Mousey My Friends Interview

New Zealand based singer-songwriter Sarena Close has just released her sophomore album My Friends, under the pen name MOUSEY. My Friends was recorded over the period of a couple of months with Ben Edwards at The Sitting Room (Aldous Harding, Julia Jacklin), and holds a strong focus on her friends and her relationships with them, along with "being let down but being loved".

The tracks of My Friends are diverse and unlike each other in the best way possible yet still so closely connected. "The Bench" is the first single released from the album My Friends and was created with the intention of wanting a high energy track, executed through experimenting with key changes to add intensity. The verse chords and melody came easy to MOUSEY during the creative process as it just fell out and she got addicted to playing it, singing it in the shower, and humming it at the supermarket.

MOUSEY said, "The song has a sort of charming rage boiling inside of it. All of my bad experiences and frustrations with boys needed a constructive outlet, and this song is it."

The second single to be unveiled from the album My Friends is "My Hands Are Made of Glass." MOUSEY describes the theme of the track to be about the feeling of hurting the people you love, and wanting to lock yourself away in order not to hurt anyone. MOUSEY wanted the strings to sound like fingers on a chalkboard, screeching up and down. The peak of the song feels like inner chaos incarnate and features a drum machine, programmed by MOUSEY's friend Lukas (Pickle Darling), having it sit as a layer underneath the song helps make it more cold and disconnected.

"While it was really cathartic to write this semi-diss-track, it helped me organize my thoughts and bring closure to a very confusing and damaging relationship. I think this song is the longest because the torture this person put me through meant there was so much emotional fuel to burn and so much to say," said MOUSEY.

There are two 'hearts' on this album, a warm one and a cold one and the tracks "Wait For Me" and Pudding and Pie exhibit this perfectly. "Wait For Me" written during the 2020 lockdown regarding mental health issues is a thank you to the people in her life who have slowed down and taken the time to walk with her when she's been struggling, and a call to others to do the same for their friends. Pudding and Pie on the other hand is MOUSEY'S "magnum opus, and the cold, damaged heart" at the centre of her album.

"While it was really cathartic to write this semi-diss track, it helped me organise my thoughts and bring closure to a very confusing and damaging relationship. I think this song is the longest because the torture this person put me through meant there was so much emotional fuel to burn and so much to say," said MOUSEY.

"My intention was to write an album that was focused on something other than my family, so I decided on the name My Friends before I'd even written any of the songs in order to pull my writing into the subject. I initially hoped the album was going to be really light, cute and wholesome. But even though there are many 'sweet' songs on the record, my year was really hard and some of my long-time friends left me with some nasty scars - so obviously the record reflects that too. While my last album was about 'being let down and being a let-down', and this album is about 'being let down but being loved'.

MOUSEY has learnt a lot since her first record. Her 2019 debut album LEMON LAW marked a significant milestone for MOUSEY, whose star has been on the rise since the release of the album's first single "Extreme Highs," which earned her a nomination at the 2019 APRA Silver Scrolls. The year 2020 would also see her as a finalist for the Auckland Live Best Independent Debut prize at the Taite awards and performing at the Silver Scroll awards with an impressive performance of LAB's In the Air. In late 2021, MOUSEY released her first single from the EP, "The Bench" which received praise from Women In Pop, Amnplify, Sniffer, CrushCop and more.

MOUSEY cherishes the art of communicating the human experience above all else, her sound defies the restrictions of genre and her music provides a unique and powerful insight into this wonderful and confusing world. MOUSEY's vocals stand alone like few others, and listeners find themselves drawn in - transfixed by her songs and the way she tells them, especially through her newest album My Friends.

Interview with Sarena Close (Mousey)

Question: How would you describe your music?

Mousey: My music is a mixture of all the things I like into one bowl, and the things I like are broad yet precise. Some artists that I'm super into right now are Fiona Apple, Paul McCartney, Portishead and The Monkees.


Question: Can you tell us about your album 'My Friends'?

Mousey: I first intended to write a super wholesome album about how much I love my friends and how much they love me to kind of force myself into positivity. But unfortunately, my year wasn't great. I cut the cord on a toxic long-term friendship, I developed tics from my pre-existing PTSD and retreated socially. I spent a lot of the year hidden away trying to avoid people. Even though there are a few songs that are pure sunshine, the album has a dark heart.


Question: Is there a particular message you hope listeners take from your music?

Mousey: The whole experience of writing and recording is super cathartic to me and peaceful. I hope to give at least one person a bit of that feeling.


Question: Do you prefer performing live or recording?

Mousey: Hands down writing and recording (at the moment)! In the past it has been the other way round, and I'm sure it will change again.


Question: What motivates you most when writing music?

Mousey: This sounds really cheesy - but life, and my emotional reactions.


Question: Which music/artists are you currently listening to?

Mousey: I mentioned this band above, Portishead. I know I'm late to the party but the lead melodies are subtly tense and super satisfying. My husband Chris has the new War On Drugs album on repeat so we are listening to a lot of them too.

Question: What or who was your inspiration to go into the music industry?

Mousey: This is a hard question because there wasn't a particular point where I decided to go down this route. I've just always been obsessed with playing and writing music since I was quite young. I almost gave up before my first album, Lemon Law though. I had tried to record the album a couple of times on the cheap and it wasn't working, so I applied for some funding as a bit of a last ditch effort and amazingly I got it! It really kick-started this journey I'm on at the moment, and I'm so grateful for that opportunity.


Question: If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be?

Mousey: Imogen Heap seems like she would be cool to make music with.


Question: What has been your favourite part of becoming a music artist?

Mousey: I think completing an album - each record is a real signifier of achievement. It's soooo much work, but when it's done, holding the vinyl record in your hands feels like holding a trophy, but better.


Question: Did you have any pre-conceived ideas about the music industry?

Mousey: Yes, the sexism and the sexual assaults. Which have unfortunately proved to be true.


Question: What's a typical day like?
Mousey: There is no such thing as a typical day. Every day is a surprise, and I'm okay with that.


Question: What's next, for you?

Mousey: I think I'm going to take a wee break after releasing this album and going on tour. And then when I feel ready I'll get onto album number 3!


Question: Can you share your socials? (links please)

Mousey: Website 
Facebook 


Interview by Gwen van Montfort