April 29, 2008

MiG: The Soulful Rockstar

By Menreet Kaur

He's got the face of a doll but the personality of a monstrous rock star! Introducing Filipino born and Australian bred MiG Ayesa. He has been fronting the major blockbuster "We Will Rock You" musical around the world and at one point made his fellow Rockstar INXS finalists shiver in their tight leather-strapped pants because of his impeccable voice.

MiG Ayesa is back in the scene again and this time he brings to you his first major solo album MiG. Taking the plunge that no other rocker would ever dream of, MiG and his team of producers rehashed and reworked some classic rock and roll staples such as The Police's "Wrapped Around Your Finger" and The Rolling Stone's "Angie", and crafted them beautifully into soulful interpretations.

MTV Asia spoke to MiG about his upcoming album release, his Asian heritage and of course, we wouldn't have let him leave before he dished out his much sought after beauty secrets! Also, MiG shares who is his favorite in the running for American Idol.

Stand a chance to win autographed MiG CDs by taking part in the contest exclusively on MTVAsia.com, coming to you soon! For more on MiG, check out his latest video here, read his album review here and watch VJ Taya's interview with the rock star here!

MTV: You've got a really interesting name, MiG Ayesa. Does it mean something special?

MiG Ayesa: Well, actually MiG means the lightness of God and Ayesa is an old Moorish word for Jesus. I think if you really wanna be pedantic about it MiG Ayesa means the lightness of God Jesus. All my friends call me MiG, with a capital letter 'G'. It reminds me of the soviet fighter planes… F-15s, MiG 21s..

MTV: You were born in the Philippines, is that a Filipino name?

MiG: Nope, it's actually a Spanish name! I was born in the Philippines and most of us Filipinos have Spanish names.

MTV: Do you completely embrace your Asian-ness?

MiG: [Laughs] I am Asian! I feel very Asian. Even Australia, even if they were pure Australians, they're Asians. Australia is part of Asia, I have always felt that. I was born in the Philippines but I grew up in Australia.

MTV: Then you must have liked traveling around Asia with your "We Will Rock You" entourage.

MiG: Yeah! I love traveling around Asia. It's like coming back home. All the food that you get here… I like to try new things and Asian food is always beautiful for me.

MTV: You will be launching your first solo album, are you really excited about it?

MiG: I am super excited about it!! The album was released in the states April last year and it was awesome fun touring the states. Every state that I was touring "We Will Rock You" opened a whole new chapter of my career. It's my first album and you know I hope people really dig my first album and I get a chance to do my second album. My second album is something that I'm really really excited about because it is gonna be full of my original stuff which I've already started writing and the stuff that I'm writing is the best that I've ever come up with.

MTV: For your first album, were you at any point afraid to take on such classic songs and mix them up with your soulful interpretation?

MiG: Yeah, there is always that kind of worry that people will look at the songs you do and think, 'Gee, it's a nice interpretation but it's not as good as the original'. That's why we thought we might as well choose songs that we can do something different with. Apart from "Kiss From a Rose" and "Life From Mars", all the songs that we cover in this album are very different from the original which is something we tried really hard to achieve. We know people who wrote the originals and came back to me, for example Peter Frampton, he came back to me and said 'Wow, this is a wonderful approach of the song which I never thought possible. I think we achieved what we wanted to achieve. It was a way of connecting the dots from Rockstar INXS to MiG the artist as well as including original stuff that I wrote which have actually become more popular than the covers that I did, which is exactly what I wanted to happen. So hopefully people do pick up the first album coz it opens up the pathway for me to do a second album.

MTV: Is there anything you do in particular, to keep your voice in tip-top condition?

MiG: [Laughs] I should really be taking very good care of my voice. After doing "We Will Rock You" last night, we did a gig at 'The Pump Room' (Singapore) and we sang a-lot. I should have gone home after that but I didn't. We went out with the boys from the band. But I should have really just gone home, straight to bed.

MTV: So are you a party animal?

MiG: You know I try not to be but it's hard in Singapore not to because there are just so many great places to go out to. So I found myself partying again last night which to that I thought, "Nooo! I should have just gone to bed, what's wrong with me!"

MTV: Aww come on, it was ladies night last night!

MiG: It was!! I know!! It was ladies night, and the feelings right, it was ladies night, oh what a night! Oh my gosh, it was really lots of fun and I think that life is short so if you don't take the opportunity to take hold of what's given to you then you're missing out.

But really, when I come back home, I make sure that I am really well-rested. I drink lots of water and make sure I warm up before my gig.

MTV: How has "We Will Rock You" taught you to become a better performer?

MiG: "We Will Rock You" teaches you discipline. It teaches you how to take care of yourself. It teaches you some stage craft as well coz every night you are performing like a rock concert in front of like 200, 000 people. Every single night, eight times a week. It's a wonderful way to learn how to be a rock star without having to actually be a rock star.

MTV: If you had to define yourself as an artist, what would it be?

MiG: Hmmm I'm a singer-songwriter/actor/performer.

MTV: That's quite an extensive list!

MiG: Yeah, the thing with this industry is you can't keep yourself to just one thing. You've got to be as versatile as possible. Haha, you know whoever pays me, that's my boss. If they want me to be a juggler, I would try to juggle, even though I really suck at juggling. But I would try. I love acting. I even do piano-playing gigs as well. So I'm a musician… Oh my god, let me start again. Ready for this?

I'm a singer/piano-player/actor/songwriter/performer.

MTV: With so much on your plate, how do you balance family life and work life?

MiG: I've got a very understanding wife who's my greatest support. It is very important to have that because if I didn't have that my married life would be over. [Laughs] We spend so much time away from each other and I work so hard and my wife is also in the business so that helps. She's a dancer/actor. We live in New York and she's busy there auditioning for jobs. She understands what it takes and she understands the journey I've been through and she wants me to achieve everything I wanted to achieve in my life. But the one thing I got to say is, thank god for Skype! Skype and iChat are the most wonderful inventions Man has ever created. God invented Skype because God wanted us to be together. It is the most wonderful way of communicating, we can always take on the phone but it's nothing like having some visual communication as well. It's really like having her in the next room and it's very important to have that.

MTV: Are you guys planning on having kids soon?

MiG: We are planning on having kids but I just don't know when that plan might start.

MTV: Probably when you guys are physically back together right?

MiG: Well it's important that we have to actually do 'that' and 'that' is very hard to do through the internet! The internet hasn't progressed that far for that to happen, so yes we have to be in the same room for that to happen.

MTV: Do you like to sing in the shower?

MiG: Of course, I love to sing in the shower.

MTV: Is that when you found out that music is your calling?

MiG: [Laughs] That's when I found out that I waste too much water! That's when I realized, "Okay MiG, you are destroying the environment. Get out of the shower, get on the stage and get your ass in front of the microphone.

MTV: When did you realize that music was going to be your career then?

MiG: It happened by accident actually. I didn't think that this is what I was gonna do for the rest of my life. I just don't wanna work for a living. I hate working for a living. To me, music is kind of like playtime. So if people dig what I do while I'm playing like I do, I'm good. I don't consider it work, I consider it having fun. And if I'm having fun doing what I'm doing then that is what I wanna do for the rest of my life. Life is too short to hate what you do.

MTV: Are you going to go with the whole rock persona or something else? Because in your album, it seems to be leaning towards the soulful stuff and not so much Rockstar INXS.

MiG: Yeah, that's a strange thing. I have been a rock singer for quite some time but I also love soul and pop music but when I got signed to Universal records, they wanted me to do this album which was the soulful interpretations of rock classic songs. The songs that we had were rock songs but they're kind of the classical versions, which is a bit strange even I have to admit this was a strange first album for me to make because they are these rock songs. There is that connection always.

The second album that I got is kind of acoustic rock soul. I really live in the place where you have a piano or sing with an acoustic guitar and that's all you need. Acoustic, raw and organic and I feel that my second album has that flavor.

MTV: So who do you consider your musical heroes to be?

MiG: I have to pay homage to two people who inspired me to learn how to play music and to be a musician. It is Stevie Wonder and Billy Joel. I started taking classical piano lessons since I was seven years old and I was really an awful piano player and then it was the father of a friend of mine who showed me how to play these guitar chords on a piano. He said, "Do yourself a favor. Go get a Billy Joel or stevie wonder songbook and learn how to play the piano." So I did and it opened up a whole new world for me!

MTV: Do you follow American Idol?

MiG: [Laughs] Unfortunately, yes I do! I'm big enough of a man to admit it, yeah. I watch it, yeah. And I love it.

MTV: Any favorites?

MiG: At the moment I'm gunning for David Cook. I'm sorry that Michael John, the Aussie left because I'd go for any Aussie in these talent shows because I know what its like to be a foreigner in a strange American talent show. It's pretty daunting. David Cook is quite exceptional!

MTV: Who do you think will win though at the end of the day?

MiG: I feel like such a groupie, but Jason Castro. I think his future is set but he's awesome as well. But then again maybe David Archuleta will win only because he's so young.

MTV: Alright, the question we've all been waiting for. You're so handsome! Pray tell your facial regime.

MiG: [Laughs] I love you! Wear sunscreen! I have been wearing sunscreen everyday for a long time and I think that could possibly be the only thing that saved me. Apart from that, be good to your mother and make sure you take a shower before you go to bed.

MTV: Do you shave your legs?

MiG: [Laughs] What!!! What kind of question is that!! I have to say this though; I don't have very hairy legs, nothing on my upper torso. I was with a trainer when I was very young and he said, "Come on! Let's get our legs waxed!" and I was like "What!!"

Okay, I admit. When I was 21, I got out and got my legs waxed. Yes. And occasionally I would get my legs waxed. And you know what, I was thinking if women have to go through all this trouble in getting their legs waxed yada yada yada, we can sometimes take care of ourselves that way as well. And my wife likes it when I get my legs waxed as well. It's kind of smooth and slippery. And you know when it's smooth and slippery, I won't get into it much, but it makes things kind of fun!