After a five year hiatus, Amsterdam trio Mike Rogers are igniting a new era with their single “Get High.”
The track invites listeners on a psychedelic trip that follows “Mister tambourine man (a dealer)” as he “convinc[es] someone to trust him to take the drugs and experience how it will all unfold.” The story serves as a metaphor for choosing between extremes like modesty and living out loud, a message that also serves as the framework for their upcoming debut album.
The single and the album have been over 20 years in the making. Mike Mago and TWR72 first met as DJ’s on the early 2000’s underground electro party circuit playing Electro, French House, Fidget and Techno. That unique combination of genres, as well as Micha’s (Kita Menari) powerful vocals blend to create Mike Rogers’ signature sound today.
We chatted with the trio about the single, the album dropping in fall 2023, and more!
What inspired your new single “Get High”?
The concept of the song is that there are a lot of things surrounding us asking for our attention and trying to persuade us to give up our time and energy. The narrator being one of those and he’s promising a lot.
What was the writing and production process like?
We wrote the entire album mainly via whatsapp. Sending ideas / songstarters concepts etc to each other and riffing on those. We developed the production of the tracks and then we booked a cottage in the middle of nowhere here in Netherlands and recorded most of the album in one weekend.
Roger and Mike, you first met when you were DJs. How does the music you spun in the early 2000s influence your sound now?
It influenced us a lot. We grew up being fans of Editors, MSTRKRFT, Soulwax, Goose, Peaches etc. and spun those records. We think this is our modern (a bit more pop) take on that era.
What can fans expect from your debut album in the autumn of 2023?
It’s gonna be a mixture of the sounds you can hear in our previous singles like “Julia,” “Breathing Fire” and “Can’t Stop.” Up-tempo, indie pop tracks mixed with some gospel influence here and there.
If you could set up fans in the perfect environment to listen to your upcoming album, what do you imagine it looking like?
In a car on a highway to a festival at midnight with your best friends.
What can fans look forward to next?
We’re doing our first shows on the back off the album release and we’re in the middle of rehearsing and try outs now. We really encourage people to come see us as we’re really proud of our show.
What is one quote that you have heard or that you go by that you want to ECHO out to the world?
We encourage to ask questions out loud. To share your uncertainties out loud. To say, I don’t know, yet I care. To forgive out loud. To live out loud.