MY LIFE IN MUSIC MICKEY NOMINONO

The First Record I Bought

I had a load of records knocking around the house all through my childhood. I think the first one I bought was Busted’s debut album, bought on CD from Woolworths when I was a nipper. It had some belters on there; pick‘n’mix would be brimming and ‘Year 3000’ blasting on the car ride home.

MY FIRST GIG

I went to Beautiful Days Festival. I can’t even remember who played, if I’m honest. Good vibe though, down in Devon.

THE FIRST SONG I PERFORMED

I first started making music towards the backend of secondary school. The first song I performed was likely some scratchy indie tune I’d written when I was 16 at a school concert. Some of that is still floating around on the internet, I’m sure...

A SONG I WISH I’D WRITTEN 'Lonely For You Baby' by Sam Dees. Imagine being able to perform that live, knowing it was your work. Being able to pour yourself into a song like that is amazing.

I FIRST FELL IN LOVE WITH MUSIC WHEN

Music’s been around me my whole life. I’d fall asleep and wake up hearing whatever my old man was mixing through my bedroom floor when I was a kid. I had no choice but to love it. I can remember a point when I started taking ownership of what I listened to, and Earl Sweatshirt’s album Doris made me wanna make music. It was prescribed to me by a dear friend and I listened to it to death.

ONE SONG I CAN’T GET

MUSIC’S BEEN AROUND ME MY WHOLE LIFE. I’D FALL ASLEEP AND WAKE UP HEARING WHATEVER MY OLD MAN WAS MIXING THROUGH MY BEDROOM FLOOR WHEN I WAS A KID

OUT OF MY HEAD AT THE MOMENT

'Float On' by The Floaters – an absolute epic. It’s gotta be the 11-minute version though; you need the full instrumental to warm up for the vocals. Once you’ve heard Charles’ falsetto in the verse it’ll soundtrack the rest of your life.

A SONG THAT REMINDS ME OF A SPECIFIC PLACE AND TIME

‘Bum Bum Tam Tam’ by MC Fioti. It takes me back to running parties and DJing with the PRJKTS cru in Bristol. Someone would always chuck this into their set – usually me and Biggie. We loved it, even if the rest of the room didn’t...

Sheffield-based artist Mickey Nominono releases his fourth single ‘Hot and Cold’ on 9 June. It’s a track about the kind of neuro-divergence that has you flicking back and forth from being on top of the world to locked in a dark room alone, backed by a driving electronic punk beat, distorted guitar lines and overwhelming synth breakdowns. All of this is gelled together by Nomimono’s trademark wit, visceral lyrics and cutting delivery. Listen at mickeynomimono.com.