Last week, 'European, Riviera-pop' quartet Mausi had a chat with Pressparty at the Amazon Summer Wishlist event in London about their visual influences, their unusual band name, and being French Connection's new campaign's musical act. 

Mausi, comprised of siblings Daisy and Thomas Finetto, Ben Brown, and Benji Huntrods, are a half-Italian half-English outfit that draws heavy inspiration from the beauty of Europe and aspirational lifestyles.

They have also just announced details of a full tour that will take them around the UK later this month and into March, in support of 'Youth' songstress, Foxes. 

1. Let’s talk about your band name – isn’t it a term of endearment in the German language? What inspired your decision to base the group on this character and the ideas of what she’s like and the imagined life she’s living? 

Daisy: Yes, 'Mausi' is a term of endearment in German that boyfriends give to their girlfriends. We’re half Italian so we wanted a European sounding name and it didn’t really mean anything in English so it was perfect. We like to think that our music is the soundtrack to a young European girl’s life who has rich friends and our music shows a different aspect to her life.

We’re really big on aesthetic and visual. There's a reason for everything we do and it all slots into the theme and feel of the band. It makes it easier to write by having this character. 

2. Your creative process sounds very conceptual from working with this idea of a girl and writing the soundtrack to what’s going on with her to using mood board when writing new material. How does this process work – starting with a visual and creating music around it?

Yeah, we start every song by finding an image or a caption or a font, and we start with that and then build a playlist around it that would evoke the same feeling. We communicate through the visual aspect. Social media is so visual, the way we see our songs is very visual and we light up the stage and have projections when we play live. We have outtakes from videos we’ve done, imagery of European cities… beautiful boys and girls.

3. ‘Body Language’ is currently being used in the new French Connection Spring/Summer 2014 campaign. How did this come about? Do you like the link between fashion and music? If you’re already using imagery to spark ideas for music this must be something you’re interested in?

Ben, the bassist, had worked with someone previously that contacted him about the song. We were like, 'yeah, that’d be really good'. We're interested in fashion and how it creates a lifestyle for a brand. Certain types of people shop at certain shops and the video, which was shot by Rankin, is in fitting with our whole vibe. There'll be more online content and stuff in store with French Connection over the next few months as we're the band of the whole campaign.

4. What kinds of things do you take inspiration from?

A bit of everything. We constantly carry disposable cameras to capture anything in the street we see that inspires us. Mainly fashion blogs, an interesting font that we see or person on the street that we make up a story for. 

5. Any other music acts that influence your sound? You describe it as ‘European, Riviera-pop’; can you elaborate on what you mean by this exactly? What you want your style and sound to embody?

It’s a real mix. There's not one specific genre that we listen to... lots of old funk, French house music, a lot of French music, disco. It really varies on a day-to-day basis. It’s Riviera pop in that it’s a kind of lifestyle - it’s European. It's aspirational, but it’s still pop - it’s still accessible.

6. What are your plans for 2014? Debut album? Tour?

We're about to release a new single, called 'Rich Girl', and then probably another single before the summer and then an album. 

7. Your brother, Thomas, is also a member of the band. What’s it like to work so closely with a sibling? Is there ever any tension and how’s the dynamic of working together and being creative?

I think we’re not like many… we’re best friends. We have different opinions, but because we can discuss things we’re open to creative criticism and it’s easier to take it. It’s great and we both grew up together so we have the same inspiration and the same vision. We’ve always played music together.

Our mum is a music teacher and our dad played keyboards in funk bands so we always played music around the house. We were always in the school choirs and big bands. We've just always done music together. 

I guess we all have roles - not defined roles - but it tends to be that Thomas starts off and has an idea and writes the piano part, then sends it over to Ben who writes a bass riff, then Thomas and I come up with some melodies and Benji will take it a bit further. Then we sit down together and go into the studio and structure it. 

Watch the French Connection Spring/Summer 2014 official campaign video here: