TRACK PREMIERE: Miro Shot – I Used To Say Things To Strangers

TRACK PREMIERE: Miro Shot - I Used To Say Things To Strangers
Credit MR Wash

Miro Shot champions their empowering use of technology and music and a offers a timely reminder on our over-dependence on such technology as evident in their new exquisite single ‘I Used To Say Things To Strangers’, lifted from their forthcoming album ‘CONTENT’ due in May 2020.

They say: “The song about the way we share our data online, how our online personalities show who we are and who we want to be. It’s a look the way we share things online, the good and bad sides of what Marshall McLuhan called an “extension of our central nervous system. The song references Cambridge Analytica, Instagram and Google’s “Right To Be Forgotten” case, and the way algorithms are being used to subtly alter our emotional states and opinions. Most of all this is a song about embracing social media and technology.

It’s saying that we used to use them in a way that would destroy us, but now we can use them in a way that brings us closer together. As a band, we subscribe to the original dream of what the internet was supposed to be before it got Googled / Zuckerberg’d, as it was outlined in The Declaration of Independence of Cyberspace. Yes, this is idealistic, but it is our only shield against the nightmare of mind-control and rigged elections which we will otherwise fall into.”

Listen to ‘I Used To Say Things To Strangers’ – BELOW:

About the album: “Our album is about the end of the world, and the best way to avoid it. The band started in a broken-down old building where musicians, filmmakers, coders and designers could try and build something together- something new. It’s an album about hope most of all- that technology will free but only if we learn more about it, that the gaps between reality and the digital world don’t necessarily make us less human- they can make us closer.”

The band’s meteoric rise has been well documented with Clash Magazine describing them as ‘truly breaking boundaries’ on their 2019 EP ‘Servers’. Renowned for their unique live experience, Miro Shot embrace virtual reality, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence to present a new version of what a band is and can be. Alongside playing regular shows, the band also create multi-sensory mixed reality performances for audiences that are truly one-of-a-kind. Starting in 2017, Miro Shot began staging DIY versions of their VR performances while based in an east London warehouse but have expanded their remit to perform in art galleries and churches across Europe with BBC and Forbes calling it “Impressively ahead” and “the future of live music” respectively.

Alongside playing regular shows, groups of up to 20 people are invited to an event earlier in the day to wear VR headsets while the band play one song. As the performance begins the band are seen on the headsets as digital versions of themselves. When a chorus kicks in they are floating above a lake. The possibilities are endless. “An amazing concert is transcendental so we wanted to look at how our notion of reality has changed and fractured as technology becomes more and more prevalent,” Roman Rappak, de facto leader of the group explains.

Stripped from the technology, Miro Shot are a band at their core. “We’re human and we play instruments,” Rappak says. However, saying Miro Shot are just a band would be deceptive. Their collective is open to anyone and currently features 450 members. “Before we even started playing live we’d have people getting in touch to ask how they could invest in our start-up,” Rappak recalls. At first, he was wary but given more thought decided, “The most punk thing you could do would be to create a start-up and utilise the tools available to you in the tech world. What’s wrong with adding coders and designers to the band on top of drums and synths? It’s DIY on the most basic level.”

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Xsnoize Author
Mark Millar is the founder of XS Noize and looks after the daily running of the website as well as hosting interviews for the weekly XS Noize Podcast. Mark's favourite album is Achtung Baby by U2.

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