General, Music
a pint with Mik Artistik
Mik Artistik is the real thing. Kindly coming out to meet us on Tuesday night in Leeds at the pub where he usually plays, we went into the back room and had our very own private acoustic performance from him and Benson and Johnny - basically the rest of his band minus the drum machine!
It was my first time hearing him: Dave had raved about him after he saw him play several times at Latitude this year, and I'd written to ask him on the tour but he never got back to me.
Fortunately we tracked him down in time to hear his surreal, truthful, razor-sharp brand of nonsense... unlike anything you'll hear but not a million miles away from Ivor Cutler, Ian Dury, Mark E Smith, Edward Lear and The Streets wrapped into one... I dunno, difficult to compare because there is nothing quite like him.
It was good to talk to him and agree on how hard it is to keep going sometimes, but it's the only thing you can do... and for him it's really working out. That year has been a bumper year, gaining him thousands of new fans. People literally go completely mental for his stuff, grown men crying and buying up all his CDs!
Looks like things are turning out nicely for one of the UK's most unique artists - catch him while you can!
