What if your dating app isn’t the only thing influencing who catches your eye? MirrorMouth is asking exactly that on new single ‘My Genes Are Shouting’, an upbeat alt-pop track that turns evolutionary biology, modern romance and human attraction into an unexpectedly catchy thought experiment.
Behind the project is a Swiss songwriter with an equally unusual story. Having previously worked as a private banker advising ultra-high-net-worth individuals, MirrorMouth now channels years spent observing human behaviour, ambition and private decision-making into songs that question the forces quietly shaping our lives.
‘My Genes Are Shouting’ brings that curiosity to dating, wondering how much of attraction comes from personal choice and culture, and how much might be influenced by biological impulses stretching back thousands of years. Rather than presenting conclusions, MirrorMouth approaches the subject with humour and curiosity, creating a song designed to provoke conversation as readily as it delivers a memorable hook.
We caught up with MirrorMouth to discuss the science and ideas behind ‘My Genes Are Shouting’, his transition from private banking to songwriting, and why holding a mirror up to human behaviour has become central to his music.
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What inspired you to start making music, and when did it all begin for you?
What ultimately brought me back to songwriting wasn’t music. It was my fascination with human nature.
During my years in wealth management, I had the rare privilege of observing how highly successful entrepreneurs, founders and business owners think, make decisions and approach life.
What fascinated me most wasn’t their wealth. It was their mindset.
I realised that very few people ever get the chance to observe that way of thinking.
Music became my way of turning those questions into songs that invite people to think.
Ironically, that also brought me back to a childhood dream I had almost forgotten: writing and singing my own songs.
That’s why I created MirrorMouth: Songs with a Message that entertain, challenge ideas and encourage people to think for themselves.
How would you describe your sound to someone who’s never heard your music before?
I’d describe it as catchy indie pop with a message.
Every song begins with a statement or a question.
I hope each song starts a conversation or leaves people with something to think about.
That’s the idea behind MirrorMouth.
What’s your creative process like when writing or producing a track?
My songs almost never start with a melody.
They start with an idea, a question or an observation that I simply can’t let go of.
Usually it’s something that makes me pause and ask myself:
“Is that really the whole story?”
“Could there be another way of looking at it?”
Once that spark is there, I build everything else around it—the lyrics, the melody and finally the production.
For me, the message always comes first. Everything else is built around it.
Who are your biggest musical influences, and how have they shaped your sound?
Musically, I grew up listening to artists like ABBA, Queen and Elton John. I’ve always admired their ability to write melodies that stay with you.
The biggest influence on my songwriting wasn’t another musician.
It was the opportunity to live and work across different cultures and with people from different backgrounds.
Those experiences taught me that although people, cultures and circumstances differ, many of the fundamental questions about human nature are surprisingly universal.
The melodies are inspired by great pop music.
The lyrics are inspired by life.
What themes or messages do you find yourself coming back to in your music?
I keep coming back to the same question:
Why do we do what we do?
I’m fascinated by what shapes our decisions, relationships and beliefs.
Many of my songs explore what shapes human behaviour—from attraction and fairness to incentives and responsibility.
I write songs that challenge ideas and encourage people to think for themselves.
Sometimes I take a clear position. Other times, I ask a question.
Either way, I hope the songs start meaningful conversations.
Tell us about your latest release — what’s the story behind it?
My latest release, “My Genes Are Shouting”, began with a pattern I kept noticing throughout my life.
When I was a teenager at my local tennis club, I often saw successful men in relationships with younger women. They often seemed perfectly happy to provide a very comfortable lifestyle for their partners. I hardly ever saw the opposite.
Years later, I encountered remarkably similar patterns again among friends, colleagues and, eventually, among entrepreneurs and business owners from many different countries and cultures during my career in wealth management.
The same pattern kept appearing, regardless of country or culture.
That made me wonder:
Could biology be part of the reason these patterns kept appearing so consistently?
Perhaps men and women, on average, have evolved to value different qualities in long-term partners.
If signs associated with female youth and peak fertility tend to carry greater weight for many men when choosing a long-term partner and hoping to build a family, while women, on average, tend to place greater weight on qualities such as competence, ambition, status and the ability to provide, then attraction and long-term partner selection may not always be driven by exactly the same preferences.
As an economist, I couldn’t help looking at dating through a different lens.
I began to wonder whether we’ve been treating two different markets as if they were one.
The market for sexual attraction.
And the market for long-term commitment.
Someone may attract enormous sexual interest…
while attracting far less interest from people looking for a lifelong partner and a family.
Those are not necessarily the same market.
They don’t necessarily reward the same qualities.
And they don’t necessarily peak at the same time.
That simple idea suddenly made decades of observations make much more sense to me.
Not because people are commodities, but because different preferences create different market dynamics.
Availability, timing and supply and demand all influence how large the pool of mutually suitable partners really is.
Perhaps dating doesn’t become harder simply because we get older.
Perhaps it also becomes harder because the market around us changes.
Some suitable partners are already in committed relationships.
Some men may reach their thirties with more confidence, more options and less urgency to settle down—perhaps finding themselves in a position similar to the one some women experienced in their mid-twenties.
At the same time, some women may discover that the abundance of sexual attention they experienced in their twenties didn’t necessarily reflect an equally large pool of men looking for a lifelong partner and a family.
The balance of the dating market may therefore shift from both sides at the same time, reducing the pool of mutually suitable partners.
Those questions eventually became “My Genes Are Shouting.”
At its core, the song isn’t really about biology.
It’s about the possible implications if biology influences attraction more than we often assume.
Behind every swipe, there is also biology.
It’s a playful, catchy and intentionally thought-provoking pop song.
It doesn’t claim to have all the answers.
It simply invites people to think.
What’s been the most exciting or surprising moment of your music journey so far?
Honestly, it hasn’t been one particular milestone.
Of course, every radio play, every article and every listener who connects with one of my songs means a lot to me.
But the biggest surprise has been discovering how much I genuinely enjoy the creative process.
For most of my career, success was measured in numbers.
Songwriting is completely different.
You spend hours observing, thinking, rewriting and experimenting, hoping that one simple idea eventually turns into a song that resonates with people.
My goal in life was never simply to retire early.
It was to enjoy an ordinary Monday.
An ordinary Tuesday.
An ordinary week.
To wake up excited about what I get to create that day.
Today, writing songs, making videos and continuing to learn gives me exactly that feeling.
If I can spend my days creating, learning and sharing ideas that genuinely fascinate me, I already consider myself incredibly fortunate.
Everything else is a bonus.
What challenges have you faced as a new artist, and how are you working through them?
Starting from scratch.
I had practically no connections in the music industry.
I also underestimated how much time goes into creating a song. Writing, recording, producing, artwork, distribution, videos, social media and promotion all take far longer than I had imagined.
Social media has been another steep learning curve. Every platform works differently, and much of it is still trial and error.
But I genuinely enjoy that process.
I’ve always believed that remarkable results are usually the product of many small, consistent efforts rather than one big breakthrough.
That’s how I approached my career in finance, and it’s how I approach music.
Every day I try to learn.
Every day I try to improve.
Seven days a week.
I’m confident that I’ll become much more productive over time.
Like any craft, songwriting, video production and social media become more efficient with experience.
Coming from finance, I know the power of compounding.
I believe learning works the same way.
Small improvements.
Repeated consistently.
Over time, they compound into remarkable results.
And that’s a journey I’m genuinely enjoying.
How are you using social media and online platforms to grow your audience?
I’m still learning.
When I started, I knew almost nothing about social media.
So I approached it the same way I approach songwriting: with curiosity.
Most of my content isn’t simply about promoting my music.
It’s about sharing the ideas that inspired the songs.
So I recently started a series called “Why We Do What We Do”, where I explore one of the ideas behind one of my songs in a short video, using that song as the soundtrack.
Topics include questions such as:
• Why do humans dominate the planet?
• Why do people rarely change their minds?
• Why do we have sexual double standards?
For me, the song isn’t the end of the conversation.
It’s the beginning.
I also like the idea that, years from now, I’ll be able to look back at those videos and see how my own thinking has evolved.
If those conversations also lead people to discover my music, that’s even better.
What’s your vision for the future? Any dream collabs, goals, or projects you’re working toward?
My biggest goal is actually very simple.
I want to bring to life the more than forty songs I’ve already written.
Each song stands on its own.
But together, they tell a much bigger story.
They’re all interconnected.
My hope is that, over time, people will discover the connections between them and explore the project from many different angles.
To make that happen, I need to become much more productive.
Bringing a song to life doesn’t end with writing it. Recording, producing, creating videos and sharing the ideas behind it all take an enormous amount of time.
Fortunately, like any craft, I believe the process becomes more efficient with experience.
And if, one day, I find the right team or record label—one that believes in the project and gives me the creative freedom to explore unconventional ideas—that would be an exciting next step.
But regardless of how it happens, my goal remains the same:
To keep writing Songs with a Message.
To keep growing.
And to enjoy the journey.
As long as I enjoy the journey, I’ll keep going.
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Listen to MirrorMouth’s new single ‘My Genes Are Shouting’ below.