THE INTERVIEW Let’s Talk Magazine: What inspires you to write?
Micah: I write because of the way it makes me feel. Sometimes I write to figure out what’s going on in my life and work out a problem with past or current relationship. It’s therapeutic for me sometimes. I love exploring new boundaries with my words and melodies. Reworking old songs. There’s nothing quite like being able to create something of your own like that. It is nice to get outside of yourself and to write from an outsider’s perspective as well. Trying to make some sense of it all. There aren’t really rules that you need to abide by when you create.
LTM: What’s the best venue you’ve played?
Micah: Cafe 939 in Boston is hands-down one of my favorites. People that go to shows there are simply there for that, rather than your typical show with a bar. Water Street Music Hall in my hometown of Rochester, NY holds a special place in my heart, too. They got me my start in playing big shows, really. I’ve had the chance to open for Matt Costa, Young the Giant, Ian Axel, and close to hundreds of other national and regional bands there. Those people are amazing and do a seriously great job at running that venue and it really goes under-appreciated in Rochester.
LTM: Alright, let’s flip it. What’s the worst place you’ve played?
Micah: I was in Pennsylvania on a northeast run, hanging with Sean Quinn, a great singer-songwriter buddy of mine who backs me on occasion. We had two shows in one night. The second show was at a place called Freddie’s Tavern. Calling it a sketchy bar is putting it lightly, but it was a paying gig; it would cover all of my gas and travel expenses for the trip. There were about 5 people in the bar for our set. One older guy seemed to really enjoy our music and would talk to us as we played our set, with good intentions, but he was just too far-gone to comprehend what he was doing. I have no clue how it came about, but somehow he got into a heated argument with a younger guy. The younger guy pulled out a knife and threatened to stab him. All of this was happening as Sean and I were playing our soft, soothing music. We had no clue what to do in the situation other than to keep playing. A bouncer eventually stepped in and stopped the fight. I’m pretty sure we stopped playing after that. On top of that, the bar manager wanted to stiff Sean and I on the money he agreed to pay us. We got our money and got out of there as fast as we could. Nightmare.
LTM: You perform a lot with Sean. That sort of camaraderie in the DIY music industry seems key today.
Micah: Definitely. Building up your network of fellow musicians is HUGE. I’ve been lucky enough to get linked up with tons of musicians all over the country and build friendships and music relationships with them for future touring, collaborations, and so on. Ryan Schmidt is a good friend and great songwriter; we toured together in March and April. Rhianna LaRocque is another Boston singer-songwriter that I’ve done work with. Mitchel Grey, Amy Crawford, Mikki Hommel, Joy Ike, Brooke An- nibale, Sarah Castille, (cough)AndrewCampanella(cough), Alex & Janel, the list goes on and on. There is plenty of great singer- songwriter communities in many of the major cities and even smaller cities. You just have to be able and willing to seek them out and getting acquainted with the artists that are in them to help each other out.
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