Featuring members of
the Earlies,
the Horrors and
the Black Angels,
Mien make psych-rock inspired by artists as diverse as Conny Plank,
Nico, and
George Harrison. The band's roots date back to 2004, when
Elephant Stone bassist/sitar player/keyboardist Rishi Dhir played with
Black Angels frontman Alex Maas -- who was with his former band
the Brian Jonestown Massacre at the time -- at that year's South by Southwest. Soon after, Dhir played with
Earlies' keyboardist John-Mark Lapham and discovered that they both loved
the Association's sitar-heavy psych-pop track "Wantin' Ain't Gettin'." Their attempts to cover the song led to an extended collaboration that became
Mien nearly a decade later, when Dhir and Maas connected with
Horrors keyboardist Tom Furse during the band's
Skying tour in 2012. As they continued to work on
the Association cover, their own songs began to emerge, and
Mien's first single, "Black Habit," appeared in early 2018. That April, the band's self-titled debut album arrived via Rocket Recordings. ~ Heather Phares