Opening up Online: Michl Talks “Digital Parallax”
Twenty Minutes Later has been a fan of Michl since 2016 without even knowing his real first name. The Los Angeles based artist has managed to keep a fairly low profile online while his songs have amassed millions of streams. His latest release, “Digital Parallax” has pushed the artist to open up a little bit more about himself and his music. The song is perfectly written and produced—the product of two years of work. The track discusses the singer's struggle between his digital and real identities, and Twenty Minutes Later was eager to learn more. Lucky for us, he agreed to answer a few questions. Read our interview below.
YOU KEEP A FAIRLY LOW PROFILE ON THE INTERNET. I COULDN’T EVEN FIND OUT YOUR REAL NAME. IS THERE A REASON YOU’VE CHOSEN TO KEEP YOUR ARTIST CAREER COMPLETELY SEPARATE FROM YOUR REAL IDENTITY UP UNTIL NOW?
Yeah, definitely. My first name is Joe, and my middle name is Michael. That’s where my artist name, Michl, comes from. Before I started my artist project, I’d been songwriting for a minute, and I knew a fair amount of people in the industry. I wanted to do a project where nobody knew it was me. I wanted everybody that I knew in the music industry to be completely unbiased.
IT’S BEEN SIX YEARS SINCE YOU STARTED RELEASING MUSIC AS Michl, AND YOU’RE NOW FINALLY OPENING UP MORE ABOUT YOURSELF. DOES THAT FEEL A LITTLE DIFFICULT OR SCARY?
I think it's a little scary. My personality is pretty reserved. I’m naturally someone who kind of steps away from the spotlight, but I think I’m more comfortable with myself now and I want people to get to know me. A lot of people connected with my first EP, without even knowing who I was. They connected with the music, which is all that matters at the end of the day for me. But I could also tell that people wanted to know more about me as an artist and as a person. I just don’t think I was ready then to share that. I was going through a rough time, but I’m in a much better headspace now.
WHEN YOU SAY YOU WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT YOU, WHAT DO YOU WANT THEM TO KNOW?
I'm a pretty open person, I don’t have too much stuff I feel ashamed of or am trying to hide. I think for me, starting the project under my middle name just kind of felt like a fresh start. Also, every artist has insecurities, and if I completely failed then no one would know that it was me.
WAS IT HARD TO TRANSITION FROM A SONGWRITER TO AN ARTIST?
I prefer being an artist. There's so much more weight that goes into it. A lot of my songs I’ve been working on for years, while when you’re writing for someone else, you go in for a day and that's it. Some of my songs might take me years, but there's just much more fulfillment when it comes out compared to when I write a song for someone else and that comes out.
HOW LONG DID YOUR NEW SINGLE, “Digital Parallax” TAKE YOU TO WRITE?
I started that one two years ago. It’s been a long journey. Almost every song I’ve ever written has been a long journey, but this one was interesting because it was more of a production journey. I produced it and then re-produced it again—probably like twenty times. I initially just wanted it to be a synth and a vocal, and then I kept adding and subtracting. That’s why this one took so long.
WHAT CAME FIRST WHEN YOU STARTED WRITING THE SONG?
I tend to write melodies as I write lyrics. I don't know when a new song is going to get written. The words to the song just usually come out. I think I was struggling with how to handle the two worlds that we live in. One is digital and one is real and I struggle with both on an everyday basis. There are so many emotions you go through while you're on your phone or watching TV and you don’t even realize that these aren’t even interactions, you're having with real people. The first word that came out was the word “digital” and then I just wrote a song about that because that was what I was feeling.
HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT “Digital Parallax” WAS DONE?
I didn’t. I think that's the hardest thing with people that tend to work by themselves. I’m very insular and do almost everything myself. When you're so close to your art, I think it makes it a little bit harder to know when to stop.
TELL ME A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF “Digital Parallax?”
It's not like the easiest thing to understand, and my natural instinct is not to do things that I feel are easy. I could have made this song a love or heartbreak song, but I wanted it to feel like I was connected to it personally. I didn’t want to fake anything. I wanted to always be consistent with the way I was feeling.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE PART OF THE SONG?
It was a fun song to write because I got to use some wordplay. I like the lines, "I think I might have fell / fell into the well/ and I ain’t doing well / well I thought that you should know.” I liked that I used the word “well” in three different ways and that they connected to tell a story.
DO YOU THINK YOU’LL START TO SHARE MORE ONLINE FOLLOWING THE RELEASE OF “Digital Parallax?”
I think I’ll let people in a little bit more as more of my music comes out. My fans have stuck with me for years without me even releasing a full body of work. I think I partially owe it to them because they’ve given me the opportunity to share my art in a way that I never thought I could. I also want to create long-lasting relationships with the people that support me.
HAVE YOU HAD ANY MEANINGFUL FAN ENCOUNTERS SO FAR IN YOUR CAREER?
Not online, but I'm pretty active at shows. I just went on tour with this artist named NF. At the shows, anytime I saw people singing my lyrics I would go up to them after and say thank you. I’ve kind of hidden in the shadows online, and for a while, I was scared that my listeners would take that as me not being grateful and I’m so grateful for them.
ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT PEOPLE TO TAKE AWAY FROM LISTENING TO YOU AND YOUR MUSIC?
My songs are always things that help me get through certain scenarios in my life, and maybe this song will resonate with people that are going through the same things. Right now, I feel more connected to my phone than connected to people in real life. And that's a crazy thing, but I feel like a lot of people also feel that way, if that makes sense. I’m excited to be releasing music and to get it off my chest and I'm excited to see how people react to it.
YOU CAN LISTEN TO “Digital Parallax” BY Michl ON STREAMING SERVICES LIKE SPOTIFY AND APPLE MUSIC. GO LISTEN AND MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW @twentyminuteslater TO STAY UPDATED ON FUTURE POSTS.
