Goin' to the top
Goin' to the top
Hoboken musician reaches for success with party album
By: Madeline Friedman, Current staff writer 01/25/2007
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Musicians can have many muses. They can be people that have touched them in a special way, or events that marked their lives. Often just a location can serve as a source of inspiration. In Steven Mignoli's case, it was an apartment in one of Hoboken's luxury waterfront high rises that got the creative juices flowing.
Mignoli, a Hoboken-based rapper/singer/songwriter who goes by the alias DOTMIG, got all his ideas from a two-terrace, one bedroom apartment at 333 River Street. "Every song came from that view and that location," Mignoli, said. "I used to watch the sunrise there, staying up writing until way past 4:30 in the morning."
Location, location
While Springsteen's songs echoed with the working class heroes of Asbury Park's waterfront, the hard-working, hard-partying young professionals of Hoboken's gold coast will surely identify with Mignoli's good time songs. The album is packed with catchy party anthems, such as the hard-rocking "Goin' to the top," and the title track, "333 River Street," about a happening house party.
Unfortunately Mignoli recently had to abandon his River Street address due to neighbor complaints about his dogs' barking. But he didn't take it too badly. "The dogs knew that it was time to go," he said, referring to his pets Gram and Lexi. "They were doing us a favor."
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Cybersexy
Mignoli is now putting the final touches on his album, "333 River Street," which is slated to be released in February. He is also wrapping up a music video for the sultry R&B ballad "Sexy and Lean," a love song dedicated to his girlfriend of over three years, Diana Pabon. The two met at City Bistro. "The song is about how we met and things just took off," he said.
The video for "Sexy and Lean," like the video for "Dive Bar," a bluesy tribute to tawdry taverns, will be posted on MySpace and YouTube.
DOTMIG has well over 3,500 friends on MySpace, with the video for "Dive bar" having gotten over 10,000 plays.
Rolling Stone magazine recently recognized the fact that many musicians like Mignoli are now launching careers via the popular internet sites and ran a contest for best MySpace musician. Mignoli did not win, but got an overwhelming number of responses.
"Rolling Stone e-mailed us and said 'your fan responses were rabid,'" he said. "Tons of people wrote in."
Beginnings
"When I was younger I listened to a lot of rock," said Mignoli. "The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Doors...Then dance music came into the picture." After the overwhelming success of the movie and the music of "Saturday Night Fever," Mignoli recognized the importance of incorporating dance into a musical act.
"I took jazz classes to prep myself as a dance act and a track artist," he said. "I really wanted to record a dance song."
In 1989 he recorded his very first song, a freestyle tune called "Get up and dance." He performed another song, "You'll be mine," at clubs such as Fuego in Spanish Harlem and the former Passions in North Bergen, as part of the group MPK. But things went sour with his small indie label and things didn't really take off.
"I was very disappointed because I spent a lot of time and money," he said. "It was the first thing that I really failed at, where I felt the pain of not seeing the results I wanted to see."
So he threw himself back into his work at the Hoboken Beer and Soda outlet, the business that his parents, Joe and Ann Mignoli started in 1975.
Back at it
In the past couple of years one of Mignoli's chief responsibilities has been to produce the seasonal commercials for the drive-through liquor store on Newark Street. Making the videos, he said, made him want to make music again.
"I did a rocking' shot for Halloween and I got a real buzz off it," he said. "I called Frank (Diaz, his producer) and we did another track. All of a sudden there was an album."
He started writing again, this time incorporating more pop, R&B and rock into his sound. He also took up the guitar.
The first result was the single "Miami," about his experiences going out to the clubs on South Beach. The song has been available on CD Baby and Itunes since this past September.
What's next?
The self-described "entertainer extraordinaire," recently took a leave of absence from the family business to focus his full efforts on his musical career. He decided that he didn't want to juggle all-night writing sessions with the demands of a full time job. "It locks you down too much," he said.
Once he's finished with the album, Mignoli said he will change gears to start focusing on booking live performances.
But he'll also keep writing. There are too many ideas around for him to stop. "Day to day things inspire me," he said. "I could probably write a song about this very moment later on."
Mignoli plans to release his album in February. For samples of DOTMIG's music, visit: www.dotmig.com or MySpace.
©The Hudson Reporter 2007
MADELNE FRIEDMAN - CURRENT MAGAZINE HOBOKEN NJ (Feb 10, 2007)