Michael Day Interview

Michael Day Interview

How would you describe your music?
Indie Folk/Rock with some roots. Folk music with a grungy side. Alternative Folk with Rock/Roots. I don't know. 

Can you tell us about your song Psych or the Priest?

Psych or the Priest is an introspective Alt /Folk Piece which features a Harmonica and a Trumpet. As my band and I put the piece together, my bassist played around with adding some trumpet ideas into the track. He came up with a few ideas and we ended up choosing the version where the trumpet plays the harmony of the harmonica. We then got grammy nominated trumpeter from LA, Ryan Svendsen to play on the track. Our Producer Andy Lawson at Debaser studio, is the reason behind the final sound of the song. Andy is a lovely human to work with and just an all round ear wizard. He's really good at what he does, and we're super grateful for his work! 

What inspired Psych or the Priest?

Psych or the Priest was written in a bunch of anxiety and depression. It was a reflection of some of the feelings I was feeling at the time, as well as struggling to know if I was the victim or the culprit and if my actions were the right ones. This coupled with listening to Gregory Alan Isakov, meant the creation of the melancholic piece, that is Psych or the Priest. The guitar part in the way that it slowly descends was inspired by Gregory Alan Isakov, as was the banjo inspired by his piece Salt and the Sea, which has my favourite banjo tone in a song. The trumpet part was inspired by 'I Love You. It's a Fever Dream' by The Tallest Man on Earth. 

Is there a particular message you hope listeners take from your music?

I guess Psych or the Priest is really a self reflection. I think if we self-reflect more, we might be in a slightly better society. 

The main message I can think of is that it's OK to be really struggling and feeling deeply sad. Those feelings are ok. I don't think we should forever stay in that place, but I think it's good to acknowledge that those feelings are real, and not to try to give a corny half assed answer to real pain. Life is hard and people are messy. There's no easy answer to a bunch of it. I've seen people try and give reasons for people's pain and that rarely goes well. So maybe just listen more to others who are going through hard things and if you're going through them, know it's OK to feel that.

How has a person or place influenced your music?

The Lovely Human Jacob Wylde is a friend and also a place, Jacob Wylde on Spotify hah! His music is really beautiful. His instrumentation, use of space, harmonies and collaborative nature really inspires me to be creative and explore sounds and make beauty. 

Do you prefer performing live or recording?

I do love performing live, however, being in the studio and creating music is one of the greatest feelings. So while I love both, I think being in the studio is my preference purely for the creative dopamine it gives me. 

 

Which is your favourite song to perform live and why?

Currently, I love playing our song 'Somedays' live but it is unreleased so you'll have to make a show to catch it. I love performing it because it feels good to me. It feels honest to me and the creativity that went into the rehearsals can be felt on stage. It's also just one of the newest songs to add to the band repertoire so that's always exciting. 

 

What should we expect from your upcoming tour/shows?

I love putting up fairy lights, and sometimes bean bags. I'm not the biggest party person and would more closely relate to a gamer than a party goer, thus the way I prefer listening to music is in relaxed environments where I can lie down; I'm essentially a sloth. So I'm hoping to create atmospheres in the future of listening to music in a relaxed way, hence the bean bags.

If you could have anyone, in the world, attend a show, who would it be?

I want to do a collaboration with Julia Stone at some point, so maybe her? 

 

What motivates you most when writing music?

Whether I dislike it or not. If I create a riff or melody that really strikes me and makes me feel something, I am really motivated to get it finished so I can perform it. I think tied into 'if i like it' are the questions: Is it creative? Is it engaging? Does it create the feeling I'm looking for? If it does those things I'm very excited to finish the piece.        

 

Which music/artists are you currently listening to?

There are so many good local Perth musicians and then just soo many good musicians at the moment! 

A few Perthies: Jacob Wylde, Riley Pearce, Jordy Maxwell, Lucas Jones, Dulcie, Ghost Care, Jack Davies, Kat Wilson, Raymondouu, Joan and the Giants, Menates, ASKYA, Keira Jas, Michael Dunstan, Timothy Nelson, Angie Coleman, Hector Morlet, RHY, The Stamps, Darcie Haven, Servo Flowers, and Fool Nelson.

Other Artists I've been listening to: 

Gregory Alan Isakov, Angus and Julia Stone, Garrett Kato, Ed Prosek, Hayden Calnin, Old Sea Brigade, Harrison Storm, Maddy May, Dustin tebbutt, Ok Moon, The Paper Kites, The Oh Hellos. 

Here's a playlist I made: 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7ytA06OFjf0CjVkTAsFJL5?si=d5674751b6784d5e

What or who was your inspiration to go into the music industry?

I couldn't do anything else. I went into teaching because I didn't know how to do music things at the time. I then did a year of full time music teaching and hated it so I quit. From then, I decided to give this a good crack, and sought advice from anyone who would give it. From there I was able to start figuring out how this thing works.
  

 

If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be?

Julia Stone. There's so many others but I'd love to have her feature on a track some day. That would be the dream. Other artists: Gregory Alan Isakov, Angus and Julia Stone, Oh Hellos, Ed Prosek, Riley Pearce, Marcus Mumford, The Tallest Man on Earth. And then like any Perth artist at the moment.

How does it feel to hear your song played all over airwaves?

Weird. It's still strange to me that people would like the things I make, like in my head I'm still like it's just friends being supportive. Which can't really be true because people other than friends give me lovely comments. Um I don't know, surreal?

Did you have any preconceived ideas about the music industry?

Maybe that it's just hard to get far. Or get momentum. Honestly though, it just looks like consistency. But brutal consistency, it seems easy to crash and or give up. 

Was there a moment you contemplated throwing in the towel?

A moment? Haha I think about this all the time! It would be much easier to. I still kind of want to. But I don't know what else I would do as a career, so currently it feels like swim or sink. So I just hope people like what we make and listen to our music.   

 

What is the biggest challenge you have faced along the way to your musical success?

The biggest challenge is to consistently release music to a high quality. And to get a high quality it seems you need to be using really good producers, which is expensive. So I think the biggest problem really is having the money to spend on a producer to create high quality music. 

 

What has been your favourite part of becoming a music artist?

I have been dreaming of creating music for years. So finally getting to do that and releasing music that I'm really happy with has been so great. 

 

What's a typical day like?

I don't know if I have one at the moment. It generally depends what stage I'm in. At the moment, I'm in a promotion phase and getting prepared to do some more recording. I'm often in a coffee shop and sending emails. Or I'm in my home studio, working on various projects. Or I'm at my day job to try and earn money to spend on music things. Or playing gigs to pay for more studio time. 

 

What advice do you have for aspiring songwriters or artists?

Get organized and get a plan. Plan your releases, plan your work and plan your marketing and promotions. Couldn't recommend this enough. 

 

What's next, for you?

Finishing off some music in the studio, and starting to record some more music. I'm playing a few gigs down south in December in Margaret River and I will have a residency coming up at a venue in Perth for next year.

 

Can you share your socials? (links please)

All my links: 

https://linktr.ee/MichaelDay