"I write mainly about giving people the confidence to be themselves and express their emotions."
We get to know Mickey Callisto, featured artist on Museum Sessions. The online series returns with an incredible line up of Liverpool talent playing across National Museums Liverpool's iconic spaces in the city.
Mickey Callisto is unlike anything around at the moment. He is a self-aware beacon of positivity who celebrates being yourself in the purest form. A new kind of popstar, he makes psychedelic, bedroom-made synth-pop bangers, whilst he has separated the ego from the self, seeing everyone as equal and bringing a refreshing outlook and experience that is breaking out on the scene. Here's what he had to say to our quick fire questions:
The power of music is that you can write a song or listen to a song to reflect every emotion. Music is powerful as it brings people together and also reminds you of important memories of your life. My favourite way to spend time other than music is going to events and dancing the night away.
If I could go back in time and see one artist it would obviously be Freddie Mercury. My passion for performing has been since I was 7. The fact that through just using your voice as a singer can invoke happiness and inspiration within someone else gives me the drive to perform! Plus it’s a workout. To get in the zone I try not to think about the performance. I just do things to distract me and about 20 minutes before do some stretching and warm ups. Seeing and hearing the crowd is what ignites me.
I love space because of the endless amount of planets and galaxies that exist. My interest started at about 6 when my dad bought me a book of the solar system. I loved reading up about the planets and their moons hence the reason why I picked Callisto [as my name]. Which is a moon of Jupiter which is ruled by my star sign Sagittarius. And, the song that always cheers me up is The Waterboys Whole of the Moon.
My performance highlight of last year was the Green Man Rising stage at Green Man Festival. The thing that made that festival for me was the people. There was a real sense of unity and happiness there. I don’t write a lot about social issues my music is mainly about giving people the confidence to be themselves and express their emotions. One social issue I do write about is about poverty and the class divide. Rather than be divided we should help each other out.
If I wasn’t an artist I’d be a chef!
My song Destructive Love was basically about a time in my life when I was pursuing something that I didn’t have a real passion in and was trying my best to pursue Mickey Callisto and do that I wanted to do. My growing success feels inevitable. I am the biggest believer in my own music and passion and I think if I can make other people feel the same way then success can be achieved all round. Performing for Museum Sessions was such a wonderful experience. The whole team and video shoot was so fun, to be asked to perform was such a privilege!