Tipperary musician set for the main stage at Electric Picnic this weekend

Clonmel-born vocalist Mimi Lane (MIMI) is currently preparing for one of the biggest moments of her career after being named a winner of this year’s Three City Stages campaign, earning her a place alongside Tinie Tempah on the Main Stage at Electric Picnic.

Now based in Dublin, MIMI has been performing for more than 15 years, building a career that has taken her onto some of the biggest stages in Ireland and the UK, including the 3Arena, Aviva Stadium, SSE Arena Belfast, Creamfields, Electric Picnic and Belsonic.

Despite the scale of those previous performances, the opportunity at Electric Picnic represents something different. This time MIMI will be stepping out onto a stage of that size on her own, rather than as part of somebody else’s show.

“I feel like this really is a huge turning point in my career,” she said.

MIMI has been singing since she could talk and threw herself into performing from a young age, taking part in school plays and musical theatre throughout her teenage years.

Although she grew up in a family with a largely medical background and had even once considered pursuing medicine, music ultimately became the only option she could see for herself.

“I decided I only want to do music. I do music or nothing,” she said.

After college, MIMI found work in a cover band, which became her income for several years and allowed her to make a living from singing while continuing to work towards building her own career.

Her love, however, has always been particularly rooted in 90s and 00s dance music.

That passion played a major role in one of the biggest developments of her career when she was spotted performing at one of a series of brunch events where she had become known as the “brunch queen”.

She would perform 30 to 40-minute sets of dance tracks, and on one occasion the special guest of the night was Irish DJ Mark McCabe.

McCabe saw MIMI perform before his own set and asked her if she would sing the female part on his iconic track “Maniac 2000”.

The collaboration grew from there, eventually leading to MIMI becoming the lead vocalist on the 25th anniversary re-release of the song, which has now surpassed one million streams. She also regularly performs the track live with McCabe at major shows.

“Maniac 2000 became a huge part of my career, which was amazing,” she said.

MIMI has since performed on major stages and has also enjoyed a particularly big year following her performance of The Cranberries’ “Zombie” at the Aviva Stadium during the Women’s Six Nations, which went viral and introduced her powerhouse vocals to a much wider audience.

However, for MIMI, Electric Picnic represents a totally new kind of opportunity.

MIMI entered the Three City Stages campaign after seeing it on Instagram. The entry involved posting a performance video on TikTok, using the relevant hashtag and tagging Tinie Tempah.

One of her videos, featuring her performing “Toca’s Miracle” on stage with Mark McCabe, subsequently received around 250,000 views and nearly 20,000 likes.

The performance captured a moment that is particularly special to MIMI, when McCabe introduces her to the crowd.

“I felt that moment was a really nice one in a song where I sang it really well,” she said.

When the call came telling her she had been selected, MIMI said the reaction was one of disbelief and excitement.

“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve done it!’”

As part of the Three City Stages initiative, MIMI has also been mentored by Tinie Tempah.

She hadn’t been expecting to speak to him when the first call came, believing it was going to be a call with 3. Instead, Tinie Tempah appeared on screen from London.

“It was so surreal,” MIMI said.

Tinie Tempah later travelled from London to work with the artists in Camden Recording Studios.

“He spoke to me about my career so far and what I love and what suits me best,” she said. “When you know what suits you best, you’re in a really good position because that’s your niche.”

MIMI will also perform one of Tinie Tempah’s biggest tracks with him during her Electric Picnic appearance.

The pair will open the Main Stage on the Saturday, with the stage due to open at 2pm.

For MIMI, performing at the start of the day brings its own challenges, but she is confident that Tinie Tempah’s appearance will draw a crowd.

She describes herself as “the small girl with the big voice” and admits she initially wondered how she would fill such a huge stage.

The opportunity to perform alongside an established artist, however, means she will be introduced to an audience on a scale she has never previously reached on her own.

“It makes something that seems so unattainable attainable,” she said of the Three City Stages initiative.

The other artists involved come from different genres, and MIMI said there has been a strong sense of support rather than competition between them.

The Electric Picnic performance is also part of a wider shift for MIMI as she begins to step further into her own spotlight as a solo artist, combining her huge live vocals with the 90s and 00s dance anthems that have shaped her career.

The next phase of MIMI’s career is already firmly in her sights with several singles planned fr the near future, although the release schedule is still being finalised. She is also about to formally announce her biggest headline show as a solo artist to date at Dublin’s iconic Sugar Club.

Having already appeared on some of Ireland’s biggest stages, MIMI says the prospect of putting on her own show brings a different kind of challenge.

“It’s my own biggest show,” she said. “It feels kind of funny because I’ve taken big stages, but for this I have to sell my own tickets.”

For now, however, her focus is firmly on Electric Picnic and the opportunity to perform alongside Tinie Tempah on the Main Stage.

After years of working towards her own breakthrough, MIMI believes the Three City Stages opportunity could mark a significant new chapter in her career.

“I have to sit there and go, ‘I am good enough, and I have worked hard. I just haven’t had my break yet,’” she said.

“I feel like this really is a huge turning point in my career.”