Freshly Pressed – Hotel Mira’s “Speaking Off The Record”

It’s no secret that we’re big fans of Vancouver-based band Hotel Mira, fronted by the incomparable Charlie Kerr. They’ve just released their latest single, “Speaking Off The Record” from the upcoming LP, Perfectionism. We had a quick chat with Charlie about bands he digs, the personal side of his songwriting, and weird interview questions.

From The Strait: Last year we featured you guys in our ‘Your New Favourite Band’ series – what bands are you currently diggin’ that you think should be known far and wide?

Charie Kerr: Harlequin Gold comes to mind. They are outstanding. Kylie V is super talented as well. Sarah Jickling and Her Good Bad Luck is an incredible singer-songwriter. Teon Gibbs is an awesome musician and rapper in the vain of Anderson Paak, who interviewed me recently. He is a really impressive talent and ambitious dude.Also Diva Plava Laguna makes amazing aggressive music. Biawanna is very special. Little India are awesome too. I also love this hardcore band called Joliette from Mexico. I am forgetting fucking everyone but I think that’s par for the course with these kinds of questions.

FTS: Hotel Mira songs always feature personal, intimate subjects; like you’re letting the listener in. The new single, “Speaking Off The Record” is no exception. Is that purposeful, or do you just go where the song takes you?

CK: A bit of both. I try to just write from the heart, and make pop music that asks uncomfortable questions and acknowledges unfortunate truths but also hopefully makes people smile and dance or what-have-you. But with “Speaking Off The Record” it was kind of just a messy list of things that I desperately needed to get communicated that I thought I never would. And there isn’t a ton of sugar lyrically to help the medicine go down. I just had a lot of shame in my life that I wanted to acknowledge. I wanted to make my private thoughts public. And I felt ready to take that risk. That’s it.

FTS: Your last single was a writing collaboration with Jay & Wes of The Darcys (another FTS favourite!) – who would be on your musical bucket list to collaborate with?

CK: Pharrell Williams and Tyler The Creator. Phoebe Bridgers, Julian Casablancas, Annie Clark or Laura Jane Grace. – I am sure I am forgetting fucking everybody but I think that is par for the course on these kinds of questions.

FTS: What’s the weirdest question you’ve ever been asked in an interview?

CK: I have blocked out most of them I think. But probably something really invasive or inappropriate about my private life or my love life.

Check out Hotel Mira’s latest single, “Speaking Off The Record”!