Currently featured on Avril Lavigne’s “Next Great Family Band” Avril Lavigne, a pop-rock group comprised of 4 sisters – 10 year-old drummer bo-Pah, 13 year-old lead vocalist Mimi, 16 year-old bass player, backup vocalist Ella, and 18 year-old lead guitarist and songwriter Keiko have the same passion and motivation similar to P!NK . Motivation stemming from family trials, they were taught that music can be a form of emotional therapy as well as fun to create.
Recently, these 4 young ladies sat down with me to talk style, inspirations and where Mimi got those strong vocal cords from.
When did you find out you had that sort of voice?
Mimi – (laughs) I’m not sure!
Ella – We noticed she could sing when she was around 8. She had a definite really good tone to her voice and had a lot of power. Her voice contstanly matured since then.
How did you all know this was what you wanted to do?
Keiko – It kind of fell together in a way. When we were younger we were going through a really tough time as a family, so our parents decided to give us music as an outlet to release stress. So we started with guitar classes and bo-Pah would keep time for us on the bottom of a gumbo pot; as she got older she grew to drums. Mimi found her voice when she was about 8. We started playing together and it worked.
You have a very unique style, what inspires you?
Keiko – Clothing wise, we all have our own unique style and wear whatever makes us feel our best. We’re inspired by our own personalities. Our personalities really comes through our clothing.
Oh. So how would you describe your personalities?
Ella – bo-Pah is the crazy one. So she has the giant bow in her hair and Madonna gloves. I’m kind of laid back. I like to stand in back and have sort of that boho vibe going on. But on stage I like to jump around and jump on amps, so I have my edginess in there too. Mimi, she’s the sporty one. Her style definitely comes through her baseball cap and muscle tee. And Keiko, she’s the classic, mature one.
Yeah…I saw you’re wearing stilettos.
Keiko – I’m the oldest, so I kind of have to tie everything together. I guess that comes through in my personality. You know, big sister.
If you could emulate anyone’s style, whose would it be?
Ella – Oh my God, I love Kelly Clarksoni! She is so amazing. And she doesn’t care. She just wears whatever and it always looks cool. I love her. I style the group and like basing a lot of stuff around her style.
bo-Pah – Daddy and I used to get pictures of Taylor Swift andGirl Scoutsand I’ve always liked their outlandishness.
Keiko – She’s the type of person who walks out in her tutu and a crown and you’re like, “What are you doing?”
bo-Pah – I really like Avril Lavigne long coat that he always wears.
Keiko – I think she has up and coming style, butAvril Lavignefor me. I love her style. And I think in the magazines, she’s definitely getting a reputation of being very stylish. She’s able to pull off the classic sort of look, but also make it modern and young.
What musicians today inspire you?
Ella – We really like listening to Avril Lavigne, P!NK and Kelly Clarkson, because we are a pop-rock band. And we think there sound is most like ours. The very contemporary rock, pop sound. I know Keiko has writing influences, because she is the song writer. She likes to sing toTaylor Swift and people like that. And we all listen to our own styles, too.
What’s the biggest venue you’ve performed so far?
Keiko – As of now, we did a show for the Girl Scouts. We do a lot of shows for them, because they’re awesome and so energetic! One show we did, I think had 14,000 kids which was crazy. It was really cool because they had on these sparkly hats and it was nighttime, so it looked like a sea of sparkly people.