MewX -fansite opened on June 15th, 2006. The date was deliberately set to 15/6 which is the way Europeans like it. American system couldn’t work here, there’s no January 56th, you know. The website was originally in Finnish language only, but it was always planned that Danish and English would be added at some point. Since Mew -fans around the world are perfectly capable English-speakers, we decided to skip the two languages (with only some five million native speakers in the world) and stick to the one and only real world language.
Reading these weekly statistics is always interesting. No matter what the time period, mostly the visitors seem to come from the following countries: Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, United States, Mexico, Japan, United Kingdom, Indonesia and Canada. These could very well be the ten countries with most frengers. It could easily change if Mew ever got to travel to Australia, for example. Our good friends over at Mewstralia know this very well.
In addition to the link above, there are many Mew -fansites around the world. Mexicans, Indonesians and Chileans – just to name a few. Lolmew and other countless tumblr -sites have a different approach. They are more artistic than we have ever been, many of the images and ideas are so much fun to look at. The band members of Mew appreciate all your efforts to spread ‘the word’. Mew – in 2011 – are more famous than they were five years ago, but there’s still work to be done. It’s rather sad that millions of people have missed out on their music, mostly due to non-existing marketing in various countries. Mew are not exactly radio-friendly material, but they could be (as Nordic radio channels have already proved). Today – as silly as it sometimes can be – Facebook is the unbeatable marketing tool for and from everyone, MySpace has lost so much credibility and even bands are avoiding it to some extent, Soundcloud and the likes offer much better sound, working smoothly.
Let me go personal for a bit. I first heard about Mew in 2003 when 156 -music video fought aggressively with the Finnish band The Rasmus that always seemed to have a new video claiming the #1 spot (voted by fans) on MTV Up North -program. This was eight years ago. This was when MTV actually played music and not reality tv-shows. I was at Ruisrock Festival that Summer and missed their first ever festival show in Finland. I was quite mad about myself afterwards, especially when I had heard “Mew”, “Mew” and “Mew” so many times while walking back home from the sunny festival area. It took another two years before I actually saw Mew live for the first time. That was at Provinssirock in 2005, and I was lucky enough to have a brief encounter with Jonas Bjerre and Nick Watts after the show.
So much happened before the idea of creating MewX came to mind, but I’d like to keep these things to myself. I used to have a blog where I spoke about many (somewhat naïve) things, but that blog is now dead and gone. Deleted from bit universe. For all our sakes.
It would be great to hear your story. If you want to share a few lines about how you first heard about Mew, we would post the best ones here later this week. Just comment this post and I’ll read it. Also… don’t forget our Twitter -contest that will be launched tomorrow.
You guys are great. Yesterday Mew had only 2% of the votes here, now they’re at 17%, having a proper lead.
Tero Heikkinen
Image by Hyunji Choi
PS: The above image is not clickable, but some are. Did you click on the image from yesterday?
I first heard of Mew in, of all places, Newgrounds. Someone did an experimental and quite good considering the limitations flash video mixing Wolves, Chinaberry Tree and Grave (for the credits) that explored the idea of someone having a nightmare (how very Mew-ish). The music was strange an odd to me – I was interested enough to listen to more, but I didn’t think it was *that* great. At first. Now they’re my favourite band. Only seen them live once though 🙁
Well i apologize for my grammar, as you know my english sucks lol, but well what can i say about mew, the first song i listened was comforting sounds and it was a few months ago (i’m ashamed that i didn’t know about them before) but since then i’ve been listening to them almost 24/7, i’ve never seen them live but i hope that change soon,and it is hard to explain what they make me feel with their music but God is one of the best feelings i’ve ever had, so i hope mew continue for many many years cuz’ it would be a sad world (for me) if they stop doing music, somehow their music gives me hope, and well that’s all i have to say, i wish i could explain myself better, so i hope you can understand why i’m trying to say.
And thanks for keeping us updated with the news in mewland, you’re doing a great job ,and i hope you continue doing it, Congratulations!!!
Happy anniversary!
The first time I ever heard Mew I was only 4 years old, it was back in 1997 and the Danish radio station P3 played I Should Have Been A Tsin Tsi (For You) sometimes and I remember dancing around to it in the morning, claiming that it was my “morning song”.
The next time I heard Mew was in 2003 when I saw the video for 156. I thought the video was scary and it made me really sad, so I never thought more about them. (My brother really liked the song, though. Ironically, he can’t stand them now.)
But when I really discovered Mew was 2005. It was in the middle of the night and I was watching an awardshow and suddenly this band came on and played a song that put me in a trance and I went to bed, already dreaming because of that song. I then spent the next week humming, “Are you my lady, are you?” over and over again and from then on I loved them.
Here we are, celebrating with you!!!
5 years… oh yeah!
Bounch of love and here we are for anything <3
Silvia.
I first heard Mew sometime back in 2005 (I was 15) when I came across the video for “Special”. At that age, I still hadn’t fully established my own musical “identity” so to speak, and all I listened to were whatever CD’s my sister passed on to me. But this song struck a chord with me. It just fit. I can’t explain it any other way. They were strange and lovely and like nothing I’d ever heard before. I played their music for almost anyone who would listen and my friends have grown to love them just as much. I saw Mew live for the first time in 2009 when they played the Trocadero in Philadelphia. I don’t usually go to concerts (I actually try to stay away from them) because I usually get anxiety in crowded/tight spaces. But this was one thing I just couldn’t miss. So, putting all those fears aside, I bought my ticket headed over. That show was probably one of the most memorable experiences I’ve had in recent years. They sounded incredible and the performance was beautiful and all I can say is that the during that show the world existed solely in that venue and no where else. All that mattered was that I was dancing and singing with my friends and all of the other frengers and having the most magical time. After they finished off with “Comforting Sounds” and everyone was getting ready to leave the venue, I was relieved to see that I wasn’t the only one trying to hide some tears. Over the years Mew has been nothing short of a complete inspiration for me musically, artistically (the perfect background music to paint to!) and otherwise. (Um, this was much more than a few lines and I apologize)
Happy Anniversary~!
I first heard of Mew when the band becomes Buzzworthy Artist for the month on MTVAsia on 2006 (if I’m not mistaken) and at that time they always air the video clip for Special. I fall in love with the song upon first listen and the video clip intrigued me more on them. But then I stayed at hostel and the only memory I had is the song and the black and white video.
I rediscovered the band last month (shame on me) when I found the clip of Special Live on Copenhagen on YouTube and the whole thing just move me so much I spent 2 weeks watching their videos on YouTube and yeah, Mew is my number 1 favorite artists now.
Here’s hoping that they’ll come to Malaysia so that I can catch them live. 🙂
Happy Anniversary!
Thank you to all the people behind the site, I hope the good work continius in the years ahead.
The first time I heard about Mew was back in 2003. A friend gave me a burned CD with Half the World is Watching me, and I emediatly fell in love with Symmetry. The ironic think, and which I think many frengers also feels the same about, is that deciding whether a Mew-song is any good, isn’t done at first listen.
For instence ATGHK really dissapointed me at first hear out, but is today my favorite album.
Good luck in the future with this site 🙂
5 Years..and even Jonas said this site is much more up to date than any other sites including the official one! Incredible job!
Happy 5th Anniversary and keep up the good work! 😀
(and GREAT JOB to Hyunji for that beautiful pic!)
Speaking of Mew, I can’t believe it’s almost 8 years ago since I heard them in the radio for the first time and watched them from MTV. And almost 2 years ago since I saw them singing in Java Rockin’ Land. Such a magical memories.. :’)
Mew has done some magical experience in my life, inspiring me so much, and gave me a chance to know great Frengers from around the world!
Hoping they’ll keep giving us Frengers another magical experience, and spread it through MewX. 🙂
Onnea!
When I read Tero’s post, how he found Mew, I touhgt that I should write my story. Just because it is so similar. Well, few differences.
MTV Nordic. My first contact to the band was also MTV Nordic. I saw one music video that sounded and looked fantasitc. I managed to saw the name, MEW: “Am I wry? No”. Then I tuned my VHS and waited that song. I managed to catch it and that was my first piece of MEW-data.
Ruisrock. I was also there. But I heard the news few days before the festival, that MEW is replacing one band. And this happened after the MTV Nordic appearance. So 6.7.2003, half an hour before the show, there was only few people waiting in the front. But when the music started, field was getting crowded pretty fast.
After that I saw MEW in Provinssirock 2005. And later all the gigs in Finland + 1 in New York. But I never managed to meet the guys…
Hey happy birthday guys, your site is the one and only site that i go to for any low-downs on Mew.
I came to discover Mew by pure serendipity. You see in 2004 the Spider-Man 2 OST came out and i loved the track “Vindicated” by Dashboard Confessional so i decided to but the CD. However, the CD available here in Malaysia was the Asian version (based on the Japanese version i think). What was different was the additional “bonus” tracks at the end included a song called “She Spider” by unknown band to me then, called Mew.
I was blown away by the quite intro, surprise loud chorus and that angelic male voice. I became hooked instantly and started listening more to She Spider than Vindicated which was the reason I bought the CD in the first place!
I Googled them a few times (trust me there were precious few articles on Mew back then) and learnt about Frengers LP. One day as i was aimlesly browsing at a record store in a mall, one copy of the Frengers CD (with the girl? boy? dressed as a bull fighter) was sitting right there staring back at me. It must have been fate for me to be at that mall that day.
They have been my favourite band ever since.
Happy Anniversary!!
It was 2003. I watched “Am I Wry? No” at Anteve, a local tv station in Indonesia. Instantly amazed by their progressive musics and Frengers became my “sacred album” since then.
CMIIW (I didn’t remember clearly), on 2003 (or 2004?) they came to Indonesia to play 2 showcases. First at Hardrock Cafe, Bali. Latter at Fashion Cafe, Jakarta. And I planned to watch them at Jakarta, my hometown.
Unfortunately, 1 day (or 2 days) before their showcase at Jakarta, a bomb exploded at Jakarta Stock Exchange Building, not far from Fashion Cafe. So, the second showcase was cancelled. I was very furious.
Finally, my rendezvous with Mew took place at Java Rockingland 2009. It was magic. An unforgettable moment. I sang. I screamed. I shed tears. Especially when Mew played “Comforting Sounds”. It gave me goosebumps.
So, it was worthed to wait 6 years to watch Mew live before my eyes. 🙂
I was in 4th grade when I heard of Mew, so this happened about six years ago.
I really loved the Japanese culture back then. One day I was on MSN and suddenly my cousin started to talk to me. She asked me if I still liked Japanese stuff and if I wanted to hear a song sung in Japanese by a Danish band Mew. I said yes and she sent me the Japanese version of ‘White Lips Kissed’. It sounded amazing, I said that to my cousin who replied; “Yes. Doesn’t the lead singer have such an angelic voice? :)” and then she sent me ‘Special’.
I fell in love instantly & next Christmas I wished for Frengers CD as a present.
Happy 5th anniversary! 🙂
I’ve commented at mewx a couple of times before, ’cause eversince I discovered Mew I’ve stalked evverything about them on the internet! I’m insanely obsessed with them!
The winter of 2010 i was sitting together with my bigbrother in his room, which is in the basement. My parents are divorced, but my father has always appreciated music and he inspired me. My brother and I both play the guitar, and when we get to see eachother we always talk about music!
So, anyways, we were sitting in his room and he had discovered this band and played some of their songs. It was “Am I Wry? No”, “Special” and “156”, I remember. I had this weird feeling – the music was so new to me but still I felt like recognizing it? I was very excited about it ! And now I’m a Frenger!
Sorry for the long message and probably a lot of bad grammar. 😉
Oh and by the way! I’ve been so lucky that Ive experienced Mew live twice! Still im waiting to get to hear Comforting Sounds live. So I believe I’ll be a Frenger for at least a little longer.. (oh who am i kidding? Ill love them for the rest of my life!)
It was a dark and stormy night in May 2002. Kent was visiting Rockefeller during the Vapen och Ammunisjon tour. Tickets had disappeared and I had to pay at least twice the amount to see them. Fortunately I arrived early enough to see the support gig. I was sitting on the stairs up to the balcony section when barely visible creatures entered the dark stage. Then, silence and then there was Am I wry? No!
I have not looked back since.
Before I discovered Mew, I was feeling very disillusioned with music, both as a musician and a listener. I had studied classical voice in college and when I was finished with my degree, I stopped practicing, even listening, nearly altogether. Then, last September, I broke my leg and was bedridden for 3 months. One day, for lack of anything better to do, I randomly opened a web-based radio station and “Introducing Palace Players” started playing. One moment I was lying down with my eyes closed, and 10 seconds later, I was sitting up with my eyes wide open. It was the most surprising and exciting song I had heard in years, and I’ve since found the same to be true for all of Mew’s music.
It was like an alarm clock going off; I suddenly felt like I wanted to be a part of music again. I started playing the drums (I have Silas to thank for that inspiration) — and I’m singing and writing again, but in a very different style, very experimental.
I am a bit sad that I didn’t discover Mew sooner; I feel like I’ve missed out on a lot. But I also know that I discovered Mew exactly when I needed them, and I couldn’t be happier.
Had just started working at the local Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia (USA). At orientation, I was fortunate to sit at the table with a fun group of folks, including one very cool guy named Amos, who wore a mustache and liked to play jokes. We started hanging out for a bit and one day, driving in his Jeep, he forced me to listen to Mew “Comforting Sounds” and went on a tangent about how noone makes music like this! I have to admit he was correct, and I have been hooked ever since.
Mew’s music is like therapy for me. So many wonderful things have happened in my life as a result of that simple introduction. Will ALWAYS love MEW!
Also, thank you so so much for the site! Your work is truly appreciated!!
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!
About a year ago, my friend was seeing this guy. He was really weird and listened to all kinds of music. Then one day he mentioned Mew, he said they where not as mainstream as other bands and my friend was like “who?”. Neither of us had ever heard of them before so we searched on youtube and the first song we listened to was “Am I Wry?”. When the song was over I pressed the replay button, over and over again until I listened to some other songs of them. They where not quite as good as the first one but for some reason I kept on listening. And after a while, every song started to sound better and better. I later found myself downloading their albums, then buying their cd’s and when I saw that they where going to the Peace & Love festival in Borlänge the same year, I just had to go. And so I did. They where the last band to play, at the same time as Jay Z so almost everyone where at the big stage waching him end the festival. But not me, I stood first in line to see what had become my favourite band. It was truly amazing. I even bought a t-shirt as a memory.
That’s my story of how Mew became on of my favourite bands. I think what makes them so good is how unique they are. They really aren’t mainstream at all and the fact that not a lot of people know of them is a good think for me. That’s the proof that it’s good music.