MIREPOIX Interview

Brighton’s alternative scene has a new name to remember: MIREPOIX. Formerly known as Riff Raff, the five-piece band has emerged from their rebranding with a renewed sense of identity, blending grunge, shoegaze, and jazz-toned psychedelia into a sound that’s as dynamic as it is introspective. With a fresh start comes fresh music, and their debut single under the new name, Miserable, is a bold statement of intent. Melancholic yet danceable, intimate yet expansive.

Ahead of their upcoming London show with us, we caught up with MIREPOIX to talk about the meaning behind their name change, their DIY roots in Brighton’s thriving alt scene, and what fans can expect from their highly anticipated EP dropping this May.

You’ve recently rebranded from Riff Raff to MIREPOIX — what sparked the name change, and how does it reflect your evolution as a band?

MIREPOIX: "It feels like a bit of a fresh start to be honest. With Riff Raff, we were spending a lot of time combining our influences and ideas, and discovering the sound we’d curate as a group. Mirepoix is a reflection of that process as we’ve really gotten to understand what works with us. Although Riff Raff was a fun name, it came with some challenges so Mirepoix! Why? well we love food and it looked pretty cool."

Your sound blends grunge, shoegaze, and jazz-toned psychedelia — how do you approach songwriting with such a wide palette of influences?

MIREPOIX: "Our writing process varies a lot but most of the time Louis or Angel will have an idea for a verse, lead line, chords, etc and then we flesh it out and arrange it as a group. I think the blend of genres comes from a fusion of the music we enjoy listening to most & what styles come more naturally, especially since this time spent experimenting and finding what works for us."

‘Miserable’ was a bold debut single under the new name. Can you tell us about the story or mood behind that track?

MIREPOIX: "Miserable stemmed from Angel being grumpy (which comes as no surprise), the lyrics come from a place of becoming more accustomed to more bitter and sorrow feelings, especially the days where you allow yourself to get swallowed up in them. Whereas the music and melody has room to dance & feel a sense of aching at the same time."

You’ve played festivals like Homegrown and Big Tree and supported acts like Glare and CLT DRP — what’s been a standout live moment for you so far?

MIREPOIX: "Well, the Glare show was just a crazy opportunity for us, it was sick to get to support a band that we’ve all loved for a while. Just to clarify, we haven’t actually supported CLT DRP (yet…) but we played alongside them at Homegrown with a bunch of incredible artists from the Brighton music scene last year, so yeah, that would probably be one of our more standout shows. It’s sick getting to see one of the smaller city’s produce such a huge variety of talent, and even cooler that so many people are dedicated to letting it be known.

Big Tree was also one of the highlights of last year, again, another DIY event that is dedicated to showcasing local talent and ensuring people have a good time, so a huge blessing to be a part of that. It was also our debut show with Tash (Viola)."

Brighton has such a rich alt and DIY scene — how has the city shaped your sound or outlook as a band?

MIREPOIX: "I think the fact Brighton is such an open-minded city has really allowed us to experiment with styles in the beginning, try things out, get feedback from like-minded people. We were very welcomed and comfortable in the scene from the get go so it felt okay to make mistakes or reach any learning curves with both writing and performing.

The standard of music in Brighton is really incredible, even in terms of visual aesthetics and branding. I think being here really allowed us to push ourselves to produce the best quality product we can and attempt to match the standard of Brighton's alternative scene."

You reference bands like Foals, Geese, and Sweet Pill — are there any non-musical influences (films, books, visuals) that shape your aesthetic?

MIREPOIX: "Not really, I’d love to give some introspective response to this question but I think generally we just base our aesthetic on imagery and styles that we like personally and compliment our style most. Our choice of colouring tends to replicate the mood or energy whatever we are producing and a lot of our aesthetic is built on grunge imagery and design as a whole but no particular influences. Maybe power rangers?"

What’s your process like in the studio? Is it spontaneous chaos or a more structured approach?

MIREPOIX: "I think spontaneous chaos may be the perfect description of our studio process. We are very much live performers and enjoy time in the rehearsal room, so we all struggle getting into a studio in the first place. We are currently adding the finishing touches to our EP which we’ve recorded at home. It’s been a fun process of gathering the individual layers of our songs and padding it out with more experimental ideas."

This London show with us is coming up next Friday — what can people expect from a MIREPOIX set if they’ve never seen you live?

MIREPOIX: "Expect to see a blazer layered five-piece from Brighton, with a unique sound and nightmarish quality. Introspective lyricism and a high-energy performance that will allow you to move and feel with us."

MIREPOIX performing at Two Palms 10 May 2024 - REAL

Is there a lyric or musical moment in your current set that feels especially personal or powerful to perform?

MIREPOIX: "The song ‘Souls Apart’ is probably one of the more powerful moments in our set. It is intense and cinematic with lots of dynamic variation that provides a huge sense of tension and release. Plus it’s got some wicked solo’s on both Guitar & Viola."

What’s next for MIREPOIX — is there more music on the horizon, or are you focusing on playing live and building the world around the new name?

MIREPOIX: "Yes there is some music on the horizon! We’ve got an EP coming out in May, with the first track ‘Guilt’ being released on May 13th. We’ve been on a big old break for the rebrand, so I think we’re all also very excited to get back on stage and show you what we’ve been working on."

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By the REAL Editorial Team | April 02, 2025