Michael Angelakos (2017)

Honestly, the samples usually tell the story. Was really into Mary O'hara, listening to lots of Irish folk music. But I had been making a lot Passion Pit material. I hadn't sampled anything that heavily before. But I realized I had a song that was kind of doing what that song was doing already (melodically).

In the end, I finished it in less than 2 hours... And the sound in the beginning was an accident -- had some plugin turned on accidentally that reversed the whole song and this one drum loop.

It's always the stuff that isn't perfect.

it's a solo project. live it is a band.

WHOA! Just saw that book somewhere. Um, total coincidence, actually, but that's... man, that's the best.

you rule. i wish somehow that could work, haha. come to a show soon, my friend. you don't owe me anything -- we're all supposed to be doing things for each other -- you just did something wonderful for me!

Do not question your validity. You are an artist whether a system tells you are or aren't. Do not look to others to validate you -- just share, share, share.

yeah, awesome. and thank you

It is... very hard. I am bisexual, and to confront my homosexuality was just... a matter of time. There is not right time, which means there's always the right time, so follow your gut but understand that you need to make yourself feel happy. You need to control your narrative for you. Don't let other people hijack it. I know how hard it is, I know it's painful, and it doesn't make sense really -- but at the end of the day, you will be coming out the rest of your life. This stuff is really dumb, we should be able to be whatever we want. But you're probably a really creative person -- make it work for you. I
m rooting for you.

i love any of the addac or makenoise stuff.

he reached out to me. he's so damn good. he's super nice. he's very smart. he's super driven. he's probably just going to keep on crushing it. he's a good friend, i'm proud of him.

I am terribly anxious to update but the wait will be worth it. Actually, i think we'll be able to announce stuff pretty soon...it's a loaded thing, it's a big effort. And it's not easy because it is new.

dude. look at that. i just was flying through answers.
YOU SEE? TRUTH.
love you of course you are my favorite. on the record.
i tried to get you to join the band AGES before you did.

oh, god... well, maybe i could make him feel something, but i highly doubt it. let's be real. so, really, nothing.

well, when you release music, your supposed to incentivize services by giving them bonus material. so, whatever you have left over...

personally i hate that. all of a sudden those songs aren't special, they're "additional." this is... dangerous to me.

it's a really hard song to play live but that's not a good excuse. also it's kind of slow... hard to really get the audience into. so maybe that. we'll work on the older material, trust me. THANK YOU

Basically. We're really into classifying stuff, aren't we?

So close. That was insane. sold 12k+ tickets, 10,500 people still showed up. They shut down the damn city! That moment was absolutely staggering.

Hopefully Korea, yes! DOTG makes me feel, well, it's a really important song, i think it was when i stopped feeling like I NEED TO PUT DANCE BEATS IN EVERY SONG TO IDENTIFY AS PASSION PIT. It's just pop music, really. It's all melody, that's my focal point.

i actually tried writing a song for her. and failed. because i cannot really write sexy music. or something. i think the tone of this answer should explain everything

i think that's... wait that's actually an early demo of i'll be alright. believe it or not.

I go carnitas. And I go pretty simple.

Make a ton of music, that's your business card. Share fearlessly. Flip other songs. Don't just go with what's working now, you're supposed to be developing what's next.

was in a fashion class, studying the 50's, was the name used, in slang, referring to drive-in movie theaters. i passed a note to my friend, and was like, "band name?" and she wrote back "no."

hahaha

first i don't think you should call them demons. i don't like a lot of the language we're using in this discussion. i think that serves as a reminder that there's something "wrong." maybe we need to stop thinking about it being something wrong and it just being a setback that can be harnessed correctly, that it's something everyone deals with just more of it, that maybe we're just talking about it the wrong way. i always think about how it's not really what someone's saying, it's how they say it, and i think this, and many other issues today, stem from communication breakdowns. this is a very binary, human issue, to deny it is insanity, but that means that there's just something wrong with how we're talking about it. it started off the wrong way, so we have to find a way to make sense of it now, or rethink our approach altogether. but it's going to get better very soon, we're going to start to see that procedure-based therapies that are in fact holistic are so much better than medicines -- and anyone, even someone who is just sad, can access them someday. that's going to be on of the main shifts.

best of luck!

That's a loaded one. I'll try to get back to this. I also don't know who to really... talk through songs, they're really emotional time capsules. Sometimes I can, sometimes I can't. I've got you though, I'll try to get back to you. xo

it's actually not REALLY my falsetto, it's kind of called supervoice? like if i sang in falsetto all of the time, which is breathier, i'd lose my voice everyday. but actually i strengthened my voice at a time when it would've continued to change and deepen, as i was singing really really high for years at a time. and something happened. and now i have...a higher voice than i did in high school. nature is weird.

it was a very hard, weird process... i don't know how to even recall it, i think it's still kind of fresh, actually.i mean, just never assume anyone knows. i think some people thought it, others didn't. none of it matters. you have to control your version of it all.

I have no idea. It's very, very, hard. It is for everyone. There is nothing that isn't renewable energy, basically. What you see as a hindrance can actually be a tool for advancement. Start considering your perception of things as the main culprit.

Yes! This is a grueling process, i promise you that vinyl is very important to me and I think the price points on this stuff is just criminal. I am working really hard with some people to do this right.

i'm the guy that says he doesn't like dessert and demolishes dessert if its put in front of him. therefore i refuse to answer this question, just to remain in character

nah, and i don't really listen to them like, all of the time. i do for context but... i'd rather just make new stuff.

"it" being me? i mean, i'm a a little strange. that's okay. i tried my whole life to not be strange. that made me look stranger. we're all strange. just some of us are, you know, louder.

oh of course. yeah, i mean, it's a defining thing. it's very defining as much as it is, you know, whatever i want it to be. but it isn't, because a lot of it is defined by what people expect. i let people down, i exceed expectations, etc -- this is the language most people use when listening to new material. so a lot of it is this weird thing trying to understand what people want and also doing what you want, and then combined with being so personal, you know, it gets mentally draining, but there's more of a reason to do then "just do it" or "make money." i've been doing this all of my life, honestly. the recording at the beginning of better things was me when i was 5. this is very important but it's also very fun to me -- you have to be okay living in a paradox.

it is absolutely everything.
that is theory.
and theory is important.

everyone was very nice. the crowd was amazing. sometimes stuff happens. my point was, the people who haven't paid me could have just been kind about it. but then, all of this happened, and this was ABSOLUTELY INSANE TO WATCH. but people lie, and most people immediately assume an artist lies, but what's really frightening is when an artist is spot-on and telling the truth. it scares the hell out of people. as to why, that is the main point of all of that. i'm probably not going to get paid. but in a way, i don't even have to. money is a stupid energy. i am just a guy. underestimation is a weapon.

somedays great, somedays not so great. just like anyone else. the harder i work the happier i am.

yeah was thinking i'd push some faster stuff, actually. but it's amazing to see that like, at the end of the day, these songs can be arranged in so many ways, tempo, pace, all of that stuff i just packaging. but yeah, i hear you, i actually thought similarly.

I have no idea ! it's pretty easy to me, everything just unfolds. I mean everything kind of starts with a little loop, you know? and you just... quit allowing it to be a loop and start unraveling it.

Well, let's just consider that usually, yes, a service like that will have it. But if something isn't an experiment, I get kind of bored. Also, at the end of the day, I have very specific plans for it, and I don't think it's what you're thinking. But i think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Cats. Dogs are cool. Cats are just...emotionally way more tapped in then ANYONE gives them credit for.

You are hearing me grow! I think that's pretty wonderful. I don't think it's embarrassing. I don't think I'm perfect. I think the fun thing is to watch people just be themselves and attempt to be fearless. I'm not fearless, but I can make myself vulnerable, because I like when other people do and that's a powerful thing. If everyone stopped hiding and starting being more of themselves, just imagine how amazing things would be?

MCMF was the single most important project of my life. And it's only just begun. It is a long-term project. It has my heart. Completely.

all of my songs in some way are, yes. or interactions with people in it.

i'm basically a tornado, and when i kind of am in a controlled environment, sometimes i finish stuff and it works. no one has any idea what the hell i'm talking about or getting at until it's done. and that's why i love the hell out of anyone that helps me, because it's not easy, but it can be really fun. for the most part, there's no set way of starting anything. it just... it's a chaos, and i'd prefer to keep it that way, because in the end it's just... a thing. it renders something. it's funny.

I think I was kidding about the upcoming viral videos. I think i was making fun of a conversation I had. How the hell am i going to make a viral video, really? What does that even mean? Ha.

Oh, I don't know... there's one Im writing now that I think might be the answer to this question.

Hey K has some stuff in it that's pretty on point for me. It's hard to favorite what you do.

man, we did cuddle fuddle, all live, in nyc... that was really fun. and we never do it. ever. i think that's essentially the model. deprive yourself of joy. hahahaha. ridiculous, we should really play it more.

They're actually all pretty hard. I mean, it's way more athletic of a show than I ever want to admit, and I realize it about, I don't know, 3 minutes in. But then it gets fun again.

wooof, this is SUCH A LONG ANSWER... i'll do this later. is that cool?

no preference.

i don't know, who do you think?

Oh, that was a theme song for my friends who had this comedy troupe called Zebro. That was pre-Ableton!

Make stuff all of the time. Even when you don't feel like it. Don't force it, but practice. Not everything you make is going to be amazing, but that's how you're going to know when something is amazing -- making a lot of stuff. Your brain is incredible, use it.

How do you take all your feelings/thoughts and use them to create coherent lyrics and music?
I have no idea, I think it's from working a lot. It takes practice. It takes a long time to make sense of what you're doing. And in the process, you sometimes don't know what you're doing. Actually, most of the time. And that's because you're in it. And that's kind of what it's all about.

My writing process is insane. No one understands it until they're around me for awhile. It's a very weird thing, it evolves, and it's just... it's like your personality -- you accept it, and you take constructive criticism because people who believe in what you're doing they're just trying to help. But in the end you just do whatever you have to do.

The dichotomy you're talking about is literally the point of passion pit. Feelings are complex, they are not happy or sad, etc. They don't sound or look like what they are. It's basically, to me, ideology.

that will happen, i'm sure. just enjoy it, you know? and rip the music, whatever. it's not like i'm not going to write and release many more songs! in the meantime, this is a moment, and look what it's doing? this isn't a one-shot -- it's a volley! thanks for supporting me

actually one of the first covers we did was "dreams' by fleetwood mac. 2007/8...something like that.

ABLETON! and we mix in pro tools sometimes. or a lot of times. but these songs brad, my studio partner, just jumps in to make sure what i do in ableton isn't INSANELY noisy, etc. we both agreed TSOL should feel like chunk of change in this sense. just straight from the source, not matter if it's noisy or whatever. imperfect. etc

honestly, they have all been... so intense, so dramatic hahahaha. but this one, actually. this one is the product of years and years of work and pain and... not understanding what was really happening. I'm just trying to say that if you stay at it, you're going to be heard. Just keep working at it. You're never really done if it's still so cathartic, you know?

also, i am making the songs the night before i release them. so if that tells you anything...

Nat King Cole's collection The Nat King Cole Story in Stereo has been hitting me hard.

have you heard merry christmas mr fields? the album i released in december?

ha i feel like MY LIFE has been, actually, learning to admire and love sound guys/girls. really, there is the band, then there's the crew. the crew is the band too. really, love your crew. take care of your crew. sometimes i didn't, sometimes i did. there was never a real personal reason if i didn't, but i can tell you right now, a pp show is super hard, and we are nothing without hardworking, super-talented crew members.

portland always fun. yes

fun dude.

nah, but i'm meeting lots of fun people. i'm focusing on work. i think, for anyone, like my friends, anyone in particular that's around me, that's for the best. as rupaul would say, if you can't love yourself, how the hell you gonna love anybody else?

no we also covered that one!

damon albarn from blur is a hero, that's for sure.