Hotel Mira (formerly known as JPNSGRLS, a disemvowelment of Japanese Girls) is a Canadian alternative rock band formed in Vancouver in 2010. It consists of Charlie Kerr on vocals, Mike Noble on bass, Clark Grieve on guitar and keyboards, and Cole George on drums.
History The band members are all originally from the Greater Vancouver area. Kerr and co-founding lead guitarist Oliver Mann formed a core project in 2007 while still in high school, with Christopher McClelland joining in 2009 and Graham Serl rounding out the lineup for JPNSGRLS in 2010.'Interview:JPNSGRLS' ASAP Music Blog, October 18, 2013, Retrieved April 3, 2015 Live shows were integral to the band from its beginning, performing in battles-of-the-bands and packing out any venue that would allow teenage performers and their audiences.
Prior to 2010, JPNSGRLS was known as the Beauties, but due to a name conflict with an existing band, the group changed its name to Japanese Girls. This was chosen as a tribute to another band they admired—an all-female Japanese indie group called Mass of the Fermenting Dregs.'Japanese Girls talk band name, The Sharkweek EP, Vancouver's live scene' The Flying V Blog, July 23, 2013, Retrieved April 3, 2015. However, upon realizing the name caused difficulty when searching for the band online, they switched to using the disemvoweling JPNSGRLS.
JPNSGRLS was nominated for the SiriusXM Canada Independent Music Award for Emerging Artist of the Year (English) in April 2015.'2015 SiriusXM Indie Awards nominees announced' Sirius XM Indie Nominees Website, April 8, 2015, Retrieved April 11, 2015
In January 2016, after the recording of their second full-length album, Divorce, was completed, Mann announced via Facebook that he was leaving the band for other pursuits. "As some of you already know, 2016 will be a big change for me, in the fact that I have recently decided to leave JPNSGRLS. It was a tough decision to make, but something I had been thinking about for a long time", he said. "Being a part of JPNSGRLS was amazing, and I am sad to leave it. I got to see so much of the world and am very proud of what we had accomplished over the last 8 years". After the band mounted a search and auditioned several musicians, Colton Lauro, also from the Greater Vancouver area and having worked with several area acts as well as being a session musician, became the band's new lead guitarist in the spring of 2016.
In April 2018, Kerr announced via several social media platforms and the band website that the group was retiring the name JPNSGRLS and rebranding as Hotel Mira. He also announced a new iteration of the band lineup, as Serl and McClelland had left in January 2017. Lauro would stay on as lead guitarist and Mike Noble was added as a new bass player. Along with these changes, the announcement also included a new single, "3AM Lullaby"—the first as Hotel Mira.Hotel Mira Name Change Statement, Hotel Mira Band Website, April 6, 2018, Retrieved April 7, 2018
After releasing a self-titled EP in August 2018, Hotel Mira released their first full-length album, Perfectionism, on Valentine's Day 2020. With this release, the band was now rounded out by the addition of Clark Grieve on keyboards and Cole George on drums—both previously session musicians with several bands in the Vancouver area.'Cole George', Cole George website, No date of posting, Retrieved February 15, 2020 Lauro left Hotel Mira in 2021.'Hotel Mira Bids Adieu to Perfectionism Era with Clever Bait & Switch in The Eyes on You', Hollywood Life website, August 19, 2021, Retrieved August 19, 2021
Releases The Sharkweek EP (2013) as JPNSGRLS JPNSGRLS made their debut with The Sharkweek EP in June 2013, distributed by Light Organ Records. The record was produced and engineered by Justin Brown and co-produced by the band and Mike Paton.'Vancouver's Japanese Girls Prep 'The Sharkweek EP' for Light Organ', Exclaim.ca, April 15, 2013, Retrieved April 3, 2015
Reviewers noted the band's unique combination of syncopation, cohesion, modernity, and experimentation with lyrical content, musicianship, and influences.Japanese Girls The Sharkweek EP Review , Discorder Magazine, September 25, 2013, Retrieved April 3, 2015 The first single and video released from The Sharkweek EP was "Vancouver Grizzly", and the video for the follow-up single, "Monarch Butterfly", debuted on Diffuser.fm in January 2014.'JPNSGRLS Monarch Butterfly Exclusive Video Premiere', Diffuser.fm, January 14, 2014, Retrieved April 3, 2015 JPNSGRLS also played at the BIME Festival in Bilbao, Spain, in November 2013, in support of the record.'Japanese Girls', Interview, VIM Magazine (Spanish language) Issue 14, Page 13. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
The single "Red and Green" was included on Light Organ's Christmas album Sleighed, also in November 2013, with the video released at Christmas 2014.
Circulation (2014) as JPNSGRLS For their full-length debut, having now been fully signed by Light Organ Records, the band went into Vancouver's Greenhouse Studios with producer Steve Bays (Hot Hot Heat, Mounties), and engineer Greg Calbi (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, MGMT, Tame Impala, St. Vincent). Circulation was recorded in seven days without a click track. The album was released in North America on July 15, 2014.
Singles issued from the album in North America were "Mushrooms", "Smalls", "Tiger", "Circulation", and "Southern Comforting", with official full videos released for "Mushrooms", "Smalls", and "Circulation".
Overall, reviews of Circulation were positive and called particular attention to the record's energy and how it would translate live, and vice versa—noting the uplift of the rhythm section and the contrasting darker lyrical content.'Circulation Review', Discorder Magazine, October 14 Issue, Page 31, Retrieved April 3, 2015 Reviewers also noted that JPNSGRLS' combination of 1990s alt-rock and post-punk revival created a complex modern rock sound that made it a 2014 musical peak.'Circulation Review', Today Online, Singapore, July 17, 2014, Retrieved April 3, 2015'JPNSGRLS:Circulation', Review, PopMatters.com, July 15, 2013, Retrieved April 3, 2015 AbsolutePunks review indicated it was 'easily one of the best rock albums of 2014'.JPNSGRLS Circulation, Review, Absolutepunk.net, July 15, 2015, Retrieved April 3, 2015
In dissenting reviews, Alan Ranta of The Georgia Straight stated that Circulation was "a little inconsistent and under-developed" as a whole but concluded that "hooks abound... so the future holds promise",'Jpnsgrls's Circulation Sounds Radio Ready', Review, The Georgia Straight, straight.com, September 3, 2014, Retrieved April 3, 2015 while Ride the Tempo also made mention of "uneven" results—expressing frustration by saying that JPNSGRLS clearly had the capacity to be "exceptional", while also admitting that the songs were "solid and enjoyable".'Album Review, JPNSGRLS' Circulation' , Ride the Tempo website, August 13, 2014, Retrieved April 3, 2015
The single "Smalls" went straight to #1 on CBC Radio 3 Top 30 Canadian Indie Songs and held that place for four weeks in April/May 2014.'The R3-30: Canada's Top Indie Songs for April 25, 2014' , CBC Radio 3 Blog, April 25, 2014, Retrieved April 3, 2015 It went to #5 on the CBC Radio 3 Playlist overall the week of May 30, 2014.'playlist R3-30 Chart 396' , music.cbc.ca, May 30, 2014, Retrieved April 3, 2015 It reached #24 on Mediabase's Alt Chart (Canadian commercial radio), and stayed at between #26 and #28 for a further eight weeks. The video for "Smalls", directed by Nathan Boey and partly inspired by the film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and the stop-motion films of Tim Burton, was put into heavy rotation on Canada's MuchMusic in July 2014.
The follow-up single "Tiger" hit #1 on the CBC Radio 3 Top 30 Playlist Chart for the week of August 6, 2014,'playlist R3-30 Chart 405' , music.cbc.ca, August 6, 2014, Retrieved April 3, 2015 spending eight weeks on the chart in total and rising again to #2 the week of September 2, 2014. On the CBC Radio 3 Top 30 Indie Canadian Songs Chart, it went straight to #7'The R3-30: Canada's Top Indie Songs for July 14, 2014' CBC Radio 3 Blog, July 14, 2014, Retrieved April 3, 2015 and remained on the chart for eight weeks.
"Southern Comforting" would go on to become a Spotify sleeper hit, racking up over two million plays by the end of 2018.
Circulation debuted on the CMJ 200 (American college and community radio) at #96 in July 2014, spending ten weeks on the chart, with a top position of #35 in August 2014. On Exclaim! magazine's Earshot National Top 50 (Canadian college and community radio), the album debuted at #34 in July 2014, topping out at #27 in August 2014.!Earshot National Top 50 for Week Ending August 5, 2014, Earshot Online, August 5, 2014, Retrieved April 3, 2015
In the UK, BBC Radio 6 Music debuted "Smalls" in March 2015, with New Music presenter Lauren Laverne referring to the single as "feisty" and remarking on the "huge guitars". The British press compared JPNSGRLS to their own independent music scene, with NME Radar name-checking Arctic Monkeys for comparative musicianship but making clear vocalist distinctions.NME (New Musical Express), February 21, 2015, page 22, Retrieved April 3, 2015 Q magazine debuted "Mushrooms" as one of "5 Songs to Hear This Week" for the week of March 9, 2015, instead referencing the Strokes for comparison.'Five Songs To Hear This Week – Takaakira Goto, Tandem Felix, The Mirror Trap, JPNSGRLS, The Luka State' , Q Magazine website, March 9, 2015, Retrieved April 3, 2015
Circulation was released in the UK and Europe in April 2015. The video-only single "Brandon", directed by Rayln Gladue, was initially released exclusively on the German website Noisey, in May 2015.'Das neue Video "Brandon" der JPNSGRLS ist ein hängengebliebener Highschool-Streifen', Noisey (Vice), German language website, May 4, 2015, Retrieved May 31, 2015 Both the song and its video were inspired by Boys Don't Cry, a 1999 film starring Hilary Swank, which told the story of Brandon Teena, a trans man who was raped and murdered in Nebraska in 1993. The British Columbia Teachers' Federation listed the "Brandon" video as a recommended resource for teachers, relating to LGBTQ social justice issues.'BC Teachers' Federation Social Justice Video Resources List', BC Teachers' Federation website, no date posted, Retrieved April 18, 2016
Divorce (2016) as JPNSGRLS JPNSGRLS' sophomore album, Divorce, was released on July 22, 2016. Steve Bays, again, produced some tracks, along with Tom Dobrzanski (the Zolas, Said the Whale) and David Schiffman. Mastering was once more done by Greg Calbi. Recording took place in Vancouver's Monarch Studios and in Los Angeles.'Dave Schiffmawen Discography', Dave Schiffman website, no posting date, Retrieved June 19, 2016
Preview reviews for the album were positive and strong, with one reviewer pointing out the maturity and progression of the album from the time of Circulation. "Kerr moves away from predictable 'indie-rock' clichés, with Divorce being essentially a collection of unorthodox love songs; about letting go rather than holding on, about love as a two-way street, about what could have been, and about how we approach love in the modern world", wrote music website Circuit Sweet, adding, "The driving dominance of the Serl-McClelland rhythm section pumping out masterful and edgy layers, combined with the well-placed cross-section of electric guitar tones is a strand running throughout." It went on, "(The album) is of a more mature, melodic alternative-rock sound without losing any of JPNSGRLS infectious energy."'JPNSGRLS Announce New Album 'Divorce' out 22 July on Light Organ Records', Circuit Sweet music website, May 29, 2016, Retrieved June 19, 2016