Hot Gig Alert (10/12): Miki Berenyi Trio visit The Sinclair in Cambridge, MA (Interview in Post)
Singer/guitarist Miki Berenyi, co-founder of the 90s shoegaze band Lush, has a new band and a new album out. Lush formed in London in 1987 and released three albums–Spooky, Split and Lovelife. The iconic feminist song “Ladykillers” became a hit in the U.S., charting at #18 on the Billboard Modern Rocks Track and with video in heavy rotation on MTV. Berenyi had that distinctive flame-colored hair back then and that effortless cool about her. Lush disbanded in 1996 after the death of drummer Chris Acland.
When she was doing a book tour for her memoir, Fingers Crossed, Berenyi formed the band Miki Berenyi Trio. Featuring Berenyi’s distinctive sad, lilting soprano vocals and entrenched in shoegaze and dream pop, Miki Berenyi Trio (MB3) plays dreamy, swirling songs on the new album, Tripla. MB3 also features KJ “Moose” McKillop and Oliver Cherer and a drum machine.
In 2024, Miki Berenyi Trio did a short tour of the U.S. which didn’t include any Boston-area shows. Miki Berenyi Trio is embarking on their unfortunately last U.S. tour in October with a stop at The Sinclair in Cambridge on Sunday, October 12.
I am hesitant to admit that I was due to interview Miki Berenyi back in the 90s when they played Avalon in Boston. I was so intimidated that I let my anxiety take over and couldn’t do the interview. It’s one of my biggest regrets to this day. I didn’t meet one of my idols. This week, I got a chance to ask Berenyi five questions by email.
What makes MB3 work well together?
Miki Berenyi (MB): All three of us write songs, and love working on each other’s material, so there’s unfettered collaboration – and this makes every track a Trio track (rather than a Miki, Moose or Ollie track). We also get on famously, make each other laugh and care about and help one another, which makes working together a pleasure.
Sorry to hear this might be the only time touring the U.S. What are the biggest challenges with touring?
MB: Touring in the UK is no problem at all – we are a nimble little unit, so we can just hire a car, pack ourselves in and hit the road. The US is logistically much harder because it’s a vast country and expensive to get around. There are no 14-hour drives in Britain! But the biggest nightmare is the bureaucracy.
Back in the Lush days, you’d get tour support from a record company, so all the navigation and expense was sorted for you. Now, bands at our level have to pay for everything, and the costs are crippling. Visas, bus hire, legal and accountancy fees, insurance – all involve huge sums and labyrinthine processes.
It’s a shame, because once we are out there, it is a massive buzz. I love playing in the US – the audiences are great and it’s a privilege to be able to travel across by land and experience the breathtaking scenery. But I’m sad to say that the financial risks and overwhelming red tape have made it impossible for smaller bands.
What’s your favorite aspect about touring and how do you relieve stress in downtime?
MB: The best bit is – rather obviously – the gig. We all love playing live, and being on the road together is great fun. Moose and Ollie do the driving and have command of the car stereo, while I’m crammed in the back sorting the admin (and nodding off to sleep!). And we’re all sociable folk, so it’s great to catch up with friends and fans, and to meet other bands and hang out.
In the US, we have a bus and a driver, so travelling with another band means there’s plenty of time for camaraderie and bonding. Ollie and I had a lovely time touring with Lol Tolhurst and Budgie last year – some great post-gig late-night conversations! And this led to us playing some dates with Lol in Europe earlier this year, and me doing a live interview with Budgie for his memoir launch in the summer.
For this tour, we’ll be with Gina Birch (ex-Raincoats) and her band (Jen and Marie). They are all excellent people and we’re looking forward to our travels together. Plus, I get to watch them play every night, which is great!
How have things changed for female-fronted bands now vs in the 90s?
MB: Because music can have huge significance to us in our teen years, there’s a lot of adolescent fantasy projected on to bands. And for some boys, that means a world where men of any stripe – even introverted, troubled misfits – rule the roost, and women are bit-part players – desirable, but available and disposable.
Women being in bands themselves upset the apple cart. They are seen as interlopers in a boys’ club because their only place should be either as the tolerant trophy wife or the at-your-service groupie. NOT as an equal or – god forbid – a competitor. We spoil the party by shattering the illusion.
Most people grow out of this immature fantasy and realise it’s a job, like any other – it’s hard work that takes talent and commitment. But some never let go – it’s what attracted them in the first place to working in the music industry, and even stretches to audiences. I suspect that teenage girls pressed into a crowd of men at gigs are just as subject to being groped, insulted and bullied as me and my friends were, on occasion, back in the 1980s.
I’m old now, so it’s difficult for me to comment as my age is a key factor. Many of the negatives I had to deal with in the 90s were specifically to do with being sexualised or dismissed as ‘just a girl’. These days, there are a lot more women working throughout the industry, and that kind of representation really does make a difference to general attitudes.
I’m guessing that heckles of ‘Get your tits out’ are also less common, so that’s a bonus. But really you’d have to ask a younger woman what it’s like out there. I imagine social media is often hell. Even an old bat like me gets occasional demands to wear more make-up or work on my physical attractiveness, and there are times when I can sense the hackles rising on a male commentator who has a fixed idea that women should kowtow to their opinions or they lose their temper.
What makes a good song and what’s your favorite song on Tripla (and why)?
MB: Oh, I love them all! I’m fond of “Kinch,” because the lyrics mean a lot to me. I love playing “Manu” live – it has a great groove. “Big I Am” is always great fun to play, too.
I guess what makes a good song for me is some surge of feeling – whether that’s a melody that takes a surprising turn and resolves in ways you weren’t expecting, or a lyric that gets in your head and sparks memories and thoughts. Sometimes it’s just a vibe or a flourish – a hypnotic riff or a great rhythm…or even an imperfection, a mistake! – something that slightly jars and conveys a moment of fragility that touches me.
Miki Berenyi Trio play The Sinclair in Cambridge, MA (52 Church St, Cambridge, MA 02138) on Sunday, October 12th. The show is all ages and begins at 8 pm, with doors opening at 7 pm. Tickets start at $44 and are available HERE.
Featured image by: Abbey Raymonde
