SXSW 2009: Micachu & the Shapes Compose a Song for Austin

Photo by Chad Springer

Micachu & the Shapes' avant pop-sicle compositions were already the toast of SXSW 2009 before spry frontwoman Mica Levi's miniature guitars had even crossed the Texas state line. However, Levi, keyboardist Raisa Khan and drummer Marc Pell seemed far too fascinated and exhausted by their festival experience to let the buzz go to their heads. During our chat at Austin's Driskill Hotel, the precocious singer even showed me a short video capturing the historic hotel's wild west motifs while she whistled The Good, the Bad and the Ugly's theme, and sheepishly asked about the shows I'd seen: "Do you find that you remember the last song more than anything else?"

Had I been more forthcoming, I would have said that their performance the night before left me (and at least one Paste staffer) further obsessed with "Golden Phone," a track catchy enough to make sea monkeys dance. The rest of Jewellry, available in the U.S. April 7, incorporates similar infectious nuggets awash in dissonance and neurosis. Even with the weight of Micachu & the Shapes' six performances in three sweaty days heavy on their shoulders, the three products of London's Guildhall School of Music were still clear-headed enough to complete a new assignment: conceptualizing a tune based upon their first time at SXSW.

Levi: It would be fast.
Khan: I reckon it would be slow and lethargic.
Pell: I've never heard you say "lethargic" before. That was really cool.
Levi: That's how much we hang out. When we hear a word we haven't used before, we go: "Oh my god!"
Pell: Because there's so much music going about, it would be really busy and this mess of...
Levi: Maybe there would be loads of reverb on it so that it becomes a wash of sound.
Pell: Really fuzzy.

Khan: Or you could stand on the street with a mike and record all of the different rhythms that are happening at the same time.