Man Like Me talk Estonian vodka, the new album, and the death of Myspace

The demise of Myspace is not news. It was a long time coming and finally, it came. But once it was great. It catapulted bands from obscurity, leading your fingers to their profiles and your ears to their music.

Man Like Me is no exception, but that was then. Now say the boys, bands are advised against starting Myspace pages, ironically something that was once catalyst is now the inhibitor. No matter, Man Like Me are off to Estonia, if not for the music than at least for the vodka and borscht.

Jasmine Phull talks to the pop-techno duo ahead of their Ruby Lounge show in October.

You released your self-titled debut in 2009. Are you currently finishing up the next?
Yes, we would be lying if we said that we’ve been working on it since we finished the last one, we got caught up in a few relationships, a few kids and some day-to-day work, but the next one is shaping up nicely. We wrote one of the best songs we’ve ever done just the other day so we’re definitely glad to still be working on it.

It’s said you worked with a number of artists including Charlie Andrews (Micachu & The Shapes), Charlie Hugall (Florence and the Machine, Crystal Fighters) & Niyi. How important is collaboration to Man Like Me?
To be honest we’re not that big on doing collaborations, making music is quite a private activity for us, but we’ve been lucky to meet a lot of great artists along the way - some of whom have contributed to production such as the people you just mentioned. Our strengths lie in production and programming so anyone who can either actually sing or play a live instrument well, is always welcome.

Does location play an important role in the writing and recording of your albums?
100% of the songs we’ve written have been in our bedrooms, sometimes even finished there. We’re only just getting to grips with working in the same room as each other. ‘Dropbox’ is a beautiful thing.

What compelled you to start producing music and what’s compelled you to continue?
We both wanted to be DJs originally, making music was just a hobby more than anything else. Like DJing, when we do shows we want to play music that goes down well with the crowd. What compels us to make music is so we can play it at the end of a big night. Waking up fully dressed in bed with your laptop open playing your “MLM demos 2010” playlist is not a good look though.

You’re originally from North London, but  where’s the next place you’d move in order to progress the band?
We love playing in Estonia, we’ve played there twice and would happily move there if at all possible. Whether that would progress the band or not, who knows? But the vodka and borscht there is fantastic.

In what way does the Internet impact Man Like Me?
We owe the start of the band to Myspace really, we were getting booked for shows in Italy before we’d released a single or had a booking agent through that. We kind of caught it right at the beginning, even got friendly messages from Lily Allen and Adele! But boy did that website die a death! It’s like a graveyard for forgotten bands. Record labels even advise new bands not to set up a Myspace these days; it’s that uncool.

Would you consider releasing a digital only record? How important is the tactile object to Man Like Me?
You can’t beat holding a record in your hands, but having said that it’s a great feeling posting up a video for a song up on Facebook and seeing the response. MAN “Like” ME.

How important is the ‘live’ aspect in your shows?
The ‘live’ aspect is kind of the reason we are like we are. We have the most basic set up of any band I know and because we were so paranoid in the early days of basically doing a glorified karaoke performance, we thought it was important to add as much to the spectacle as possible - whether that be dressing up, dance moves or some rowdy stage antics. Given that, as of yet we’ve not released that much music; we’re kept going by gigging constantly. Last gig count was around the 650 mark.

Last song you listened to?
'Wichita Lineman' by Glen Campbell.

First album you bought?
Johnny: Snoop, Doggystyle
Pete: To The Extreme by Vanilla Ice.

Interview by: Jasmine Phull

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This article was first published on 29th July 2011

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