Meen Streets is a revolutionary artist who skillfully combines iconically retro tunes with more modern pop to create truly trademarked music. Although he is currently based in Los Angeles, his British-Australian background provides an assortment of culture and history to draw upon. Meen Streets’ first official single ‘Playboys of the Western World’ capitalizes on current social justice issues and bravely delves into the unsaid with a new take on music altogether.
What inspired you to pursue music? Did you always know that’s what you wanted to do?
I started rummaging through my parents’ record collection from the age of 3. Shortly after, my mum bought me Michael Jackson’s “Moonwalker” movie which was followed by an obsession with both the rock and bubblegum pop of the ’90s. I recall being at a Smash Hits magazine pop concert when I was 7-years-old and thinking to myself that there was absolutely nothing else I wanted to do but be on stage. Obviously, personal tastes and life circumstances evolve, but I definitely can’t seem to shake the nagging urge to write, sing and perform live.
What is your writing process like? What are your biggest sources of inspiration?
I write all Meen Streets songs with my writing partner and producer Jarvis Anderson. We have a little studio in downtown LA where we start writing [in] any number of ways. Typically, it starts with a keyboard and a bunch of melody ideas. I tend to try and zone in on a concept or title as quickly as possible, which immediately helps to focus both the lyrics and overall sound of the song. From there, we start building the track bit by bit, constantly jumping around from vocals to guitars to percussions [and] back to keys, etc.
Is there anything else you want to say about “Playboys of the Western World”?
“Playboys of the Western World,” like a lot of writing experiences, was not the song we necessarily set out to write. The initial sound was a lot more subdued, and then the party vibe just rapidly grew. I had the title scribbled in my phone for quite some time. It came from a few years back when I was galavanting around London, and my mother would tell me that I needed to calm down, grow up and stop acting like a “Playboy of the Western World” — a phrase which I guess I tucked away somewhere in [my] brain like a lot of things she says (I find a lot of her expressions make great song titles!).
I ended up taking that one and repurposing it. Instead, we created a scene that feels somewhat like early ’80s NYC and put the focus of the song on a central character — a woman who refuses to succumb to the unwanted advances of desperate and predatory men everywhere she turns. The song began to sound more and more anthemic and to us feels like a celebration of personal fortitude and robust independence. It was totally unintentional to release a song with that message in this current climate (we are more party than political), but I guess the subject and sentiment had been bubbling under the surface for a long while now.
Tell us a little about your move to LA and your experience so far? How’s the LA environment different from where you lived before?
I truly love LA. It has brought me a lot of opportunity for creative exploration and experimentation. While it has always been synonymous with legendary music, I feel like there are incredible, new scenes now appearing in different pockets of the city and the Greater Los Angeles area. There’s a lot to be excited about, both as an artist and a music fan in general. London is where I spent the majority of my life so far and is fantastic for more reasons than I could possibly list. The grass can always be greener from wherever you stand, so instead, I tend to focus on all the things that make the place I’m in special and take full advantage of those aspects. In LA that is certainly the weather, the food and the energy of young creative people giving things a go.
Where can people find more of your work?
We have a couple of songs up on Spotify so far with the objective of releasing new music every 4-6 weeks moving forward. In terms of keeping up with what Meen Streets is doing and staying in touch, Instagram and Facebook are best!
Are you working on any other exciting, forthcoming projects that you want people to know about? What’s your next step?
In addition to releasing music every month, we have begun throwing monthly parties in LA where we perform live and dance the night away to our favorite hits, both modern and throwback. Our next one is a Holiday Party at Gold Diggers in East Hollywood on Dec 8, and we can’t wait.
Do you have any advice for aspiring artists or bands in the field?
Make sure you have as much fun as possible. It’s hard to justify all the sacrifice and the tough times you go through unless you absolutely love the process and can find moments to enjoy yourself along the way. I feel like that is where I have just arrived at in my personal journey, which feels plenty rewarding and creatively fulfilling. If one day you can actually pay the bills doing it, then that is a wonderful bonus.
Listen to Meen Streets unofficial first single “Ice Cold” here.
