Mimi and Josy won “The Voice Kids” in 2019. Now the sisters are taking off as HAVET. In an interview, they talk about their plans.
Your videos on YouTube have several million views, they became known in 2019: Mimi (19) and Josy (17) from Augsburg won “The Voice Kids” three years ago and inspired them with their exceptional voices. Since then things have been going uphill for the two sisters. “We never expected that our ‘The Voice’ appearances would go so viral and that we would get so much positive feedback,” says Josy in an interview with spot on news.
Now, however, the two young women have “grown up and want to be taken seriously as musicians and songwriters,” emphasizes Mimi. The duo recently released their first EP “Mamas Lullaby” under the name HAVET. The sisters have big plans for their future careers.
In 2019 you won “The Voice Kids”. What has changed since then?
Mimi: The timing was both a blessing and a curse for us. After the victory, the Corona period came relatively quickly. You couldn’t give concerts and perform. We then spent a lot of time in the studio and worked on our music with different producers. We orientated ourselves and tried to find out what we want to do with our lives and where we want to go. We have found a really great management with whom we work very closely. So it made sense that we had so much time. There were also a lot of songs created.
How much contact do you still have with your coaches from TheBossHoss?
Josy: Rather less. We hardly have any contact. But of course we still get along well.
How do you look back on your “The Voice” success? What did he enable you to do?
Josy: We never expected that our performances on “The Voice” would go so viral and that we would get so much positive feedback. It was amazing that the success suddenly started right away. We are just incredibly grateful for the time and this stepping stone.
You look very different now than you did back in The Voice days. Why did you want to do this image change? What inspired you to your looks?
Mimi: Puberty and getting older are actually the only reasons for how we look. It has nothing to do with our identity as musicians. We completed the image change by changing our name. We tried to move away from the childish and the “girls from ‘The Voice'”. We’ve gotten older and want to be taken seriously as musicians and songwriters.
How do you feel when you watch the old “The Voice” videos?
Josy: We were much younger and of course you can see that in the videos. I’m super proud of us every time I see our performances. It was a great time and so much fun.
Mimi: It’s always really funny to watch. For us, this is not at all associated with a feeling of shame, but really with pride. Since then we have developed a lot.
Were you excited about how the new EP will be received?
Josy: We’re just really happy. We’ve waited so long to finally be able to release new songs. Everyone can now hear what else we have to offer. We think there is something for every taste on the EP – each song serves a different genre. I wasn’t nervous at all because I know we did well. We like it. And the people who don’t like the songs have at least listened to them once.
So you definitely have the clicks.
Josy: Exactly, absolutely fine. (laughs)
The song “Toxic” is about getting out of a toxic relationship. Why is this topic so important?
Josy: I see the song as a release from a toxic relationship. It’s meant to show that you can move away from a toxic person and start fresh.
Mimi: It’s also about the aha moment when you first realize how this person treats you. In the victim role, you often don’t even notice it because there’s a lot of manipulation involved.
With “Child” you thank your own origins. You seem to have had a great childhood. What are your greatest childhood memories?
Mimi: For me, the focus is clearly on the summer holidays in Sweden. We used to go to Sweden every summer holiday as soon as possible because our family has a country house there.
Josy: With outhouse! (laughs)
Mimi: Yes, really rustic. There has only been wifi there for two years. Before that, you were totally disconnected from the rest of the world. The house is right on a fjord by the sea, there are also sheep. For us, this is the ultimate childhood memory.
“Mamas Lullaby” is the name of your EP. Did your mother often sing you lullabies?
Mimi: Our parents are both gifted lullaby singers.
Josy: Mostly Swedish songs. One I remember particularly fondly is a troll mother who puts her babies to sleep.
You called yourselves HAVET, which means sea in Swedish. How did you come up with the name?
Josy: For us, the sea and Swedish culture are part of our childhood. Our mother is from Sweden. The sea suits our sound. We both imagine the color blue and waves in our music.
You guys keep getting compared to Billie Eilish. How do you feel about this comparison?
Mimi: We are big fans of Billie Eilish. We were also recently at their concert in Berlin. The sound of “Child” was very much inspired by Billie Eilish, but the other songs didn’t have much to do with it.
Josy: But it’s a huge honor to be compared to such a star. We have nothing against that at all. (laughs)
You have 275,000 followers on Instagram, including many international ones. Does that put you under pressure?
Mimi: We don’t really realize it, so we don’t put too much pressure on ourselves. But it’s crazy. Josy and I have both been recognized internationally, often in Sweden and recently also in Croatia at the airport.
Many female artists struggle with success earlier and slip away. How do you manage to keep your feet on the ground and not get too carried away by the tough music industry?
Mimi: If we meet any people who pull crooked things with us, then we just separate again. We always try to stay away from negative energies.
Josy: The good thing is that there are two of us. If one doesn’t get it, the other knows. We have now also found a team that we absolutely trust.
You recently had to cancel a concert. You drew attention to the fact that the industry needs a lot of support even after the pandemic. A lot of people don’t seem to have that on their screens anymore…
Mimi: It was really sad for us. We were really looking forward to the concert. It’s really not an isolated case that concerts are canceled due to low advance bookings. It’s like that for a lot of artists. You only ever see the superstars’ sold-out concerts, but that’s only a fraction of all the concerts. The rest have total problems. The real reasons why concerts were canceled are often not given. That makes it even more difficult.
Josy: One reason is also the many festivals that people are now really going for. You get a lot of artists in one place for the money you would otherwise have spent on one artist. It’s so easy to forget that you really need to support small artists.
What about your future career?
Josy: We both have plans. It’s definitely not the end but just the beginning of HAVET. We will definitely continue to release music together in the future. At the same time, we also work separately. I have my own studio and work as a producer. I have a lot of my own music that really wants to be released.
Mimi: I just got my high school diploma this year. Now I’m pondering how to proceed. I definitely want to release my own music as well. Above all, I would like to try writing for other artists. HAVET will continue to exist, but other things will happen along the way.
Do you plan to go on tour?
Mimi: We really want to play live. We hope to be able to tour at the end of 2023. There are also a lot of songs that we would play before they are even released.