Miss Harmonica is Monica Johansen.
Monica writes the songs, does the vocals, plays the guitars, the synths, the toys, the bass, the drum machines, the kazoo, the tamburine, and sometimes even the drums! She is the brains, the balls and the boobs of Miss Harmonica!
Miss Harmonica is a mixture of electro beats, synthpop, indie pindie, hurrah punk, plastic fantastic outfits and good humour. With references like Peaches, M.I.A, Crystal Castles, Matt and Kim and Robyn, there’s no doubt that this is danceable dynamite!
Miss Harmonica is known for her distinct style and incredible outfits and she recently played at Fam Irvolls fashion show at Oslo Fashion Week. With a mix of attitude and self irony, she’s a breath of fresh air on the Norwegian scene. As a solo artist, it took just a couple of weeks before Miss Harmonica was booked as support for artists such as Familjen (SE), Bunny Rabbit (NYC) and The Whip (UK). The rumour has it that the main artists were put in the shade by her incredible stage show.
Miss Harmonica is known as an amazing live artist and has played festivals like by:Larm, Canadian Music Week, Pop Montreal, Norwegian Underwood, NUMUSIC and Slottsfjell.
This summer her electro pearl “Get Dancy!” was Ukas Urørt and was heavily spun on NRK P3 as well as on Oslo’s dance floors.
Miss Harmonica’s hotly anticipated debut album Champagne, Caviar and Me! arrives March 23rd, on her own label BEATME records. She is the first female Norwegian artist, impressively enough, to write all the songs and play all the instruments on the same album. The album is mastered by the famous Nilesh Patel in London who has also worked with artists like Björk, Hot Chip, Daft Punk and Crystal Castles.
LIVE:
The Miss: doing everything including rocking your socks
Even Bekkedal: guitar, synths, vocals and dancing
Influences
MUSIC: Peaches, CSS, Robyn, Familjen, M.I.A, Cindy Lauper, Justin Timberlake, Destiny..s Child, Le Tigre, Shout Out Louds, Sufjan Stevens, NYPC, The Knife, The Bangles, Klaxons, Matt&Kim, New kids on the block, Samantha Fox, Blondie, PJ Harvey, Pixies, Håkan Hellstrøm, Arcade Fire, Architecture in Helsinki, Stereo Total, Sonic Youth, Rocksteady Crew, Yo Majesty, Crystal Castles, Cocorosie ++
THINGS I LOVE:
Toys, clubbing, colours: PINK, my little ponys, SuperNintendo, 8-bit, horses, synthezisers: Casios, neon, things that flash, sparkle and glow in the dark, plastic-fantastic, care bears, crazy fashion, kittens, boom blasters, bling, cassettes, leopards, the 80s & 90s, people on the tram, old ladies with style, Bambi, candy, Japanese street fashion, dancing, marbles, people at festivals, cartoons, friends&fun!
Datarock (NO), Superfamily(NO), The Magic Numbers (US), Bunny Rabbit (NYC), Familjen (SE), Oh no Ono (D), The Pipettes (UK), Raymond&Maria (SE), The Whip (UK)