MIKEY – UNFOLDING, EVOLVING.
“Genderless terrorist” Mikey journied from Newcastle to Berlin, worked with Rihanna and transcends conformity.
DNA: What is a “genderless terrorist”? Mikey: The “genderless terrorist” is from a lyric in my song Species: “You’re fuckin’ with another species, a freak like me.”
Björk and Prince are cited as inspirations, but we hear Antony And The Johnsons and Madonna. Yes, I agree. There’s a certain vibrato similarity and a hurt and vulnerability in Antony’s and my voice, which many people connect. I just didn’t want to compare myself to Madonna. She is God.
How did you get to hang out with Rihanna?
I was contacted by her costume designer to collaborate on a custom print. I created an outfit years ago with the word “pussy” on it. It was a response to hearing my brothers always talking about “pussy, pussy, pussy”. It inspired an outfit I called “pussy faggot”.
You’ve decide Berlin is the place to be?
I moved to London from Newcastle, Australia. When my visa came to an end a contemporary dance project came up in Berlin. Perfect timing. At first I hated it. It was too dark. It took five months before I realised it was the place to be and fell in love with the city.
Many wild weekends at Berghain in Berlin? [Laughs.] I’ve had too many weekends in Berghain. It’s a special place. I’ve found a lot of inspiration there; connecting to myself spiritually. When you’ve been there as much as I have, the “party”, the music, drugs, sex, darkrooms lose their appeal, but there is more to be found on a deeper level. There’s a reason it’s called church.
Is pop stardom on the cards, or do you prefer avant-garde hipster cachet?
Maybe somewhere in between, where the focus stays on the music and the message rather than the stardom and materialism.
Are you romantically attached?
Love comes in many shapes and forms and I have a lot of love to give. I love many. I can’t see myself settling down with just one person. I haven’t met “the one” person who can give me everything I need. A lyric from my song Love Levitation goes: “I need a bad motherfucker like me/must transcend conformity.” What attracts you most to a person?
Someone who is able to make fun of themselves, someone who can think for themselves and who doesn’t seek to be validated by others.
How do you define gender… and your own gender? Gender is performative. Everybody is performing. We are taught from a young age that we either have to be, or act, like a boy or girl. If you’re anything in between you’re shamed for it. It’s taken a long time to unapologetically be able to embody both the masculine and feminine. By doing so I become the embodiment of freedom. That’s important in today’s world. There are no other people to please except myself.
You’ve done some support tours; when will we see the full Mikey?
Right now I’m focusing on Europe. The dream would be to come play something like Sydney Festival or Mardi Gras but also something very intimate and magical.
Where would you like to be in two years?
That’s the beauty of it all… the unknown. It’s what inspires me the most.
What’s your message to the gay boys of the world? Infold, unfold, involve, in-evolve, revolve, resolve, convolve, start again.
MORE: Mikey’s Paths EP is out now. For more go to soundcloud.com/mikeywoodbridge or find him on Spotify as Mikey Woodbridge
My brothers always talked about ‘pussy, pussy, pussy’. It inspired an outfit called ‘pussy faggot’.