Simply put, Mr Little Jeans has a lot of love for Santa Barbara.
Hailing all the way from Norway, Monica Birkenes, aka Mr Little Jeans, made her way to L.A. to pursue a career in music. She gained popularity with her eerily dreamy 2011 cover of The Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs” and solidified that acclaim with her debut album Pocketknife, released in 2014. Creating synth pop that tells a story, there is something both undeniably haunting and heartwarming about her music.
After spending a lengthy three years recording the highly anticipated Pocketknife, Birkenes is now out experiencing the live performance side of things. For her, the contrast between being in the studio and being in front of a crowd is palpable. “It kind of feels like home. It feels very secure,” she says of recording music in the studio. “When it’s live, it’s like you get that one shot. For me, I’ve had to see live performance more as an experience. It’s more about being in the moment.”