Micaela Rachel "Mica" Levi[pronunciation?] (born February 1987), also known by their stage name Micachu, is an English musician, composer, producer, singer, and songwriter.
Mica Levi | |
|---|---|
 Levi in 2014 | |
| Born | Micaela Rachel Levi February 1987 (age 37) Guildford, England |
| Occupations |
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| Musical career | |
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | |
| Instruments |
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| Years active | 2006–present |
| Labels |
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| Member of | Good Sad Happy Bad |
| Website | micachu |
Levi studied composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, but left without a degree when their experimental pop band Micachu and the Shapes began to achieve early success. Their debut album Jewellery (2009) received enthusiastic reviews and was followed by several more studio albums, with the group changing their name to Good Sad Happy Bad in 2016. Levi has also released solo projects under both the Micachu moniker and their given name, and has frequently collaborated with other artists, including Kwes and Tirzah.
In the early 2010s, Levi made their debut as a film composer, creating the widely praised score for Jonathan Glazer's film Under the Skin (2013).[1][2][3] Levi received a European Film Award for Best Composer and a BAFTA Award for Best Film Music nomination, and won multiple other awards for this first movie composition. Levi then collaborated again with Glazer on his next film, the acclaimed The Zone of Interest (2023) (for which they won the Soundtrack Award at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival), and two short films. In 2017, Levi received their first Academy Awards nomination for Pablo Larraín's Jackie (2016). They also worked with director Steve McQueen on his Small Axe anthology film series.
Early life
edit"My granddad played violin, so I think I thought there was prestige in it. [...] He escaped from prison with his violin in the Second World War. He was a German Jew, and he was arrested, but he escaped and hid out on a farm nearby. He decided the best time to ski across to neutral territory would be New Year’s Eve, because the guards would be drunk. But he left his violin at the farm, and years later he went back to get it. [...] I think I had a certain amount of obsession with it as a child."
– Levi about music and their family history[4]
Micaela Rachel Levi,[5] known as Mica Levi or Micachu,[6][7][8] was born in 1987 in Guildford, Surrey, England[4][9] and grew up in Watford, near London.[4][10][11] Levi is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent; their grandfather was a German Jewish violinist who managed to escape from the Nazis during World War II and fled to the United Kingdom.[4] Levi was raised in a musical household.[4][10][11] Their father, Erik Levi, is a respected music scholar — the director of performance at Royal Holloway which is part of the University of London and an expert on music in the Third Reich — besides being a pianist.[4][8][11] Their mother, meanwhile, was a cello teacher.[4][8][10][11] Levi has a sister, Francesca, who is a video artist and has worked with them on various art projects.[12][13]
Levi began learning the violin at the age of four and also learned to play the viola as a child.[4][8][11] They then won a scholarship place at the prestigious Purcell School for Young Musicians at the age of nine and studied composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London from 2006 to 2009.[4][8][9][10][11] There, they started an experimental pop band with two friends, keyboardist Raisa Khan and drummer Marc Pell, called Micachu and the Shapes.[8][9][11] The name Micachu was an obvious Pokémon reference.[8] They quickly took off, and Levi never finished their composition degree.[4][11] Performing as a DJ, they also released a mixtape titled Filthy Friends, which was posted on their official Myspace page.[4][8][9][14]
Music career
editMicachu and the Shapes/Good Sad Happy Bad
editAfter dropping out of university, Micachu and the Shapes signed to Matthew Herbert and Accidental Records.[4][8][11] With the Shapes, Levi's focus was experimental pop music. Most of the music prominently featured an acoustic half-guitar with various non-standard tunings, extensive distortion, and use of noise and found-object elements, as well as occasionally unusual time signatures. Despite these experimental leanings, the artist categorizes their output with the Shapes as "pop music." Their debut album, Jewellery was recorded around Levi's composition studies at Guildhall School. In the wake of growing buzz, Micachu and the Shapes were signed to Rough Trade,[15] which released Jewellery on 9 March 2009 to critical praise. The band performed with the London Sinfonietta at Kings Place, London, in May 2010, and in March 2011 released the live recording as the album Chopped and Screwed.[16] The follow-up to their debut, Never, was released on 23 July 2012. The band then released the album Good Sad Happy Bad on 11 September 2015.[17][18]
In March 2016, the band announced on social media that they were changing their name to Good Sad Happy Bad.[19] The band then expanded to a four-piece, adding multi-instrumentalist and producer CJ Calderwood and Raisa Khan becoming the band's lead vocalist.
As a film composer
edit
Levi's first major film score was for Jonathan Glazer's 2013 film Under the Skin.[20] The film is based on the novel of the same name by Michel Faber and stars Scarlett Johansson. Produced at age 26 and created in collaboration with Glazer, Levi's film score themes are so tightly woven into the film[21] that they give a symbiotic quality, in which the aural feels inseparable from the visual.[22] The score was widely acclaimed for pushing the boundaries of music and sound design and Levi was nominated for multiple awards. They won Best Composer at the 2014 European Film Awards,[23] and tied with Jonny Greenwood for Best Music/Score at the 2014 Los Angeles Film Critics Awards.[24] They were also nominated for the 2015 BAFTA Award for Best Film Music.[25]
In 2016, Levi completed their second major film score, for Pablo Larraín's Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis biopic Jackie.[26] Larraín had been a juror at the 2013 Venice Film Festival, and thought that Under the Skin deserved a film score prize. Composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, also on the jury, was enthralled by Levi's bold score for the film, and he and Larraín spoke passionately of their accomplishment,[22] which led to the collaboration on Jackie. Levi was nominated for Best Original Score at the 89th Academy Awards[27] but lost to Justin Hurwitz for La La Land.
In 2017, Levi worked with their sister, director Francesca Levi, on the soundtrack to The Colour of Chips, providing the soundtrack to this experimental film conceived with Colm McAuliffe as part of the Unfilmables project, which was produced by Live Cinema UK.[28] That same year, Levi contributed to the science-fiction film Marjorie Prime. The same year, in association with musicians Demdike Stare and Gruff Rhys, Levi contributed to the soundtrack for Phil Collins' Ceremony: The Return of Friedrich Engels which was screened at the Manchester International Festival and then broadcast by the BBC.[13][29] Two years later, Levi worked with Colombian director Alejandro Landes and composed the Monos (2019) score. In December, it was announced they would be writing the score for the dark-comedy thriller film Zola which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020.
In 2020, Levi composed the score for Mangrove, the first, feature-length episode of Steve McQueen's Small Axe series for the BBC and Amazon Studios.[30]
In 2023, Levi composed the score for The Zone of Interest, directed by Jonathan Glazer. It won the Soundtrack Award at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.[31] Previously, Levi had worked with Glazer twice again, writing the soundtrack for two short films made by the film-maker: The Fall (2019) and Strasbourg 1518 (2020).[32]
Musical collaborations
edit
Levi is also known for their various collaborations with English singer and songwriter Tirzah, a close friend they met at Purcell.[33][34] Levi notably produced the Devotion (2018), Colourgrade (2021) and Trip9love (2023) albums.[35][36]
Solo works
editIn 2021, Levi released their solo debut album Ruff Dog.[37]
Personal life
editBesides their musical learning, Levi played a lot of football as a child and even turned up on the first day at Purcell in a football uniform with shin guards:[8] "I played midfield, although now I think I’d be a striker."[4] In 2016, Levi told in an interview that Bernard Herrmann is their favourite film composer, Bruce Langhorne's work for The Hired Hand their favourite film score of all time and Cliff Martinez's score for Spring Breakers their favourite recent film score.[38]
List of film scores
editFeature films
edit| Year | Title | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Under the Skin | Jonathan Glazer |
| 2016 | Jackie | Pablo Larrain |
| 2017 | Marjorie Prime | Michael Almereyda |
| 2019 | Monos | Alejandro Landes |
| 2020 | Zola | Janicza Bravo |
| 2023 | The Zone of Interest | Jonathan Glazer |
Short films
edit| Year | Title | Director(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Delete Beach | Phil Collins Marisuke Eguchi |
| 2019 | The Fall | Jonathan Glazer |
| 2020 | Strasbourg 1518 |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Ceremony: The Return of Friedrich Engels | Phil Collins | In association with Demdike Stare and Gruff Rhys |
| 2020 | Mangrove | Steve McQueen | Small Axe anthology |
| Lovers Rock |
Discography
editStudio albums
edit| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 2016 | Remain Calm (with Oliver Coates) |
| Jackie (OST) | |
| 2018 | Slow Dark Green Murky Waterfall (with Eliza McCarthy)
|
| 2019 | Monos (OST) |
| 2020 | Ruff Dog
|
| 2021 | Blue Alibi
|
| Zola (OST) |
Mixtapes
edit| Year | Mixtape details |
|---|---|
| 2009 | Filthy Friends
|
| 2010 | Kwesachu Mixtape Vol.1 with Kwes.
|
| 2011 | Meat Batch with Kwake Bass
|
Chopped & Screwed Mixtape with Brother May
| |
| 2012 | Kwesachu Vol. 2 with Kwes.
|
| 2014 | Feeling Romantic Feeling Tropical Feeling Ill
|
Singles / EPs
edit- "Taz and May Vids" (2016) (with Tirzah and Brother May)
- "Clothes Wear Me" (2016) (with KEVIN)
- "Delete Beach" (2017)
- "Obviously" (2018) (with Tirzah as Taz & Meeks)
- "Skunk Boy." (2022)
Production
edit| Year | Artist | Title | Album | Label | Credit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Tirzah | all tracks | Trip9love (LP) | Domino | Production |
| 2021 | Arca | "Muñecas" | Kick II (LP) | XL | Co-production with Arca |
| Tirzah | all tracks | Colourgrade (LP) | Domino | Production, co-mixing with Kwes | |
| 2019 | Wiki | 'Dame Aquí (feat. Princess Nokia)' | Oofie (LP) | Wikset | Co-production with Alex Epton, Rob Mack and Tony Seltzer |
| 2019 | Mica Levi | all tracks | Monos (OST, LP) | Invada, Lakeshore | Composer, production |
| 2019 | Brother May | all tracks | Aura Type Orange (LP) | self-released | Production on all tracks; co-production on 'Reppin' with Rob McCormack and 'Backpack Melody' with Coby Sey |
| 2018 | Tirzah | all tracks | Devotion (LP) | Domino | Production, co-mixing with Kwes |
| 2018 | Taz & Meeks | 'Obviously' | Taz & Meeks / Brother May / Coby Sey (Compilation EP); Curl Compilation (Compilation LP) | Curl | Production |
| 2017 | Mica Levi | all tracks | Delete Beach (Single) | DDS | Production |
| 2016 | Mica Levi | all tracks | Jackie (OST, LP) | Milan | Composer, production |
| 2016 | Mica Levi & Oliver Coates | all tracks | Remain Calm (LP) | Slip | co-production with Oliver Coates |
| 2016 | Good Sad Happy Bad | all tracks | Mash One / Looking Up at the Sun (Single) | self-released | co-production as part of Good Sad Happy Bad |
| 2016 | Brother May | all tracks | May & Meeks (EP) | Curl | Production on all tracks, mixing |
| 2016 | Micachu | all tracks | Taz & May Vids (EP) | DDS | Production on all tracks, mixing |
| 2015 | Wiki | 'Cherry Tree' | Lil Me (Mixtape) | Letter Racer | Co-production with Sporting Life |
| 2015 | Tirzah | all tracks | Make It Up (Single) | Greco Roman | Production |
| 2014 | DELS | 'RGB' | Petals Have Fallen (LP) | Big Dada | Production |
| 2014 | Micachu | all tracks | Feeling Romantic Feeling Tropical Feeling Ill (Mixtape) | DDS | Composer, production |
| 2014 | Micachu and the Shapes | all tracks | Good Sad Happy Bad (LP) | Rough Trade | co-production as part of Micachu and the Shapes |
| 2014 | Tirzah | all tracks | No Romance (EP) | Greco Roman | Production |
| 2014 | Mica Levi | all tracks | Under the Skin (OST, LP) | Rough Trade, Milan | Production |
| 2013 | Tirzah | all tracks | I'm Not Dancing (EP) | Greco Roman | Production |
| 2012 | Micachu and the Shapes | all tracks | Never (LP) | Rough Trade | co-production as part of Micachu and the Shapes |
| 2012 | Kwesachu | all tracks | Kwesachu Vol. 2 (Mixtape) | self-released | Production with Kwes |
| 2011 | DELS | 'Violina', 'Melting Patterns' | Gob (LP) | Big Dada | Production |
| 2011 | Micachu hosted by Brother May | all tracks | Chopped & Screwed Mixtape (Mixtape) | self-released | Production |
| 2011 | Micachu & Kwake Bass | all tracks | Meat Batch (Mixtape) | BTS Radio | Production |
| 2010 | Micachu & the Shapes with the London Sinfonietta | all tracks | Chopped & Screwed (LP) | Remote Control and Rough Trade | co-production as part of Micachu and the Shapes |
| 2009 | Kwesachu | most tracks including 'Closer (cover of Ne-Yo's song) ft. Romy of The xx' | Kwesachu Mixtape Vol.1 (Mixtape) | self-released | Production with Kwes |
| 2009 | Micachu and the Shapes | all tracks | Jewellery (LP) | Rough Trade | co-production as part of Micachu and the Shapes w/ Matthew Herbert |
| 2009 | Micachu | most tracks | Filthy Friends (Mixtape) | self-released | Production |
As featured artist
edit- Speech Debelle - "Better Days" (2009)
- Babyfather - "God Hour" (2016)
- Arca - "Think Of" and "Baby Doll" (2016)
- Mount Kimbie - "Marilyn" (2017)
- Stubborn - Mid (2020)
- Bar Italia - letting go makes it stay (2021)
Awards and recognition
editReferences
edit- ^ Greene, Jayson (17 April 2014). "Mica Levi: Under the Skin OST Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- ^ Weingarten, Christopher R. (29 December 2014). "20 Best Avant Albums of 2014". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- ^ Travers, Kate (24 March 2014). "Mica Levi - Under The Skin OST". The Line of Best Fit. Archived from the original on 11 February 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barton, Laura (Autumn–Winter 2015). "Mica Levi". The Gentlewoman. No. 12. Archived from the original on 8 February 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- ^ "MICAELA RACHEL LEVI - Musical work". ACUM. Archived from the original on 8 February 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- ^ "Micachu Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- ^ "Mica Levi Lyrics, Songs and Albums". Genius. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Greiving, Tim (12 December 2023). "'Zone' composer Mica Levi is creating film music like you've never heard before". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 12 December 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- ^ a b c d Kretowicz, Steph. "Mica Levi: Under the Skin" (PDF). London Sinfonietta. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 February 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- ^ a b c d Quarshie, Adam (18 November 2021). "Cover story: Mica Levi - In dreams". Crack. Archived from the original on 8 February 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Beauman, Ned (23 February 2017). "Mica Levi's intensely unconventional film scores". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 15 February 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- ^ "Mica Levi collaborates with her sister Francesca on a new soundtrack project". The Wire. 28 February 2017. Archived from the original on 8 February 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- ^ a b "Francesca and Mica Levi: The Colour of Chips". IFFR. Archived from the original on 8 February 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- ^ Hunt, El (12 March 2016). "Micachu teams up with Brother May for 'May And Meeks' EP". DIY. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- ^ "Rough Trade Records". Rough Trade Records. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
- ^ "Micachu and the Shapes and London Sinfonietta present: CHOPPED & SCREWED", Rough Trade Records.
- ^ "Good Sad Happy Bad critics reviews". Mertacritic.com. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
- ^ "Pop and Jazz Listings and Albums for the Fall Season". New York Times, 7 SEPT. 2015
- ^ good sad happy bad (Video). 23 March 2016. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
we just wanted to tell you that rather than being a recording "good sad happy bad" is the new name of our band.
- ^ Levi, Mica (15 March 2014). "How Mica Levi got Under The Skin of her first film soundtrack". the Guardian. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
- ^ "Mica Levi: Under the Skin OST Album Review | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- ^ a b Tapley, Kristopher (19 October 2016). "'Arrival,' 'Jackie' Composers Push Boundaries of Music and Sound Design". Variety. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- ^ NME.COM (28 December 2014). "Mica Levi on scoring 'Under the Skin': 'I dreamt the world came out of Scarlett Johansson's face' | NME.COM". NME.COM. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
- ^ "LAFCA". LAFCA. Archived from the original on 30 December 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
- ^ "Mica Levi earns BAFTA nomination for Under The Skin score". FACT Magazine: Music News, New Music. 9 January 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
- ^ "Mica Levi scores Jackie Kennedy biopic starring Natalie Portman". 16 August 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
- ^ Beauman, Ned (23 February 2017). "Mica Levi's Intensely Unconventional Film Scores". The New Yorker. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
- ^ McAuliffe, Colm (5 August 2024). "'The Unfilmables". Colm McAuliffe. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
- ^ "FULL PROGRAMME ANNOUNCED FOR MANCHESTER INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL 2017" (PDF) (Press release). Manchester, England: Manchester International Festival. 9 March 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 February 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- ^ Debruge, Peter (25 September 2020). "'Mangrove' Review: Steve McQueen's British Courtroom Drama Does Justice to a Landmark Case Against Black Activists". Variety. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
- ^ a b "'Zone of Interest', film on Auschwitz commandant, wins 2nd-highest prize at Cannes". The Jerusalem Post. 28 May 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
- ^ Monroe, Jazz (9 July 2020). "Mica Levi Scores New Jonathan Glazer Short Film Strasbourg 1518". Pitchfork. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- ^ Hannan, Thomas (10 July 2015). "Micachu and Tirzah shine at Greco Roman showcase in London". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- ^ Lamm, Olivier (6 August 2018). "Tirzah, loin de la soul déchaînée". Libération (in French). Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- ^ Julliand, Briac (1 October 2021). ""Colourgrade", l'album magnétique du moi et des émois de Tirzah". Les Inrockuptibles (in French). Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- ^ Monroe, Jazz (5 September 2023). "Tirzah Releases New Album Trip9love…???: Listen". Pitchfork. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
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- ^ Lamm, Olivier (22 December 2020). "Mica Levi, de fond en décombres". Libération (in French). Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- ^ Vincent, Alice (11 November 2013). "British Independent Film Awards: Dame Judi Dench and Scarlett Johansson nominated". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
- ^ Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (9 January 2015). "Bafta nominations 2015: full house for Grand Budapest Hotel but Mr Turner and Selma snubbed". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
- ^ Gire, Dann (4 December 2014). "Reel life: Dann & Raymond aim for the stars". Chicago Daily Herald. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
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- ^ Bloom, David (7 December 2014). "'Boyhood' Wins Best Picture, Three Other Awards From L.A. Film Critics". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
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- ^ Brosnan, Seán (27 February 2015). "Irish composer Patrick Cassidy nominated for ASCAP Award for 'Calvary' score". Irish Film and Television Network. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
- ^ "Oscars: Musical 'La La Land' Ties Record with 14 Oscar Nominations". PicaPica News. 24 January 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
- ^ Miller, Neil (15 December 2016). "2016 Austin Film Critics Awards Nominees, 'Moonlight' and 'Arrival' lead the way in AFCA's 2016 nominations". Medium.com. Archived from the original on 22 June 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
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