The Mik Maks are familiar, like a friend you have once known. Their music for families is fun, embedded with great melodies, stories running beneath. As is with many things in life, the reliable combination of stories and music connect with us, regardless of age. Their latest album Songs to Help Us Grow will indeed resonate with a variety of ages- they are songs to share alongside the younger generations. At last glance, The Mik Maks have some 6.57 million subscribers on Youtube and many of their songs have millions of views. They are a product of the digital world, reaching many families overseas online. Yet, what they are most is a family, shaped by shared childhoods and experiences. They know each other so well and this translates. There is a genuine, playful quality to The Mik Maks. Above all, they know how to create a positive atmosphere, sharing music and stories as a marker through time as families change, grow and make memories together.
We caught up with The Mik Maks to learn more about their music and their life. Read the full interview below:
What is unique about performing live for children and families?
The thing we’ve always valued is the instant reward children give you at a live show. Kids have an amazing capacity to gauge whether what they’re seeing, hearing or feeling is genuine or not. We’ve always just been ourselves on stage. Joel is Joel, Al is Al and Ava is Ava. This helps create trust for kids and we believe is a big reason families keep coming back to see The Mik Maks time and time again.
You are talented musicians in your own right. What is different about writing songs for kids? What makes it unique?
It’s funny but we’ve never seen the writing process as just for kids. We aim to create music that the entire family can enjoy together. We aim to create songs that both parents and children can instantly relate to and comprehend. We love nothing more than seeing families dance and sing together to our music.
The incredible growth of our YouTube channel now means that we’re writing for our little fans across the globe. This presented us with the unique challenge of writing songs for children where English is their 2nd language. We have very large fanbases in countries such as India and Indonesia, so we often include concepts of counting or letter and counting recognition.
Do you enjoy the song writing process?
Yes, we thoroughly enjoy the song writing/creation process. Each band member generally brings several ideas the group and we throw around ideas and educational concepts. Some songs just take weeks from initial idea to publishing stage. Some can take years! Most of us record ideas and share melodies on our phones. I’ve currently got about 20 ideas on my phone ready to share with the creative team.
What inspires your song writing?
We draw our inspiration for song writing from many places. In the beginning our own children who were all very young at the time, inspired us. Now inspiration comes from many different places including performing live and meeting children. Often, fans will ask us to write songs about something they enjoy, or we take inspiration from what’s going on in the world around us. Our latest album ‘Songs to Help us Grow’ we wrote during Covid lockdowns. The songs on this album were sprinkled with positive messages about self-development and a positive mind set.
How did the The Mik Maks begin? What is behind the name?
Music has always been at the centre of our family. As brother’s growing up in rural Victoria we either worked on the farm, played sport or played music together. These things kept us very close over the years. As young adults we spread out across the globe all doing different things. When we all settled in Geelong we knew the time was right to follow our passion and perform together. We were only 10 minutes into our very first Mik Mak show when we all knew that this was what we wanted to do for many years.
The Mik Maks name is a play on words of our family name ‘McInnes’. Over the years people either pronounced it ‘Mickinnes’ or ‘MackInnes’. Boom, The Mik Maks!
What was your first song inspired by?
The very song we wrote Bruce the Hairy Crocodile is still our most requested song when performing live shows.
The four brothers were sitting around our caravan in Port Fairy with our guitars. We decided to try and write a children’s song. This was well before the idea of The Mik Maks had even been conceived.
We sang Bruce the Hairy Crocodile to the kids in surrounding caravans and they loved it. That day a little spark was lit.
Your mother Pamela had a big hand in inspiring musical play from a young age. What was your childhood like and how has it helped to shape you as adults?
Growing up on the farm instilled into us the value of hard work, teamwork and grabbing the opportunity when it presented. Mum showed us from a very young age that performing was something to be enjoyed and not something to fear. The learning opportunities in the little town of Wickliffe were very limited. We sang and learned instruments in our lounge room via old books but only when it was too dark to kick the footy or play cricket in the back yard.
Both mum and dad love getting off the farm to come and see us perform across the country. They just love that their grandchildren are now starting to perform with The Mik Maks.
How important is it to retain a link to the childlike version of ourselves, to have fun and return to that sense of wonder?
Yes, it’s super important. The entire band are just big kids and we find wonderment in the smallest of things. We each have our passions away from The Mik Maks which creatively clears the mind.
What kids bands are worth checking out? Which ones are great for playgroup-aged audience (0-5 years)?
Australia and New Zealand are blessed with wonderfully talented children’s performers. There’s too many to mention them all but here’s a few that we’re really enjoying listening too at the moment.
The Quokka’s (NSW), The Beanies (NSW), Itty Bitty Beats (NZ), Bounce Patrol (VIC)
Joel, your daughter Ava has now joined The Mik Maks. Recently Anthony from The Wiggles daughter Lucia has joined their group. What is special about involving the next generation?
Yes, it’s very special having Ava perform alongside me for the past two years. From an early age we knew that Ava’s pathway revolved around performing. Since the age of 6 she’s been begging to perform with us. Ava made her first appearance as a Christmas Elf when she was eight years on stage with us. Now at the age of 15, Ava is learning not only about performance craft but about content creation and as a business how we serve our fans. She’s learning that 95% of the work we do is off stage.
You are currently in California alongside many Aussie acts for the VidCon conference- a time for digital creators to come together to inspire the digital culture. What is the feeling like to be there, on the back of some tough years of Covid?
Being able to attend VidCon in Los Angeles was a huge milestone for us. We met some amazing creators and spent valuable time with other wonderful aussie creators. The digital landscape for kids is tricky to navigate and it’s changes so quickly. We returned with some new ideas of how we can better serve the families that watch us.
Your brother Deano is an ever-present force as part of the The Mik Maks. In what ways does music connect you to him?
Being able to perform Deano’s music and continue to share his work is something we cherish dearly. We feel blessed that we’ve got so many hours of his music recorded and clips filmed. There’s an enormous library of vision that his son can always look back on and show his own children one day.
What a wonderful and special legacy to leave.
Check out more of The Mik Maks music here and head to a live show near you.
Article by Sinead Halliday