Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Speaker A: Hey, everybody, welcome to go to your room and make stuff. The podcast about making art, any kind of art, all by ourselves in a room or a studio, maybe outside. No one is telling us when, where or how, or any combination of those things. This is a podcast for solo artistic adventurers. Those who are doing it and those who want to try it, support ideas and just plain fun.
Hey there. Welcome. Today I will be interviewing Michael Gettel, very special guest. I have known Michael about 40 years, since I was in his music class at Kent Denver Country Day School. I'm going to read his bio from his website.
He's fantastic and I have been admiring his work forever. So this is all about Michael. Michael Gettel imagines endless, beautiful landscapes in his mind and heart and then creates music that transports us all to them. A 30 plus veteran and an award winning and gold record achieving pianist, producer and composer, his career spans 13 albums to date that defy style, genre and approach. A resident of Colorado, that's where I met him. I met him in Denver. This beautiful natural environment has been an endless source of inspiration for Michael. His latest album, the View from here, was his first album in almost 15 years. After years of being part of the legendary stable of artists at Narada in the 1990s, Michael is now ready to chart a new musical course as an ageless creative spirit, ready to create the next chapter of gorgeous musical journeys.
Michael and I talked in May. So when you hear him reference snow outside and you might be listening to this in the Seattle heat or wherever you're listening from, and it's like in the nineties, this was a few months back.
Michael also lived in Seattle. So in case you know the name Michael Gettel, he taught at the Bush school in Seattle as well. So we've crossed paths several times in our journeys. So with that, welcome, Michael Gettle. So, Michael Gettel, thank you so much for being here.
We go way back, like way, way back to like the mid eighties.
[00:02:05] Speaker B: That's right. That's right. All the way back to Kent Denver. At that point it was called Kent Denver Country Day School.
[00:02:12] Speaker A: Have they changed the name?
[00:02:13] Speaker B: It's now just Kent Denver school.
[00:02:15] Speaker A: Okay. So my mom was the librarian the year that I was in 7th grade. And so I used to hang out in the library for like fifth grade, but I was there and I was in your music class in 7th grade.
[00:02:28] Speaker B: That is so cool. And yeah, I remember we were talking about me introducing the class to Jesus Christ Superstar. And then the second, the following year with that same class, I introduced the wall and we did a long, long investigation on that whole album and the storyline behind it and all of the inferences and how it spoke to, how different characters spoke to different people. And it was just such as almost like a sociology course as much as it was a music course. But the amazing thing about teaching the wall was for I've been a teacher. I'm retired now, but I've been a teacher for 38 years. And every single one of those years, I have taught the wall to 7th grade students.
[00:03:16] Speaker A: Oh, that's so cool.
[00:03:18] Speaker B: It is.
It's an amazing album to introduce young people to.
[00:03:23] Speaker A: I found. I mean, I knew about your music. You introduced me to Pippin, and the musical Pippin, which was that year in 7th grade was the year I fell in love with musical theater. And so that was incredibly inspiring. And I also. What I really loved was the song corner to the sky.
[00:03:38] Speaker B: I know.
[00:03:39] Speaker A: Yeah. And so learning to play, that is how I ended up win piano, which is how I ended up singing. So I have to, like, personally thank you, because there's a question I like to ask people is who inspired you? But if people interviewed me, I go, Michael Gettel
[00:03:53] Speaker B: Oh, that's so dear. Thank you. I'm honored. You know, it's. That's the best part about being a teacher is having those connections with kids and realizing maybe 40 years later that you actually had more of an impact than maybe you assumed. And that's really. That's really. I'm just so grateful that I can enjoy that with you and that.
[00:04:16] Speaker A: I mean, for years, I've loved your music and your albums. Cause Michael has 13 albums. And the one that I found, we were stuck on San Juan island. And if you have never been to the San Juan Islands, getting stuck there is very easy because the ferry does not always run when it's supposed to. And so for years. But performing, I was like, oh, we can't go to San Juan's. We might get stuck. Well, we were stuck. And I found your album, the San Juan suite, and that was. It was all solo piano, so it's all I wanted to play all the time. And then the most recent album is also one that I think is just like. It's pretty much on replay. I just play awesome.
[00:04:49] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. We can talk a little bit about that in a while. I have a funny anecdote about the San Juans. And when I recorded San Juan Sweet, it kind of went through a couple of incarnations, I guess you could say. And the first one was just a little tiny cassette with six songs on it. And my partner and I, who we would always boat in the San Juans in the summers. And it wasn't. It was not a sailboat by far. It was this little tiny motor boat that we kind of slept on and all that stuff. But it was tiny for the sound. But anyway, I made these six songs that was inspired there. And we took it around to gift shops, which is where you bought it. And they kind of went, yeah, we might have a market for this. So I went back into the studio and recorded, I think, nine songs and did this little very homegrown kind of cassette cover and all that stuff. And we started sending it out to all these gift shops. And before you knew it, there were orders of 100 orders of 500 orders of 1000, and we couldn't keep up with it. And then, of course, the cd market was starting to come into play. This was, you know, something like that. So I decided, well, it's time to re record it again, and we'll do it to cd. And I recorded it at bad animals, which is no longer.
[00:06:13] Speaker A: No, but I got to stand in those halls.
[00:06:15] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, I recorded there a couple of times. I recorded someone's seat there and then a couple of singles for Narada, but so it went out on cd, and then, of course, the sky blew off the top of it, and we were selling literally thousands of cds out of a garage for a couple of summers in it. I think we probably covered over 500,000 copies. That can't be.
No one can say that it happened or it didn't, but I know it happened. So it's a pretty exciting way to start a career.
[00:06:53] Speaker A: And then. So I guess my question would be for Nirada. When was the shift into Nirada?
[00:06:59] Speaker B: Okay, that I was into.
I had done three albums independently on sounding records, which is what we called it. And San Juan suite basically funded the albums that came. There was one in between San Juan Suite and the one that Narada picked up, which is return.
And that is the one where they got very interested, along with two other labels. And so I had to make a decision about, okay, am I going to take this big plunge and go with a major label in hopes of getting more distribution, which is the reason I did it ultimately, or should I just stay local and, you know, make do my own little thing? And I was just afraid that it would dry up ultimately without some kind of a bigger, you know, machine working it and funding it, for that matter. Yeah, but the funny part is, siding with Narada is you. You know, we were talking earlier and you were saying how we went on camping trips and we did this, this thing and that thing. When you were going to Kent, Denver, and I was your teacher there. Well, three record labels were vying for my, you know, they wanted me to sign, and I finally got tired of all of it. And I just said, I'm not signing anything. I'm going on a two week southwest trip with students and I'm going to think about all of this. The day before we left, I basically sent an email to Narada and I said, I will go with you, but I expect to see a contract faxed to me at arches. Or wait, it was zombie Zion National Park.
[00:08:45] Speaker A: Zion. Okay.
[00:08:47] Speaker B: So I can read it and then decide. And so when we showed up to Zion, like five days later, you know, the ranger letting us in, they said, are you Michael Gettel? After, you know, and he hands me like 50 pages of facts.
[00:09:01] Speaker A: This is a beautiful place to review all the paperwork.
[00:09:03] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. You know, so that was actually a very funny thing. And they actually did it. So I thought, well, if you're going to do this, then, you know, maybe this is going to work out. And so it actually did for quite a long time.
[00:09:17] Speaker A: Yeah. And so the latest album, did you produce this one? There's a whole bunch of years in here and all that. And you're back in Colorado. Cause you were in Seattle for some years and now you're back in. And I grew up in Denver before I met you, but you are in.
[00:09:32] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. We are in the oldest town in Colorado. It's southern western Colorado, about 15 miles north of the Mexico border. New Mexico border.
[00:09:42] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:09:43] Speaker B: And it's a town called San Luis. And. And there's, I want to, I think in the whole out, you know, region that San Luis is, there's probably about 600 people.
And it is tiny. Tiny and beautiful beyond words.
[00:09:59] Speaker A: What's your elevator?
[00:10:00] Speaker B: Um, 8000.
[00:10:01] Speaker A: Okay. 8000ft. Woo. Yeah.
[00:10:03] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So we just. Yeah, we just had snow a little bit the other day, and I've got an entire front walkway in our living, our entrance space with flowers waiting to be planted. Yeah. And so I've had them for a week. And I'm just kind of, you know, come on.
[00:10:22] Speaker A: When we left Denver, it snowed that may.
[00:10:25] Speaker B: Is that right? Yeah, that's hysterical.
So, yeah, San Luis. And we love it here.
I retired from teaching here at the local school and it's just a really wonderful place to be inspired, which is where the view from here, my latest record, that's where all this was written in a matter of a month.
[00:10:49] Speaker A: I was going to ask you that. So the podcast is called go to your room and make stuff. I have two rooms. I have this room and I have one upstairs. Where do you do your composing?
[00:10:59] Speaker B: Well, it really depends. I mean, if I moved this way, you might see a blue lamp. I don't know.
[00:11:07] Speaker A: I see some lamps back there. I'm not sure it's blue. Yeah, I see, I see. I mostly see.
No, I don't know if we see the chair mostly. There we go. I see the gorgeous lamp. Yeah.
[00:11:17] Speaker B: Anyway, that's my piano. And over in this corner, there are two pianos. There's my Yamaha, and then there's my wife, Elizabeth Nakarado, who is also a recording artist. She has a Steinway in the corner, and so they just kind of get nestled like this. That right now is my studio. You know, something that I would tell your listeners when you talk about go to your room and make stuff. That piano, literally is my studio. I have no computers. I have no electronic keyboards. I have nothing but that piano and a bunch of blank manuscript paper and a pencil. That's what I do. And I sit there and I will think of ideas, and then I will literally write it out by hand on manuscript paper. And so for anyone listening that says, how can I possibly start this? I don't have the money to get that or get this or whatever, all you need is an instrument. Just one. And I know tons of people in the industry who have studios that are bedecked with, you know, 25 keyboards and a piano and high tech audio and all of it. And I've never been that kind of a person. I've always composed from the piano. Every single melody, every counter melody, every arrangement comes from one keyboard, and that's the piano.
[00:12:35] Speaker A: Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, yeah. That's where the music comes from. It's where it goes.
[00:12:38] Speaker B: Oh, for sure.
[00:12:39] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. And when you do your recording, did you handle your tech then, or did you bring in a crew of people? How do you handle that?
[00:12:47] Speaker B: Well, of course, we could talk for hours. You know that the first album I actually recorded for Narada was done in Portland, and then subsequently I was given full reign to do the rest of my albums, to produce them and all that stuff. So I moved. Sky watching was this project I moved that record to with their, with the help of the label, to a local recording studio in north Seattle, Richmond beach, specifically called Robert Lang Studios.
[00:13:17] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:13:17] Speaker B: And that's the studio that essentially with bad animals. I suppose that's the studio that made Seattle famous for grunge. And it was a little hole in the wall. And everyone from, you know, Hart included to Nirvana. And all of the players up in Seattle, as you well know, maybe by living there. And they all recorded there.
[00:13:40] Speaker A: They did.
[00:13:40] Speaker B: So I was. I was one of the first kind of not grungy kind of a person to go in there and record. And I have the same sound engineer that recorded that album has recorded with me ever. All through the nineties. And in spite of a huge block of time that nothing happened, recording wise, we're still. He came back and we recorded in the various. Same place. The view from here 15 years later.
[00:14:09] Speaker A: Awesome.
[00:14:10] Speaker B: And that little tiny studio has turned into this gigantic underground campus. And it's got a soundstage for a full orchestra now. It's got everything you could imagine. It's three stories tall.
It's just. And it's all built underground with this house on the top of it. So you have no idea it's there.
[00:14:34] Speaker A: Yeah, I'll say. I haven't been to that one. I've heard of it.
[00:14:36] Speaker B: You need to google it and drive by.
[00:14:39] Speaker A: And I have recorded it. Bad animals. It was Microsoft sexual harassment stuff. It was, you know, but I have recorded there.
[00:14:47] Speaker B: That's great.
I was at bad animals. I was recording a single for Narada the tech. There was Reed ready, and he was one of the standouts. Do you know Reed?
[00:14:57] Speaker A: I know that name.
[00:14:58] Speaker B: Oh, that's crazy. Anyway, we kind of walked around and all that stuff and went into studio X. And Hart was recording baby Lestrange, I think, or sweet darling was the song. And it was Ann's writing. She'd written out the lyrics, and it was still on the music stand. And I was like, you're kidding. That's so cool. Yeah, super fun.
[00:15:23] Speaker A: Oh, that's awesome.
What does a day look like for you as a composer? You taught for a long time, right?
[00:15:31] Speaker B: You know, what's fun about, I guess, finally getting to a place as a person who's somewhat a common name, at least in this genre that I'm in, you know, you kind of don't have to worry about always pushing yourself to be heard or scream for people to give you attention or anything. I'm so. I'm old enough to not even give a. You know, what about any of that. And so I just kind of work when I want to work. And it's not a hobby. It's not.
It's something that when I push the mind button that says play or record then I'm all over it. And if it's months in between or even longer, that's fine. But what I tend to do, and listeners who are just playing around with the guitar, with piano or keyboards or anything, or voice, you know, just use your. Use your phone, phone and record it on video, or there's certain apps like voice recorder, you probably know about that one. Anyway, start getting a list of all of your ideas, and then if you don't feel like you have enough creative juices at the time, at least your ideas there. And so generally what I do is I'll record any idea that I've got. And then even, like, the view from here, there was an idea on there that was probably ten years old, but I'd never done anything with it, and I only had like, four measures of an idea. And then so I thought, well, I love that little thing, so I'm going to work with it. But that's what people should do. They should just keep an audio diary of all of the stuff that they really feel creative about.
[00:17:25] Speaker A: Yeah, idea capture.
[00:17:27] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure.
[00:17:28] Speaker A: And did you have mentors? Were there people that got you started?
[00:17:34] Speaker B: I saw that, that question, and I really, I'm really not stymied, but I guess I have a certain perspective about what a mentor is. It's like, I think mentors can be a person that is in your life over a period of time that's inspired you over time, whether it's a parenthood or two parents or, you know, anything like that. But. And so, yeah, I have those kind of mentors. I have musical mentors. I've got.
I've got life mentors, but I also believe that mentors can be, they have a shelf life, and sometimes a mentor is only in your life for five minutes, but they've done something in that five minutes that has so impacted you, whether it was a gesture of kindness, whether whatever that five minutes was, that person is a mentor. And I think it's kind of cool to be able to redefine what the word mentor is. And like, we were talking before we recorded about me inspiring you when you were in 7th grade and at a point in your life, I was a mentor to you. And so it had a beginning and had a middle and it had somewhat of an end. But thank God, here we are 40 something years later, and we're talking on a podcast that you are doing, which is nothing but full circle and beautiful in every possible way.
[00:19:05] Speaker A: Oh, thank you for that.
This podcast is brought to you by the Seattle Voice Academy and your host runs the podcast and the Seattle Voice Academy. This online voice school specializes in vocal health, singing, voiceover, and public speaking. Come check us out. Seattlevoiceacademy.com.
yeah. Thank you. Do you have discouraging days? And on those days, what do you do?
[00:19:30] Speaker B: Well, I am a classic introvert, and I'm also an empath. And I don't know how you feel about the Myers Briggs tests and all that cool stuff. I think it's fascinating.
[00:19:41] Speaker A: I know a lot about it. So is my daughter, by the way.
[00:19:42] Speaker B: Okay, well, I happen to be a special one. I happen to be an infje.
[00:19:48] Speaker A: So is my daughter. Highly rare, by the way, and even.
[00:19:51] Speaker B: More rare for males. But anyway, so it's. There's really not a lot that discourages me because I. Our house is brimming with energy, with color, with art, with music.
I'm a lamp collector as well as a vinyl collector. And, you know, the house is just stimulating, so you can look out. If. If I were to look that way, there's a bunch of 14 ers, peaks that are mountains.
[00:20:21] Speaker A: For those of you not from Colorado, those are all 14,000 foot peak mountains.
[00:20:24] Speaker B: There you go. There you go. But there's a couple of 14 ers over here, right outside the window. And I can sit in my comfortable chair and just watch the sunset over these 14 ers. And it's just a stimulating place. So I have to say, there are really very few discouraging days I have. I really think so. And I think gratitude is what keeps you from having discouraging days, because you can't. You can't. I can't wake up and not be grateful for everything we have. We're also dog lovers, and we have the perfect pity.
Her name is Pearl, and she brings so much joy into our life.
[00:21:05] Speaker A: And I'm home with them all day, too. So they are. They are my creative companions, that's for sure.
[00:21:09] Speaker B: Right. And sometimes they actually get involved, don't they?
[00:21:12] Speaker A: They are created during directed sessions. Yeah. Otherwise they're out and about.
[00:21:16] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, Pearl has found a squeaky toy, so she may possibly come over and say hello. I don't know.
[00:21:21] Speaker A: Totally fine. So in terms of critiques, opinions, social media, I'm really curious of your opinion on that because you have had a career over such a wide span. Back when the reviews were in a magazine versus, you know, online. YouTube.
[00:21:35] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, online. Well, I was always kind of fortunate, I think people. People that really took this to heart and tried to understand the complexities of what somebody's trying to do because they're really. At this point, it's such a weird. I don't, you know, new instrumental, new acoustic, new age, whatever the new thing is, it's not new anymore. People have been doing it for, you know, 50 more, some odd years. But the thing, there's. There's all these different cross sections. Like, now that it's become so easy, in a sense, to really. You can record in your basement and release it on, you know, band camp and boom, you know. And so there are a lot of pianists specifically, that are kind of diy, do it yourself artists. And, you know, they have a whole different struggle in a way.
But when you were kind of, I guess you could say in the major leagues and you were being compared to all of the people that were recording at that time, you know, people tended to like what I did, so I. And I didn't necessarily care if they didn't.
I remember it's. It's really super funny. There was. And I usually don't let anything bother me. And you were saying when you get negative reviews. Well, there was this Italian.
I don't website, I guess, and it was run by this one dude who. All he did was review as much music as possible. Not even. I mean, everything.
[00:23:13] Speaker A: Okay?
[00:23:14] Speaker B: Everything from Michael gettle to Nirvana to whatever. And he had nothing good to say about anybody. And so that was nothing.
And it was almost like his shtick. Like, if I just bomb everybody, people are going to enjoy reading this. Which I digress. Hyperl.
So I found, I guess, somehow on Google or whatever, I found this website because it said Michael, blah, blah, blah. And then there was a word next to it, like, mediocre.
[00:23:44] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah.
[00:23:46] Speaker B: And I'm like, I gotta check that out. And so I read it and it was just horrifying. And I'm like, okay, well, I'm gonna talk to you. So I send them this email, and we have this email exchange about, you know, what's your point? I mean, what's your point? And if it were just me and you didn't like my stuff, that's fine, but you're doing it to everybody. Do you get some kind of jollies out of this? Are you an artist or do you just write terrible reviews for everybody and that's your thing? And, you know, I said what I said and it was over. And, you know, I'm like, please just take me off your site. You know, I don't. Nobody needs this and nobody's reading it anyway, so. But that was super funny.
[00:24:26] Speaker A: I like how you respond. Well, yeah, I like. And did he ever respond? Did he respond to you, or did he.
[00:24:30] Speaker B: He did respond to the email. And he was like, I think one response I remember was, well, I was nicer to you than most.
[00:24:38] Speaker A: Oh, good heavens. Okay. Yeah, you know what? That's when you're like, okay, okay, I'm just gonna let that.
There's a book. I changed my name on an audiobook. My name is not on it. And the one star review said something like, I'm glad I listened to it, or I would have stabbed my eyes out with pencils.
And I was like, I think that's a backhanded compliment in there somewhere. Still a one star review. Okay, I'm gonna move on now.
[00:25:02] Speaker B: Hysterical. Well, I mean, you never. You can't take yourself too seriously.
[00:25:06] Speaker A: No, no, I agree.
[00:25:08] Speaker B: And honestly, I mean, this is probably a good time to really talk to your listeners about the segment of time that happened when I left the label of Narada. And they were affiliated with Universal Music at that time when. And the album I released in 22. So what happened, essentially, is I had one further record option. When you sign a contract, you have options on it. And I don't know, that might be the same for theater or a little different.
[00:25:44] Speaker A: I don't know much about this. This is sort of outside my professional stuff.
[00:25:48] Speaker B: So you sign a contract, and you have so many options, whether it's three or five or whatever it is.
Five option, contract. And I was. I had just got done doing my fourth option, which was the journey north that came out in nine. So about eight months passed by, and I called the label and I said, you know, I think I'm ready to jump into the next release. And in 30 seconds, they told me that they weren't renewing my fifth option and that I was free to go.
And it was 30 seconds. It was like, hey, I'd like to get going on my next option. Well, we're not renewing your options. So there you go. Click. And that's what it was. And then within probably two years of that, Narada went out of business.
[00:26:39] Speaker A: I remember that.
[00:26:41] Speaker B: And anybody who listens to music and your listeners would probably. The two thousands were a nightmare for artists and recording labels. It just. The. The huge universe that was a recording industry shrank, really, to the size of a pea. And so I was. There were probably. Well, everybody in Narada got let go. They could have told me that, but no, they didn't. They just made me feel like, what did I do?
[00:27:10] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:27:11] Speaker B: And so I was literally stunned in that really kick the air out of my chest. And for quite a while, it was. It was a year or two where I was just like, I don't know if I want to do this anymore. You know, I. Besides, I don't. I don't have any way that I really can afford to do it on an international level like I was, so why am I going to go back? And. But anyway, that was a real kind of a huge letdown, obviously, and. But the thing is, what you do, if you're grateful, is you start looking at different avenues and start saying, well, okay, maybe this door is closed for me at this moment, but I have this door, and I have this door. And so I really threw myself into doing a lot of experiential education at the Bush school and just thrived for 15 years. They're exploring the world with kids and producing bands that were just incredible for middle school kid.
Super fun. But I always thought, you know, okay, well, what do I do now? And all of these listeners would say, when are you going to record? When are you going to record? And I just thought, I'll do it when I'm ready, if I do it at all. And then it just kind of bit out of the nowhere 15 years later. And I just thought, I'm not done. There's this point where you realize, I'm not done. So I got, you know, I made one phone call to Bobby Langs, and it was like, come whenever you want. I called my engineer of literally 30 years.
I'll come whenever you want. And so the rest was for me to go, okay, well, what do I. What am I going to compose? And that's when I sat down in the month of April, 3 years ago, and I composed everything on the view from here.
[00:29:04] Speaker A: So it's a. I am not a critic, but I'll tell you, I play it endlessly. You guys have not listened to the view from here. You need to, because I have it. I love it.
[00:29:13] Speaker B: It's really. The composing is incredibly tight, and everything is intentional. Every note is intentional. So, yeah, I. Parting glass is.
[00:29:23] Speaker A: Parting glass is on all of mike play. Then so is the view from here. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:29:29] Speaker B: That's the. That's a cool rendition, I think, because I've never heard it, and I'm sure there are versions of it that are instrumental, but I've never. I don't know that I've ever heard it instrumental. Have you?
[00:29:41] Speaker A: No, I think yours might be the only one, because I know it because of. Oh, I've heard from for years. And the wailing. Jenny's did it, maybe, I don't know. That's when I fell in love with it.
[00:29:50] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:29:51] Speaker A: And I've heard Kathy Ryan do it, and it's one of the ones I work on. It's a beautiful. But your version of it, it's also nice to move away from all the harmonies and just let the piano do it.
[00:30:00] Speaker B: Yeah. And that gorgeous melody that's so haunting.
[00:30:04] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:04] Speaker B: You know, so, yeah, absolutely. Nice.
[00:30:07] Speaker A: Cool. Cool. When you are not creating these days, what do you love to do? Obviously, you observe your mountains, but what else do you do when you're creating?
[00:30:17] Speaker B: I love to cook.
[00:30:18] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:30:19] Speaker B: I love to cook.
I like to bake things, too, dessert kind of things. But I really enjoy cooking tin and a lot of things that are super fun to make. But I'm also a gardener.
[00:30:31] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:30:32] Speaker B: That's why all of my flowers are still inside and I'm keeping them warm and watered.
[00:30:37] Speaker A: And of course, both of those are still creative pursuits. We had a chef on. We had a chef who we're listening to as well, talk about how he goes in the kitchen, that's his room, and makes stuff, right?
[00:30:47] Speaker B: Yeah. And I mentioned earlier that I'm a vinyl collector. And, you know, this is so funny. And I don't know, maybe some of your listeners will key into this, too. But we moved from Seattle eight years ago, and in Seattle, our home there, I did have an enclosed space so I could kind of sit down and listen to any kind of music I wanted and all of that. And when we got here, it's a much bigger home, but there was no enclosed space for the pianos or audio equipment or anything like that. And so it was kind of this, this blank space where I wasn't really listening to a lot of music so much. And that was so anathema to me. But I, it wasn't in, I'm also kind of OCD, and it wasn't in my habits, you know, at all, for whatever reason. I'm not sure why Elizabeth had this idea in mind, but she bought me a wireless turntable, and so it was for the room where actually I'm sitting in now. And I have wireless speakers and all that stuff. And so I was kind of like, you know, I don't. I think that you will give it a try. So I set the thing up and I got some. I have a lot of vinyl that I've collected over the years from new, new wave, mostly, and Wyndham Hill stuff. I've got all the Vintage Wyndham Hill stuff, yes. But new age all the way through the nineties. And so I've got a pretty extensive record collection. And so I brought some records down and I started listening. I'm like, this is really fun. This is really fun. So before you know it, I'm just collecting everything that I had on cd that I gave away because I had so many. I had a couple thousand cds, and I just thought, there's no way I'm going to take these. I don't want to. I don't want to give them away, but I can't. I don't have a place to house them. But vinyl is very different for me. It's tactile, it's beautiful, it's a piece of art. And then on top of enjoying the way it's presented, you get to listen to music. So that's really, really lovely. So that's something I do a lot.
[00:32:54] Speaker A: Oh, that's awesome. That's fantastic. What did I, and maybe you've already covered this a little bit, but what advice would you have for young artists or adults who are remembering what it's like to find art?
[00:33:06] Speaker B: Well, I think, you know, it's, it's not a, and I'm just going to speak to music per se, because that's the only profession that I've really had any kind of connection with in terms of how easy or hard it is to be able to make a living at it. And the first thing I can say is, it's not easy, you know, and everybody will tell you that, but you can't let those kind of things stop you. And first of all, you have to have a desire to express yourself again. We go back to that g word, you know, there's gratitude involved, and you take it in small steps and you create your audio diary. You try to flesh it out.
If you need help, you go to people that can support you.
I went through college and have a double degree in music theory and condition never knowing. It's not like I said, when I graduate, I'm going to be a recording. Of course, nobody says that, you know, I dreamt about it when I was in junior high, but it's not like I ever thought I would, you know, be able to do that. And the fact of the remainder, the matter is, is all you need is determination, good habits, in terms of just being passionate about doing it and then finding the right people to help you just kind of explore and grow. And that's what I, to young people, I would just say, you have to be determined, and you have to have perseverance, and you have to knock on doors. And I'm not talking about major labels or anything. You just have to have to work hard to establish your own identity in Spotify or whatever. Band kit is a really good place to really try to launch yourself. But to older people, I mean, going back to the fact that, you know, I. I literally went off a major label when I was 40, 43. And, of course, they still sell on my stuff.
That's still pretty young in someone's professional life to have that sheet pulled out from you or whatever they call it. But the fact that I let it rest and I came back to it at 60.
And what do they say some of your most productive and artistic years are between 50 and 80 something this year?
[00:35:39] Speaker A: And I'm gonna. Yeah, I mean, that's. Yes.
[00:35:41] Speaker B: So I believe that, too, when everybody thinks it's for the young crowd. And the fact is, it's. It's really not.
[00:35:48] Speaker A: We have more to draw on. There's a little more life experience to draw on.
[00:35:52] Speaker B: Well, you and I, we have professions where you could do voiceovers until you're 95.
[00:35:59] Speaker A: Yes, I can.
[00:36:00] Speaker B: You can. And it's like, if you're not beholden to some kind of image that the world expects of you as a recording artist or whatever you could do, I can do this until I'm at 95. I don't have to stop.
And if it takes me another, it won't, because I already have my ideas for the next record. But, you know, however long it takes, it takes. It's all good.
[00:36:27] Speaker A: Michael, thank you so much. I literally. I cannot thank you enough because, I mean, I have known you since I was.
[00:36:32] Speaker B: Oh, I know.
[00:36:35] Speaker A: 40 years.
[00:36:36] Speaker B: Just so great to see you. And, oh, my gosh, thank you for.
[00:36:40] Speaker A: All the inspiration and all of us.
[00:36:41] Speaker B: Completely going back to 1981.
[00:36:45] Speaker A: Well, let's see, let's see. I went to 7th grade in 93. Four. Okay, so it would have been right before you came to Seattle. Cause Motsi, I was born in 74, so somewhere between 84 and 85 would have been all the camping trips.
[00:37:01] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:37:02] Speaker A: And Pippin, which, again, Pippin, like, launched my entire theatrical career, that particular production of Pippin, and I still haven't done Pippin, but, boy, I listen to music all the time. And the William Catt production, that's the one I still, like, have to watch and listen to all the time. But, yeah, corner of the sky was a major.
I still play it upstairs.
[00:37:21] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:37:22] Speaker A: Not well, but I play it. Michael, thank you. So much for letting me have you on. I really, really appreciate it.
[00:37:27] Speaker B: For sure. All the best.
[00:37:28] Speaker A: Thank you.
Hey everybody, thanks for listening. To go to your room and make stuff the podcast for artists of any kind who want to make art by themselves. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast in all the places where you find podcasts. Find us on social media, and if you ever have any artists you would like to see featured, please let us know. Now. Go to your room and make stuff.
