| Mikal Cronin Session | |
| Violitionist Sessions |
Session Date: March 8, 2012
Posting Date: March 12, 2012
Artist Hometown: San Francisco, CA
Free Audio Download
Links: Bandcamp, Facebook Fan Page, Trouble In Mind
Recorded by: Michael Briggs
3 QUESTIONS
ONE: What motivated your recent move to San Francisco?
Mikal Cronin: Well, it’s mostly that all of my friends moved up there, and a lot of people I play music with, and I like that it’s small. You can walk around, and there’s a lot of music going on, and other stuff going on. I was living in LA, and I couldn’t walk anywhere. I had to drive everywhere, and I hate driving, so it’s nice to be able to walk around and see all of my friends, and play music with everybody. And the weather’s nice. I like cold weather, so it’s kind of cold…yeah, it’s just small enough, and there’s enough going on musically and otherwise culturally that keeps it interesting.
MB: What do you think fuels the music community in the city? Is it that it’s so small?
Mikal: I don’t know. What do you guys think?
Emily Rose Epstein: The size definitely contributes to everyone getting involved with each other more…
Ty Segall: I have a theory. San Francisco is where all of the weirdos go that didn’t fit in in their hometowns. There’s also a history of psychedelic music from San Francisco, and rock n’ roll, and when you put the two together, you get weirdo, psychedelic, noisy rock n’ roll. And it’s a scene of that, of people who are outside…we’re outsiders in a typical social setting, like a high school setting or something…I really do feel like San Francisco, Austin, New York, and a few other cities in the country are like hubs for those kind of people, so I feel like that really influences the kind of music that’s made, and the music community. And it is a really small city. It’s like 6×6 miles, so you really do get to know everybody if you live there for over a year or two, and if you’re active. Everyone super influences each other; that’s the coolest thing! Everyone really blurs with each other and influences everybody. That’s just my opinion, though.
Chad Z: That’s actually what I like about San Francisco. I live in LA, and I noticed that the community aspect of the music scene in LA is not as strong as San Francisco.
Mikal: That’s true.
Chad: I feel like people in San Francisco really want to help each other out. They listen to each other’s records and kind of give them the thumbs up and egg them on, and I feel like in LA it’s more like a competition.
MB: What do you think fuels the music community in the city? Is it that it’s so small?
Mikal: I don’t know. What do you guys think?
Emily Rose Epstein: The size definitely contributes to everyone getting involved with each other more…
Ty Segall: I have a theory. San Francisco is where all of the weirdos go that didn’t fit in in their hometowns. There’s also a history of psychedelic music from San Francisco, and rock n’ roll, and when you put the two together, you get weirdo, psychedelic, noisy rock n’ roll. And it’s a scene of that, of people who are outside…we’re outsiders in a typical social setting, like a high school setting or something…I really do feel like San Francisco, Austin, New York, and a few other cities in the country are like hubs for those kind of people, so I feel like that really influences the kind of music that’s made, and the music community. And it is a really small city. It’s like 6×6 miles, so you really do get to know everybody if you live there for over a year or two, and if you’re active. Everyone super influences each other; that’s the coolest thing! Everyone really blurs with each other and influences everybody. That’s just my opinion, though.
Chad Z: That’s actually what I like about San Francisco. I live in LA, and I noticed that the community aspect of the music scene in LA is not as strong as San Francisco.
Mikal: That’s true.
Chad: I feel like people in San Francisco really want to help each other out. They listen to each other’s records and kind of give them the thumbs up and egg them on, and I feel like in LA it’s more like a competition.
TWO: Your music has been described as having more of an emotional and introspective approach to the psych/garage sound. Do you agree with that? Was it intentional?
Mikal: Yeah, it was intentional, actually. I got kind of…I wouldn’t want to talk shit on anyone in particular, because it’s not even about that, but I noticed that there’s a whole lot of insincerity in garage rock, or even rock and roll in general…a lot of songs about stupid, meaningless stuff…which I also love. That stuff is great. It’s fun. I came from that background, playing in those kinds of bands. You know, I wanted to make that. It’s a big influence on my music, but I wanted to make it a lot more personal than that because I thought I was sick of people not being personal about it, being very…I don’t know. I’m just sick of rock n’ roll band, just fucking rock n’ roll bands…I want to hear something with meaning. So, that’s what I was trying to do, and to me it has a lot of personal meaning. I don’t know if it translates, but it’s definitely more personal than just ‘fuck it’ garage rock.
THREE: Where do you see your band in two years?
Ty: Signed to Epitaph, man!
Chad: Tooth and Nail, baby!
Mikal: I don’t know, really. All I want to do is record better albums. I just want to record really good albums and tour a little bit, and play, but mostly write good songs and record good music. So, hopefully I can have a couple more records by two years from now, and they’ll be better than the ones that I’ve made so far. That’s what I hope for. That, or Epitaph. Or, just fuck it, whatever. It doesn’t matter.
Chad: Tooth and Nail, baby!
Mikal: I don’t know, really. All I want to do is record better albums. I just want to record really good albums and tour a little bit, and play, but mostly write good songs and record good music. So, hopefully I can have a couple more records by two years from now, and they’ll be better than the ones that I’ve made so far. That’s what I hope for. That, or Epitaph. Or, just fuck it, whatever. It doesn’t matter.
– Interview by Michael Briggs/Transcription by Dale Jones