A Minute with Milow & Win Tickets to See Him

Belgian singing, songwriting sensation Milow is in town this week and performs at MAO Livehouse on Tuesday (Oct 2). We managed to grab a few words with him and snaffled a couple of tickets to give away to one lucky winner.

We hear you first musical foray was the accordion. Why?
I started to play music when I was a little kid. When I was nine or 10 years old I started to play accordion (why? simply because no one that I knew was playing this, and I wanted to play an instrument that no one else was playing). When I was 12 I saw my first live concert: Pink Floyd at the legendary festival site in Werchter, Belgium (the town next to the town where I grew up). When I was 15 I switched to playing electric and acoustic guitar, because I was a big fan of Nirvana, and piano and to write songs.
 When I was 17 I started playing in a few bands. But 2003 was a crucial year for me. I was 21 and I decided to leave the rock band I was playing in. I threw away almost all of the songs I had written and made a fresh start as a solo artist. That was the start of 'Milow', and the first songs I wrote at that time were "You Don't Know" and "One of It".

What did you enjoy most about your stint in California?
I was an exchange student in San Diego, California, between 1999 and 2000. This year had a huge impact on me, and turned out to be very formative. I took the chance to further improve my English, I wrote a lot of songs, and I performed at several occasions. This gave me the confidence to keep doing what I was doing and it definitely broadened my horizon. When I started releasing music I never did that just to reach a Belgian audience, I didn't want to rule out the possibility that someone on the other side of the globe would find out about my music/work

You did a little writing before you made it big. What precipitated that?
This was at the very start of my career in Belgium, and before a lot of people knew my music. I wrote about the behind-the-scenes of my life as a DIY musician. Later I switched from Dutch posts to English, and eventually started using Facebook and Twitter (and now also Instagram) to communicate with my fans. I love using these platforms to stay in touch

What inspired the lyrics on "North and South”?
North versus south is the central theme that connects both the music and the lyrics of the eleven songs on this album. It's my most personal album so far, because all the songs were written and recorded at a time when I was stuck in the paradox between my professional life and my private life. So this became an album about contrasts, about extremes, about opposites. These are songs about personal highs and lows, about life and death, and making choices every day between opposites. It's also about growing up and living in an increasingly polarized world. The fact that I made this album in my country, Belgium, that has been getting more and more divided in the last few years, has absolutely had an impact.

Perez Hilton has compared you to Jack Johnson and claimed your version of "Ayo Technology," is better than the original. How does it feel to have him as a fan?
It's always cool when people appreciate and understand what I'm doing. I haven't personally met Perez yet, but if I do, I will thank him for the support so far

To win a pair of tickets to see Milow at MAO Livehouse on Tuesday, simply answer the following question: Who recorded the original version of "Ayo Technology"? Send you answer to paulryding@thebeijinger.com by midday tomorrow (Monday Oct 1), and we'll let the winner know shortly after.

Here is Milow's take on "Ayo Technology".

Good luck!