Mickey Darling, a Texan-born indie-pop duo, known to fans as the “World’s Sexiest Boyband,” is made up of both Skyler Molina and Austin Medrano. Molina created the band and its name after discussing with a friend through texts of names that had popped up from previous encounters he had.
“Basically, the first text he sent back was, ‘What about Mickey Darling?’ I was like, ‘That’s so weird that you came up with that. What about just Taylor Darling? What about just Mickey?’ He took two different names, and it was crazy. Brilliant. The rest is history, I guess,” Molina said.
After coining this band name, Molina went on a deep dive for someone to produce his music. Though the duo attended the same high school, they actually didn’t start out as friends. Medrano and Molina had met through a mutual friend from high school. They were never close, but their different circles intersected.
“I mean, I don’t remember why we hung out for the first time. Maybe ‘cause we both knew we played music or something like that. We just said, ‘Let’s jam.’ It was always just jamming like we were not really friends at that point. It was so random. A couple years later he asked me to help him produce music. I guess I was the only producer who was good enough at the time, and here we are,” Medrano said.
The band’s duo holds a strong position against corporate America. This position fuels their creative, self-driven mindsets and prolific creation of songs.
“Obviously, we’re in an industry that’s already made up its mind and is set in its own ways. Like record labels and all these other factors. We are trying to do something unique and difficult. We’re trying to do it without the big labels behind us. Without the big marketing budgets and backing tours. But we knew all along that it was possible. Anybody can do anything. So that is definitely the hardest part,” Molina said.
The band’s music uses an upbeat, bedroom-pop-oriented sound that complements their exuberant, humorous personalities.
“There was one show we played in San Antonio. It’s the only show we’ve ever taken our shirts off at. I don’t do that, like ever. I could have the sickest body ever, but I’m not that dude. Like I feel so vulnerable on stage as it is. Someone yelled for us to take the shirts off, and we did. Austin also crowd-surfed at that show. It was awesome,” Molina said.
The duo recently played at Schubas Tavern in Chicago and shared their perspective on the music industry and playing on the stage.
“Being on stage…it’s euphoria, really. It’s crazy cause it almost feels like time travel, you know? Everything goes so fast it’s scary. Life already moves fast enough, right? It’s like, ‘How am I an adult already?’ We all go through that. But on stage, time warps. We’re up there, and we go, ‘OMG, how are we playing ‘Reverse Cowgirl’ already? How are we already at the end?’ It’s very wild up there,” Molina said.
“It’s so rewarding to be able to do this full-time. I always put it on the back burner for a long time. I never really believed in myself until Skyler helped me do just that. We built something together that I never thought would be possible. I’m very grateful to be making music. Just the freedom of that is so rewarding,” Medrano said.
The two work together to make their shows as exciting for them as it is for their fans. But they also know that they are two regular people just playing their songs.
“We always try to take a step back and go, ‘I know this is normal now, to sell out shows and shit, but this is not normal.’ I used to think, ‘Only the 1975 does this! We don’t. We’re just two boys from Texas.’ We gotta keep that mentality all the time to stay grounded. I’m doing something that 99% of people wish they could do. We used to be in that 99% too. It’s amazing to show that anyone can do this,” Molina said.
Mickey Darling will be playing their next show in Houston-
Header Photo: Anjolie Towle