Mike Fielding, aka Naboo
Who:
Mike Fielding, aka Naboo
What:
DJ set tour of Australia
Where:
The Zoo, 711 Ann St, Fortitude Valley
When:
Sun May 16, doors 8pm
How much:
Tickets $44.90 from here
Win:
Thanks to Knowledge, we have 3 dbl passes to give away! To enter, email win@fourthousand.com.au with the subject 'let that be a lesson to you'
Mike Fielding is known the world over as Naboo, the chilled-out shaman from the insanely popular comedy TV series The Mighty Boosh. As well as wearing pointy New Balance sneakers and hanging out with his trusty gorilla familiar Bollo, it seems Naboo is quite the DJ these days. Having performed at festivals and parties around Europe over the last couple of years, he is touring around the entire country during May. Max Olijnyk caught up with him over the phone to discuss the perils of moving house, writing gritty drama for laughs, name nicking, reading the crowd, and magical strangeness.
MO: So you're coming over to Australia in the next couple of weeks?
MF: Yeah! I can't wait, cos I lived in Australia for a year when I was 19. I haven't been back for 8 years, so it should be interesting.
MO: Where did you live? Did you live in Melbourne?
MF: I lived in Melbourne, in Elwood, yeah.
MO: What were you up to in Australia, were you just travelling with a mate?
MF: Ah yeah, we backpacked, we did the centre and then we did the east coast and then I lived in Melbourne for 9 months and worked at the Hi-Fi Bar on Swanston street.
MO: Was that when you were a student, or before?
MF: I'd finished college, and my folks asked me if I was going to go to university, because they paid for my brother to go. I declined, and said ‘No, I'm going to go travelling instead'. I was always interested in, you know, the idea of travelling, so I just thought I'd do it and it was the best thing I ever did really.
MO: Where do you live now?
MF: I live in South London, in a place called Streatham, which is near Brixton and Croydon. I know you have a Croydon in Melbourne don't you?
MO: Yeah we do.
MF: But the place I was brought up was called Mitcham, and when I was in Australia we got a train into the countryside and we went past a station called Mitcham and I was like ‘Oh my god! They have a Mitcham in Australia as well!'
MO: Well, we come up with all the names from England, I guess.
MF: Yeah, yeah, you nick ‘em, haha! Get your own names!
MO: So you're an actor, and a DJ, what are you up to at the moment?
MF: I've been moving house this week. That's been stressful, actually. I've been renting the past five years and you forget how tedious looking for a property is. But now I've found the place and I'm moving in just the weekend before Australia actually, so I'm pretty excited about that.
MO: They say moving house is one of the most stressful things a human can do, which is weird.
MF: It is stressful. I've got so much stuff, I just don't know where it all comes from. I don't get rid of anything, I'm a hoarder, so I've got just so much stuff it scares me actually. It's ridiculous.
MO: Do you cull every time you move?
MF: No, I just look at things and say, you know, I might need that one day, and I never do. But I just keep it, in case. But aside from moving, I'm writing at the moment, writing a comedy show.
MO: Oh really?
MF: It's just ideas at the moment, but I'm getting something going, yeah.
MO: I'm sure a lot of people will be really keen to hear about it. That's a really good thing for you and everyone else involved in Mighty Boosh I guess. It seems that the magic of it comes from the funniness that happens between best mates, but sort of blown up into something bigger that has struck a chord with a lot of people and now I guess it's a really good launching pad for you guys.
MF: Definitely, definitely. And the fact that it's just our family and friends involved in the show, you know, my mum and dad are in the show, and Julian's dad's in the show, it's like, rather than get actors in, we just get the friends and family in, and it makes a difference, you know.
MO: So that's how you keep that atmosphere going on the set, keep everything funny?
MF: Yeah, definitely, we just have a laugh, and everyone's comfortable with everyone around. It's all harmless fun as well, you know, there's no arrogance, it's literally just a big laugh when we film the series.
MO: That's one of the things I really like about it, it's gentle humour, but it's not safe humour. It actually goes places that are quite unusual, but it's not being nasty to anyone, it's just having a laugh.
MF: That's what appeals to a lot of people, it's harmless, it's not pretentious, there's not a bad thing about it really, it's all magical and yeah, it's crazy how it appeals to so many people.
MO: It must feel fantastic. So the thing that you're writing at the moment, is it quite different to Boosh?
MF: It's kind of a strange idea, but obviously, you know, Noel's my brother, so there's always going to be a strange element in anything that we write, you know? So it just makes it more fun, I guess when you start to write something you think, can't be too strange, ‘cos people will get scared by it or they won't understand it, and when that happens they stop themselves from enjoying it. But Boosh has opened up a whole world of strangeness and people love it, so yeah, anything we write in the future is going to be just as strange.
MO: That's good to hear, because I think most production companies think they have to dumb everything down or make sure everyone can understand what they're doing, but what everyone's actually waiting for is something that is actually funny and is from the edges, from deep in the funny bones instead of figuring it out.
MF: Yeah cos I did these pieces for a web site called Comedy Box and I got asked to write some pieces which were like short one and a half minute pieces of gritty drama, just straight pieces, and the fans would watch it, knowing I'm in it and they'd be watching it expecting a punchline and there was no punchline. It was just me doing straight, hammy acting and that was quite funny actually. People's reactions were funny, they were like ‘what was that all about?' and that was quite funny.
MO: I should ask you about your DJ set - what can we expect in Australia?
MF: A mixture, I don't tend to play the same thing and I never decide what I'm going to play until I get to the gig. It keeps it fresh and spontaneous. There are so many DJs that plan what they're going to play exactly, track for track. That's not really DJing live, it's about reading the crowd and you know, reading the crowd and playing off of that really. I always look forward to that and seeing a new crowd and just determining what I'm going to play there and then. There'll be old stuff, new stuff, you know, yeah.
MO: You'll be playing the Espy in Melbourne, right?
MF: Yeah I can't wait cos I used to go drinking there when I lived in Elwood, so it'll be well funny.
MO: We look forward to what you come up with in your set, and we look forward to what you come up with in your writing, also.
MF: Take care, thanks a lot.
Genre: Electronic
Release: Tour
Keywords: The Mighty Boosh, The Zoo
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