The Miki Berenyi Trio Come To America!
By John A. Wilcox

These are difficult times. Stressful days. We all need relief. We need a smile. We need a great concert to put our hearts and minds in a much better place. We all need the Miki Berenyi Trio: Miki, Moose & Ollie. Thankfully they're coming over from the UK just to play for us. Fantastic!

For those of you who might be unaware of the trio, I asked Miki Berenyi for a bit of history: MB3 was born from the Covid trail-off of Piroshka, which in turn sprang from the ashes of the Lush reunion. Actually, the three of us first played as a unit to promote my book Fingers Crossed: How Music Saved Me From Success. We’d play a few Lush tracks and then I’d do an interview for live appearances. But we then started to get offered gigs, so decided to go for it, writing and performing new songs. It was all very unplanned and purely for the enjoyment.

I asked Berenyi how MB3 differs from Piroshka & Lush in terms of vibe:Despite the Miki Berenyi Trio name, I’ve never had any ambitions to be a solo artist. I love the collaboration and multi-faceted nature of bands, each person bringing their personality and talent to the mix to make something unique. The main point of difference now is probably having Ollie on board. He is such a joy to work and play with, bristling with positive can-do energy, and he is inseparably a part of our music and performance, as both Moose and I are.



The other key difference is our use of backing tracks. This, again, was a decision born out of practical need. We simply can’t afford to have a drummer (or a keyboard player, which is another integral element of MB3’s music). Recording, rehearsing, playing live shows – all this is only possible on our budget with just the three of us.

But rather than see this as a sacrifice, we’ve embraced it. I’ve had a field day mucking about with programming, and Ollie has a solid background in dance music so he is adept with the studio tech. All this leaves room for Moose to fully inhabit the space with his guitar lines and effects, which bring extra colour, tone and depth. We try to make the best of the limitations! Speaking of making the best of limitations, the band recently released a new song & spiffy video called Doldrum Days. It's a prime slice of dreamy creamy pop and you can watch the video here: Doldrum Days



Joining the trio as openers for the entire tour are Gina Birch & The Unreasonables. Miki Berenyi explained this choice: Abbey Raymonde (Simon’s wife) managed our last US tour, and she is now also managing Gina’s band, so initially it was a practical coupling. I’d not met Gina before, but we’ve now had a few social get-togethers and chats and SHE IS FAB!!! Her band is great, too, and we’re off to see them play the 100 Club tomorrow. I’m really looking forward to spending three weeks together on a bus, playing shows and enjoying the scenic wonders of the US and Canada.

As she mentioned earlier, in 2023, Berenyi's autobiography Fingers Crossed: How Music Saved Me From Success saw print. I asked her what the public reaction to the book & will folks be able to buy it at the gigs? Surprisingly positive, on the whole. I get the biggest buzz out of people saying they loved the writing and ‘couldn’t put it down’. Yes, I wanted to get ‘my story’ across, but ultimately the quality of the work was paramount for me. I hoped that even someone who cared nothing for Lush would still find it an entertaining, and hopefully moving, read.

I’m not selling the book at gigs much these days, mainly because they are immensely bulky to lug around and MB3 have enough other stuff now for the merch stall. We'll have some exclusives for the upcoming tour – including a joint tote bag designed by Gina and a limited 7" – so we'll have plenty of other stuff to buy! But I’m always happy to sign any copies that people bring along.



In a recent interview with Under The Radar Miki Berenyi explained the challenges of playing in the States: Moose is breaking his no-fly embargo so gig-goers will get to enjoy the full and proper Trio. I’m sad to say that the costs involved in touring Stateside have become crippling for smaller bands like us, so this will be our last ever outing in North America. I wish we could have covered more cities, but I’m incredibly grateful to the many fans who have messaged on my socials to say they will make the journey to see us play. We’ll be sure to include a bunch of Lush tracks in the set as a last hurrah and a thank you to long-time fans. Miki Berenyi re-iterated the same sentiment to me: This tour has been A LOT of work to set up. It’s cripplingly expensive and stressful and THERE HAVE BEEN TEARS!!!! I’m usually a ‘never-say-never’ person, but I genuinely believe this will be the last time, so as a thank you to those who have followed my music from the beginning, we’ll have a fair few Lush songs in the set, alongside the MB3 material.

Sounds good to me! Do yourself a favor and get to the gig!

The Miki Berenyi Trio

Saturday, October 18, 8 PM
Turf Club
1601 University Ave. W
St. Paul, MN 55104
(651) 647-0486

Turf Club

###



All images are copyright their respective owners.



Table Of Contents

Contact