Date of birth: 3 December 1987 Family: I have one, yes. Education: I like to think I have some. My 3 desert island discs are… Songs of Leonard Cohen, Nick Drake’s Pink Moon, anything from Mississippi John Hurt. I admire… my mum. I dislike… cold weather. I feel happiest when… I feel happy. My most commonly asked interview question is… why is your music so dark?

Creeping onto the Finnish music scene with her haunting melancholia, Mirel Wagner’s unique voice is beginning to make waves overseas.

With a growing fan base both here and abroad, 23-year-old Espoo resident Mirel Wagner continues to win plaudits for her intoxicatingly dark tales, which twist together elements not normally found in modern popular music. Released earlier this year, her remarkable debut album was preceded by the single No Death, a morbid tale of a physical embrace with a deceased partner.

Wagner met with SixDegrees on the eve of her European tour. Battling a cold, the young artist gallantly sniffled her way through our questions, with the steady autumn rain falling outside providing a soothing backdrop.

So, what do you do for fun?

I play the guitar for fun and I sing for fun. In general, I like to listen to music and read books, meet friends, that sort of thing. Just normal stuff, not necrophilia or anything like that!

How would you describe your music?

Dark lullabies.

Are you getting tired of being compared to Leonard Cohen?

No! I’m glad about that. He is a hero of mine. It’s very nice to hear you’ve been compared to that kind of artist.

Did you see him when he performed in Helsinki?

Yes! He was incredible. He made it so intimate. The venue was big, but he made it feel like it was some small club somewhere.

Your self-titled debut is just you and your guitar, would you like to include other instruments in subsequent recordings?

It depends on the song. If the song needs a cello, or a trumpet or something like that, then maybe, yeah.

So, you might follow in Cohen’s footsteps and eventually embrace synthesisers?

Yeah, why not! You never know!

You were born in Ethiopia and moved to Finland when you were a year-and-a-half. Have your Ethiopian roots influenced your music?

Not really. No, I don’t think so. I was just a baby when I came here. I never got into the culture. If anything, the Finnish culture has influenced me. Maybe it’s the attraction to melancholy here.

You just played a lot of gigs over this past summer, is it difficult to access the melancholy all of the time?

No, not really. I think that when the sun shines all the time you go a little crazy. That is something that I find very interesting. Especially when it is Saturday night and you’ve come out of the bar at 4 am and the sun is shining and people are doing stuff they shouldn’t at that time. It’s so funny and strange and surreal. That sort of atmosphere is something that I like. Maybe that is in my music. When you start playing the songs, something happens. You don’t really have to pretend. That’s what I try to avoid: ‘now I have to be dark and moody’. I try to go with the flow.

Do you have a favourite place to perform?

No I don’t. I like these intimate places where you have the interaction between the audience and the performer. I do not do much in the way of mid-song speeches; I let the songs do the speaking.

How do you normally prepare for a gig?

I try to find that inner piece and get in tune with the songs and the music. If you’re very energetic and hyperactive, you have to slow down. There are not really any rituals. I don’t wear the same pair of underwear or anything like that!

Many of your songs were written when you were younger. Where do you find your inspiration?

I find inspiration pretty much in everything: dreams, books, other people, conversations that I have with other people. Everything inspires. There’s no one thing that inspires me, some muse or something like that, like Nick Cave. I don’t know if I believe in ‘muse’. You have to sit down and write the song. Sometimes you can sit down and write a song in 15 minutes and sometimes it can take years. It’s weird and I don’t really understand it yet.

Do you see yourself as a role model for young immigrants or refugees here in Finland?

No, I don’t seek out to be a role model. Just to strike out and do your own thing – that’s what I would like people to think about. You don’t have to be a pop idol or something like that. You can just be yourself.

Do you feel current debate surrounding immigration and refugeeism here will eventually have a positive outcome?

People have always travelled to other countries so it’s not a new thing. I don’t know about that. I don’t really have an opinion.

With the forthcoming winter no doubt bringing many more melancholic times, how can we make the most of the shorter days that are coming our way?

Drink a lot! [laughs] Can I say that?

Mirel Wagner performs at Sellosali on 19 November at 19:00. Her self-titled debut album is out now on Kioski Rec.

James O’Sullivan
Photo: Aki Roukala