Written by Amal Murni
In collaboration with Aizat Haris of Mirror Trash
From Bipolaroidz to Mirror Trash, this artist has kept the ball rolling since 2016 (perhaps even longer) and upped the ante ever since he made a 180 under ‘Mirror Trash’ with his mates in the UK. Let’s get to know the man behind Mirror Trash more:
Hello! How is everything and what is the current situation like where you are? Tell our readers a little bit about yourselves and your backstories.
Hi! My name is Aizat Haris, I’m from Kuala Belait, Brunei Darussalam. I’m a film and television graduate (and I’m about to graduate for my master’s degree in creative practice), I’m currently living in Carlisle, Cumbria UK and have been living here for about 5 years now. Usually I’d say things are going great but, the North of England is going through another lockdown so right now, we can only try our best to stay positive and stay indoors.
Oh and also I’m in a band called Mirror Trash with Joby, Asha and Robbo. #ganggang
Photographed by Jemma Marie
What were the albums/ artists/ songs that made you want to write and make music? Please describe your music journey.
There are too many albums that have pushed me into making music and I go through too many phases to pinpoint exactly when I thought “Yes, this album in particular is the reason why I want to be a musician”, but I can safely say that Daniel Johnston’s ‘Don’t Be Scared’ album was the nudge that got me into actually writing music. I’ve always fantasised about writing my own stuff when I was young, but I didn’t really start until I was about 14 or 15.
Frankie Cosmos played a huge role in how I write my songs. I think what draws me to her music is how much she doesn’t give a damn about what other people thinks and just does it. If you check out her discography on Bandcamp, she has over 50 releases and hella songs, most of them really short and doesn’t have a proper structure and I love that about her music.
"The fact that she doesn’t follow the certain standard or follow a formula, with her only objective is to make something that sounds nice, I find that to be very inspirational."
Seeing that she was able to pull that off really got me thinking ‘I should stop fantasising and start doing’, which I think a lot of people need to do in general.
Aizat, do you ever take a break? Because it seems like you haven’t - considering the amount of releases in the span of 3 years. If you don’t mind, do share with us the process of your songwriting and craft.
YES, I am planning on taking a break sometime soon! It has been somewhat of a running joke at this point where I straight up tell everyone that I’m retiring music but end up with a new band name and 10 new albums… Ok maybe not 10 but you get what I mean. However, Mirror Trash is forever, and I don’t think I could find it in me yet to drop it, but I might have to someday, but that day is not today.
Photographed by Jemma Marie
I think what drove me into making all these songs were the need to prove to myself mostly, that I can do it by myself. Around the time I started Mirror Trash, I was very pessimistic with everything because I felt like I was being played by the people around me; and the people whom I thought were my friends, didn’t turn out to be my friends and I felt like I had no one. I wasn’t in the best headspace; I’ve isolated myself from the outside world and the only two things I cared about at the time were playing video games and making music.
"I had so many things I wanted to say to a handful of people, but I couldn’t, so I turned those thoughts into songs, hence why I was constantly making new songs day after day."
Now that I’m doing better and a lot healthier than I was before, I feel like I don’t have anything else to say, which is slowing down my drive to make new songs.
I started making songs using an acoustic guitar and a mid 2012 macbook pro which had Garageband. I didn’t have a proper setup when I first started, I had no idea what I was doing (I still don’t), but it was a lot of figuring out which effects did what, trying to understand what compression is or the difference between mixing and mastering. I can’t say that it came naturally because it didn’t, I’ve spent countless of hours on sleepless nights, listening to the same song over and over, trying to get the songs to sound right, but eventually I figured out what sounded good, understanding the tonal balance of an EQ and etc…. I still have absolutely no idea what I’m doing.
Who inspired you to pick up the guitar, write songs and create them altogether? Who’s your current inspiration(s) and why?
When it comes to picking up the guitar, I was very much inspired by my dad. He used to play in a rock band and would show me these old video tapes of him and his band playing gigs in Brunei. My sister and my cousins used to play in bands as well, so I was pretty much surrounded by musicians constantly and didn’t want to feel left out. I didn’t actually start writing music until I was 14 or 15. Around that time, my sister got me into folk music, bands and musicians like Noah and the Whale, Johnny Flynn, Laura Marling and Bob Dylan.
"It wasn’t until I saw the documentary the Devil and Daniel Johnston, that’s when I was like ‘Wow, this dude is literally making albums in his basement with his piano and a cassette recorder’, that’s what got me into recording and making my own songs."
Currently, seeing my friends releasing their music, that inspires me a heck of a lot as well. It’s really nice to see my friends grow as artists and it’s really cool to see how far they’ve grown as opposed to when they’ve first started.
"It’s really nice to have a circle of friends who are very supportive and are excited about your art just as much as you do theirs. Although there is that sense of competitive spirit but it’s more encouraging to one another to push themselves forward rather than it is demotivating them to stop playing music altogether, which I really love."
I also make it obvious that I’m madly obsessed with Frankie Cosmos and Mothers, two very different bands but both bands tackle more or less the same theme of loneliness, being awkward and unrequited love.
Who would you want to collaborate with in the future? And are you currently planning on venturing somewhere outside of Mirror Trash?
I can’t really think off the top of my head who I would like to collaborate with, maybe Greta Kline or Kristine Leschper but usually I mostly just collaborate with my musician friends and so far, collaborating had been a great experience for me! I enjoy working with other people and seeing what their take or process of writing a song is like. What I find cool about it, is that you can never stop learning new things, even if you think you know everything, there’s always new things that may surprise you that you’ve probably never considered had you not collaborated with others.
"No matter how old you get, there’s always new things that you can learn and I think that’s the beauty in both art and life."
I’m currently in a garage-punk rock band called Ray-Gun Hoodlums, where I play lead guitar and it sounds nothing like Mirror Trash. We’ve just released an EP a couple of weeks ago called Motorcycle Ride and I’m really happy with how it turned out!
Having said that though, yes, I’m planning to venture outside of Mirror Trash in the near future with a few of my friends, but I can’t really talk about that right now.
Since there’s a surge of (local) women in music, what advice do you have for the boys and men in the scene in order to create a safe space?
Stop being jerks and stop being creepy.
People go to gigs/shows to have a good time, not to be harassed. Be respectful to the artists as well please, I’m sure they’re trying their absolute best to put on a show. It’s very nerve-wrecking to be on stage so the last thing you want to do is make them feel uncomfortable!
It’s evident that you started out with a Daniel Johnston-esque lo-fi recordings - considering the increase in well-produced music and generally, oversaturation - with the fading raw 90s style of recording, should musicians still pass the torch and not let it go out of style despite the decrease in listeners or should they just give it up completely?
Not everything has to be polished or well-produced! I’m sure regardless of whatever genre it is, there will always be a market for it! I do think that a lot of people put way too much emphasis on listener count and followers and not enough time on their actual art itself. It’s really disheartening to see so many talented individuals give up their craft, just because they didn’t get as many plays or attention as they expected.
I think with art in general, people are expecting everything to go viral ASAP as oppose to giving their art time to grow. Sometimes you have to let your art breathe and give it time to bloom. I’ve had moments where sometimes I feel like my music is overlooked, but even then, I have to stop and tell myself that no one is obligated to listen to my music.
"That being said, musicians should make the music they want to make, regardless of what equipment (or lack thereof) they have. The activity of making art should be the reward itself, I don’t think people should stop making music because it doesn’t sound polished or well-produced. Every song I’ve ever made, I sang through my laptop’s microphone, if I can do it, you can too."
First Mirror Trash gig. Photographed by James Butcher
Mirror Trash, what are your quirks and pet peeves?
Don’t mean to flex too hard on you but give me a mixed up 3x3 Rubik’s cube and 15 minutes, you best believe I’ll get that solved. I’m really proud of this skill because my math teachers are quick to tell me that I’m horrible at math…. Which is absolutely true.
"I’m easily annoyed by people who set guidelines for what you can’t or can’t do with your art. I’ve always found it funny that some artists feel the need to tell other artists that what they’re doing is wrong and that their way is the right way."
I see people like that, and I cringe on the inside because I think it’s absolute bonkers that they’ve made it in their head that they’re the “authority” of art, when art is supposed to be a free-form expression. Who cares if your guitar is out of tune? Who cares if you’re using a multi-fx pedal as opposed to having an analog pedal board? Who cares if you use a Gibson to play dreampop/shoegaze music instead of a Fender? As long as you’re having fun, that’s all that matters in the end, everything else is just noise that you can ignore. I’ve just never been a fan of dragging people down or make them feel bad about something that they’ve worked hard towards.
"Everyone should be able to do their art the way they want to and everyone has the right to be proud of whatever they’ve achieved, regardless how big or small that achievement is….. Just as long as they’re not hurting anyone or anything in the process."
The 9th question is reserved for positivity -- what are the milestones that you’re proud of this year whether big or small?
I have a lot to be thankful for this year, being able to form this band with the nicest people and play Mirror Trash music live, although it’s short lived due to Covid, but I’m happy we were able to get a few shows in. Getting ‘Better Days’ cut to vinyl was like a dream come true to me and having the track of the week with Sublime on BBC Introducing, that’s something I don’t think I could’ve ever achieved in this lifetime! Shouts out to Lauryn Graves for doing the vocals, it wouldn’t be the same without her!
Alright, we’re on our last question, thank you so much for answering -- the floor is all yours. Please let our readers know your latest/ upcoming project(s), where to find you (social media), and feel free to express yourself!
Thank you Amal Murni of Kepala Seni for considering Mirror Trash for the spotlight segment, I appreciate the platform and everything else Kepala Seni does for the Bruneian music scene!
Mirror Trash is currently working on a mini album called NEONTRASHA… I don’t have a specific date for when it’s going to come out, maybe 26th of November, maybe not, but we are working on it!
You can find Mirror Trash and support the music through the following links:
R.I.P Steve Jobs!
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