News Mausi: ‘We’re So Ready To Show People What We Have’

Listening to the upbeat dance-pop of one of MAUSI’s floor fillers - the Calvin Harris-worthy tendencies for beat dropping, the sunny lyrics which command you to move and the references to travel and escapism which instantly evoke summer holiday nostalgia - it’s evident that this Northern-based quartet are producing a sound which they are happy with. Let’s call it overtly buoyant pop music which not only reflects their happy-go-lucky nature, but which exudes happiness, fun and creativity.

Chatting with Italian born siblings Daisy and Thomas Finetto, who moved to Newcastle to pursue their university studies, it’s clear this confidently charismatic take on electro-pop (think Icona Pop-esque vocals over Passion Pit percussion, remixed for a Kitsuné Maison compilation) stemmed not from wanting to make a popular sound which the public would buy into, but rather from a learning curve.

After attempting and failing to graft to the Newcastle music scene which, at the time, was rife with indie rock bands, the twosome met drummer Benji Huntrods and “bassist/ producer extraordinaire” Ben Brown to begin their journey as MAUSI. “Looking back now, there was definitely a moment when we realised that we were better at writing pop music and enjoyed writing pop music more,’ states Thomas. “We really struggled and were trying to conform to play something that was current in the music scene around us and then we were like ‘you know what - this is who we are.’ It was all a discovery about what we wanted to do rather than ‘let’s write pop music and be popular.’”

Mausi reference inspiration in the form of ‘European pop’ such as Daft Punk, Justice and Phoenix. Traces of which can be heard on first single ‘Sol’ with its slickly-produced glistening beats and electronic-tinged outro vocals. It’s not just other artists which feed into MAUSI’s output. Heavily influenced by visual representation and the aesthetic, the band often start out with a video, collection of images or key words to help sculpt the foundations of each song.



“When we had a bit of creative block we decided for all of us just to go on holiday for a week to our family’s house in Italy and filmed everything- just having fun,’ Daisy reminisces. “Then we came back and decided ‘this should be a music video – lets write its soundtrack’. The next day Tom just pretty much just played out ‘Sol’ which turned out to be our first single.”

In a roundabout sort of fashion, this creative tendency to ‘film first, make the music later,’ really seems to work for the band. They create feel-good sounds which go hand in hand with their freedom, youth and positivity. “I guess we like to describe our sound as the soundtrack to a young European lifestyle – happy go lucky, dancey. Not an English sound, more a European sound.”

This whole aspect of hailing from two different European countries has impacted MAUSI’s sound, binding nostalgia from their Italian upbringing with 21st century energy to form an outlet for their musical expression which has also helped them to feel a certain cultural connection to Europe. “Travel is something we’re really inspired by,” says Thomas. ‘The fact that we’re originally from Italy - we don’t really feel like we’re from anywhere specific but we kind of belong to Europe - there’s that sense of travel that you can belong to that culture. A lot of our earlier stuff like ‘Sol’ is a bit nostalgic for us. I think there’s a bit of home sickness buried in the song, so wanting to get away, escapism, inspires a lot of our songs.”

As well as living this jet-set lifestyle which sees them travelling back and forth across Europe for what seems like every music video, it’s a miracle that MAUSI have found the time to rehearse let alone record new tracks.

“We definitely have more than an album’s worth of music, plus we’ve got three singles lined up ready to go - we just need the go ahead from people we work with”, says Thomas.

A band with heaps of creativity, enthusiasm and charisma just waiting to be unleashed; it’s only a matter of time before MAUSI single handedly bring disco back, as Thomas concludes. “We’re just so ready to show people what we have – it’s just about letting each song have its moment in the spotlight.”

Mausi’s ‘Move’ single is out 8th September, pre-order on iTunes.

Read the full interview in the new edition of DIY Weekly, available from iTunes now.