MIA.

by Marisa BrownGerman pop group MIA. started when singer Mieze Katz befriended guitarist Andy Penn (who later became Andi Ross), and the two began writing songs together. Soon they added bassist Robert Schütze, guitarist and trumpeter Ingo Puls, and drummer Hannes Schulze to fill out their sound. Initially they called themselves "Me in Affairs," but after they signed to indie label R.O.T., the band decided to just go by the acronym MIA. instead. Despite a few singles being released around the turn of the century, it wasn't until 2002 (and the replacement of Schulze with Gunnar Spies) that their full-length debut, Hieb & StichFEST, hit shelves. In 2003 MIA. came under a significant amount of criticism for their song "Was Es Ist," from an EP of the same name, which many complained was pro-German nationalism, though the bandmembers argued that it didn't express their views and was simply meant to be provocative. The following year the apolitical Stille Post was released, and in 2006 MIA.'s third album, Zirkus, came out, and surprised the group by hitting number two on German charts.