luck with the tours!
MiC LOWRY’s new single ‘Oh Lord’ is available to stream now.
Their UK headline tour kicks off on September 22, taking in London, Liverpool, Birmingham and Manchester, before they join Justin Bieber in Stockholm on September 29. More information on their headline tour and the Purpose tour is available on their website.
Don’t forget that the lads will be taking over our Twitter tonight (September 16) at 6:30pm – use the hashtag #CelebMixMiC to get involved!
Share your MiC LOWRY thoughts with us on Twitter @CelebMix.