Any Other Questions with… MICHELLE

Yes, Dear Reader. We enjoy those ‘in depth’ interviews as much as anyone else. But – BUT – we also enjoy the lighter side of music, too. We simply cannot go on any longer without knowing that one of MICHELLE is happy to let a llama shit all over someone’s bed(?!?).

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What did you last dream about?
Sofia: I had a dream that the band was going to run a marathon, and we stopped for breakfast at this really cute food truck, but it was taking a really long time for us to get our orders. Probably pre-tour stress.
Charlie: I had a dream that when a new reggaeton record came out, if it was successful, they would build a 100-story high marble frog in its honour in Florida, and there was a city of massive marble frogs commemorating various different new reggaeton hits.
Layla: I was at a party at a fellow artist’s house that he was hosting, but he seemed so lonely and sad to be there.
Julian: I was the engineer at a recording session but I couldn’t find any of the mics I wanted to use.

What’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever done to impress someone?
Layla: Paint them a full-size portrait of themselves, unprompted. And then give it to them. For free.

What was the last thing you broke?
Jamee: I broke the dishwasher (don’t tell our landlord), and I don’t know where the broken piece went.
Layla: A piece of hardware that Jamee was saving to fix the dishwasher (she doesn’t know yet – sorry, girl).
Emma: Broke the skin on my lip, bumped into a counter :/.
Sofia: Broke my phone screen so bad I couldn’t use the display. Made for a great weekend OTG, but was definitely stressful.

What is your most treasured possession?
Layla: A tiny little clock pendant that used to be my grandmother’s. And a plant that used to be my great-grandmother’s.
Julian: My Ampex preamps and my synths!

If you won the lottery, what would you spend the cash on?
Layla: Anybody who needs it.
Jamee: I’d buy a beach house with hammocks and fruit trees.
Emma: Buy a house out of the city for my family.
Charlie: Ten trillion bags of Haribo, enough to crush me under their weight many times over.
Julian: Opening the restaurant of my dreams without worrying about it making a profit.
Sofia: Girls trip to Vegas. Invest the rest.

What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you?
Julian: Next question…
Layla: Most of middle and high school. All the times, I didn’t stand up for myself.

Have you ever seen a ghost?
Sofia: Yes.
Layla: Yes. I love and miss you every day. <3

What’s the weirdest app on your phone?
Sofia: Whoop Triggerz, it’s like a pocket organist and church choir. It’s awesome.
Julian: Star registration.

If you could have a superpower of your choosing, what would it be?
Julian: To have the power of a genie.
Jamee: I used to want the ability to shapeshift, but now I think teleportation is the wave.
Layla: Invisibility.
Emma: Flight.

What’s the most memorable prank you’ve ever pulled or had pulled on you?
Layla: My friends and I at camp once let the llama we had on our farm poop all over the boys’ bunk.

How punk are you out of ten?
Jamee: 3/10, not very punk.
Julian: 4/10.
Layla: Depends on the day. 1 when I have to make a doctor’s appointment. 10 when I shaved my head.

What do you always have in your refrigerator?
Jamee: Barley tea.
Layla: Califia barista blend oat milk. Girl, if you’re reading this… call me.
Emma: Tortillas.
Julian: An entire rack of lamb.

What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to try?
Emma: I wanna try one of those rigs where I can dance/fly around in the air.
Julian: Playing guitar.
Layla: Producing my own music.
Sofia: Spinning a show tune in one of my DJ sets. Like Company or Cabaret or something.

If you could have any fictional creature as a pet, what would you choose?
Julian: A genie.
Layla: Totoro.

What’s the most bizarre thing you’ve ever witnessed in public?
Jamee: I had to break up a fight on the L train once.
Layla: I once saw a highway billboard on the side of the road that read, “Jesus is coming as lightning – are you ready?” and, in that exact moment, a lightning bolt struck what appeared to be 20 feet away from the front of our car.

What’s your breakfast of choice?
Jamee: Vanilla yoghurt with fruits and granola.
Emma: I rarely have them but I love crepes.
Julian: American diner food!
Layla: A fully loaded breakfast burrito.
Sofia: Pancakes. I friggin’ love pancakes.

What is the weirdest thing you believed as a child?
Jamee: I thought all of the buildings in Pennsylvania were shaped like pencils, like Pencil-vania.
Julian: My first passion was architecture and I was convinced I was going to be an architect.
Emma: If I put salt in my water and drank it, I would activate my mermaid abilities.
Layla: That God could, and was actively, reading my thoughts at all times.

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
Jamee: Absolutely; Shego from Kim Possible can get it.
Emma: Yes.
Layla: Lightning McQueen.
Sofia: One of my exes looks like the dad from Inside Out, so yeah. Probably.

What is your earliest memory?
Emma: Falling down in the sprinkler park. I was wearing white shoes and I remember looking down and watching as the creases in my knee filled out with blood.
Charlie: Getting lost in a forest, but given the fact that I was about 3 feet high, maybe it was a park with trees in it that I interpreted as a forest.
Layla: Playing mermaids in the schoolyard during kindergarten. And performing Destiny’s Child songs with my cover band at the time.

Tell us a boring fact about yourself?
Charlie: I have a mild phobia of dogs.
Jamee: I looove orange juice.
Julian: I fall asleep very quickly.
Emma: I enjoy taking the bus.
Layla: One leg a little longer than other leg.
Sofia: I took a beginner astrology class.

What’s your favourite kind of weather?
Jamee: I love a 70°F sunny, breezy day. Not too hot, not too cold.
Layla: Jamee’s favourite kind of weather.
Emma: Fall sweater optional weather.

What is the most irrational superstition you have?
Sofia: I try not to walk under ladders.
Layla: Hats on the bed. Bun – stop putting your hats on the bed!!!

What is the stupidest thing you’ve bought off the internet?
Julian: A star.
Charlie: A stethoscope microphone; ended up being way less cool than it sounded.
Sofia: A bubble gun from TikTok shop! It has 69 holes and the packets of soap have typos on them. Box didn’t have any instructions either.

If you were a character in a book, what genre would it be?
Charlie: Either high fantasy (wizard’s apprentice) or 40s detective noir (detective’s sidekick that gets popped halfway through the book and becomes revenge fuel for the main character).
Julian: Probably non-fiction.
Layla: Science fiction.

What is the strangest food combination you enjoy?
Charlie: In college I used to eat sandwiches where the fillings were sandwiched between two complete grilled cheese sandwiches instead of two slices of bread.
Jamee: Hear me out, pretzel rods and apple juice. Something about the salty mixed with sweet mixed with childhood nostalgia really gets me.
Layla: Peanut butter and pickle sandwich. Kalamata olives on a cream cheese bagel. Cereal and milk (consumed separately).

If you could learn one skill instantly, without needing to practice, what would you pick?
Julian: Playing guitar.
Sofia: Stenography.
Layla: Polyglotism.

What is the worst day of the week?
Julian: Tuesday.
Charlie: Tuesday, no question. Monday you commiserate, Wednesday you feel the accomplishment of being halfway through, Thursday you look forward to Friday, and Friday needs no introduction. Tuesday is pure despair.
Emma: I also think it’s Tuesday.
Sofia: Tuesday’s great for going out, though.
Layla: Tuesday hate is crazy. Wednesday is the worst. I’ve also never liked Thursdays.

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?
Julian: Check my phone.
Emma: Turn off my phone alarm.

What’s your biggest fear?
Charlie: Debilitating fear of genies.
Layla: Abandonment, losing control.

Who’s your best friend?
Layla: Kiko. She’s my heart and my home.

Is there anything you’re brilliant at, but nobody else knows?
Julian: I’m so good at badminton.
Layla: I’m really intuitive.

Which supermarket do you shop at?
Jamee: Trader Joe’s.
Emma: ^^^.
Layla: ^^^^^^.

What was the first record you bought?
Emma: I bought ‘Don’t Forget’ by Demi Lovato when I got an iPod Nano.
Layla: I don’t remember, but it was probably something Beatles.
Charlie: ‘Du Hast’ by Rammstein.

What’s the oddest piece of trivia you know?
Jamee: The smallest bones in the body are the ossicles in your ear.
Charlie: Albatrosses can lock their wings in place to sleep while flying.

What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done?
Layla: Aforementioned head-shaving.
Sofia: Get in an Uber with three strangers in Berlin to go to the club. I’m still friends with one of them!

If you could time travel to any era, past or future, where would you go?
Jamee: Pangea, I would love to walk across all the continents.
Charlie: I want to see what kinds of fucked up shapes humans evolve into in a couple of million years.
Layla: 1,000 years into the future. I wanna know what the fuck goin’ on there.

What’s your favourite childhood board game, and do you still play it?
Sofia: I LOVED Guess Who. Haven’t played it in years!!!

What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned from a mistake?
Layla: You have to forgive yourself – over and over again, forever. Choose to do better, and stop punishing yourself. It serves no one.

What is the most expensive thing you have ever bought?
Layla: Housing in NYC.

Are you good in a crisis?
Jamee: I’ve been told that I am. I think it depends on the situation, though.
Julian: I hope so.
Emma: Yes and no.

If you could shrink any object and carry it around in your pocket, what would it be?
Julian: A genie.

Have you ever lied in an interview?
Jamee: All the time.
Layla: Who’s asking?
Emma: Probably yes.
Charlie Kilgore, sitting president of Indonesia: No.

What are your plans for the weekend?
Emma: Get some much-needed sunshine and wish a friend happy birthday.
Sofia: Visiting my parents; maybe a swim, eat steak, a good YouTube rabbit hole.
Layla: Go upstate with my friends. Cook, frolic, love, laugh, rest.

Taken from the August 2024 issue of Dork. MICHELLE’s album ‘Songs About You Specifically’ is out 27th September.