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Q. Can you talk to us more about your latest single “Look Out”?
A. I think of “Look Out” as a reflection on moments that linger in memory. You want to hang on to details but so much in life is impermanent. I wanted the song to move along that way, lingering, crashing but still in motion. Once-in-a-lifetime moments fade away but our stories don’t stop. I’m always trying to make sense of what changes and what remains unchanged. There’s an optimism born out of renewal. I think the song speaks to that.
Q. Did any event in particular inspire you to write this song?
A. “Look Out (Botticelli Girl)” was born out of a solo trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art one afternoon last fall right after the museum reopened after being shut for months during the pandemic. I studied history in college and love art history. Wandering the galleries and looking at all the incredible art always transports me creatively and calms me emotionally. Never more so than that afternoon. I also thought “Botticelli Girl” had a catchy ring to it! Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus” is not at the Met, of course, but the idea is the same. And, I put little references to that painting in the song. I wanted the percussion to conjure up sounds of the ocean and the guitars to filter in like sunlight. The bridge echoes back and I thought about listening to sounds through a conch shell. You see the cherubs up in the clouds but I was also thinking of my own children there. That kind of stuff, I think you might hear on closer listen.
Q. Any plans to release any sort of video for the track?
A. I’m shooting a video in late June with Jim Berry. Jim and I go way back and we’ve collaborated creatively across all sorts of mediums; film, photography, movie scripts. With the “Look Out” video, we want to create imagery that transforms in unexpected ways – sometimes actually inverting imagery to reveal a new picture. In addition to performing the song in an old theater, we plan to use analog effects exclusively, including shadow play, puppetry and projection.
Q. How was the recording and writing process?
A. I’m fortunate to have met my producer Tosh Sheridan. He’s also an amazing guitar player (check out his slide guitar on “Look Out”). I would not be doing this interview without his guidance and collaboration. Tosh also introduced me to Eric Halvorson who plays drums, Phil Palombi who added stand-up bass, and Sheri Bhushan who sang backing vocals. Tosh and I went through a couple of different iterations on “Look Out” and then found our way back to the straight acoustic guitar progression that was my original take on song! Tosh and I have developed a great shorthand since he’s produced all my tracks to date. We recorded the song at Tosh’s studio in Long Island City so it’s got that New York energy.
Q. What role does NYC play in your music?
A. My roots in New York run deep. My family’s been here for generations and I’ve spent most of my adult life in New York (apart for eight years in Los Angeles). I pull from so many influences from jazz to rock and roll and maybe even art rock. I’m a big Lou Reed and David Bowie fan, along with the whole Bleecker Street scene from the 1960s. That Coen Brothers film “Inside Lllweyn Davis” really got that right. Lately, I’ve been diving deeper into the jazz scene thanks to my teacher and jazz guitar player Tony Romano. Whether in theater/film or music, New York offers artists bottomless energy and endless possibilities for connection.
Q. How does your acting and theater background influence your writing?
A. Ultimately, we find such great conversations in storytelling so my background in acting/directing meshes does mesh with my songwriting. In my experience, writing and recording a song is not unlike putting on a play. Both mediums share that same process of discovery and rehearsal. You need to work on each moment in the music but also find the beginning, middle, and end. Being on stage and playing live comes pretty naturally to me as a performing artist. A gig is just like a play. You rehearse, there’s a script, all the technical elements have to come together. And, then you’re out there, without a net, and it’s the band’s job to send the audience home happy. I’ve played and studied guitar since I was a teenager but just joined my first a few years ago! But once that got going, I knew I was on to something and I was all in. I play both rock and jazz so I’m always pulling from all kinds of influences. Playing bass has taught me so much about listening and the formal structure of music. That really gave me the training to pursue songwriting.
Q. Does the new single mean we can expect a new material – how’s that coming along?
A. “Look Out (Botticelli Girl)” is the fourth song I’ve released in the last six months so I’ve been busy this year. When the pandemic put the brakes on rehearsing and performing live, I started writing music so I’m more than fortunate that I found this new mode of storytelling. The first single I released, “King of Corona”, I wrote as a way to make sense of my own strange experience watching New York completely shut down when the pandemic exploded in early 2020. Perhaps a tough chore to write something that wasn’t cheap or obvious, but I was looking for a way out of my head. My second single “Stardust” pulls my own time chasing the California Dream all while pining for my New York roots. My third song “Darker Now” unfolds like a mystery and I wanted the music to sound almost cinematic, like a neo-noir. I approach songwriting with the audience in mind so I’m trying to write something that I’d want to hear. In that way, it’s really a conversation where so much gets learned by just listening.
Q. Any tentative release date or title in mind?
A. All four songs make up my first EP release and I’ve got a couple of other songs to finish before that happens. I can’t wait to start playing my songs live since they were all created during the pandemic. Musicians want to get back to playing gigs and rehearsing. That’s at the heart of musical collaboration for me. The pandemic’s been such a brutal time for performing artists. All of us really. I miss hugs. I miss hand shakes. I also like quiet so lockdown’s been a creatively fertile time for me and that’s a silver lining. But, people have really suffered and recovery is going to take a while.
Q. What else is happening next in Fritz Michel’s world?
A. I live with my two teenage daughters and school’s almost out for summer so that’s gonna keep me on my toes the next few months! I also think we’re all waking up to a different world and that’s exciting to me. Simple things like summer travel plans to see all my first cousins for the first time in almost two years take on new resonance. We all have our stories to share.
