Today I want to bring to this section of the website a very special, endearing guy, a great musician, a celebrity in the indie universe. For me it is an honor that you meet here the person who has helped Enimatik the most, and many other indie artists, in terms of promotion tips, streaming platforms, appear on amazing playlists, discover amazing artist communities and much more. Do you want to meet John Michie?
When Enimatik started its journey in July 2020, as is understandable after being disconnected from the music scene for so long, I felt quite lost in many aspects. How to get on cool playlists, increase my followers, contact worthwhile artists... everything was doubts until I met John.
His kindness and generosity hooked me from the first moment, allowing me to gradually enter his playlists and twitter groups, where I´ve met wonderful artists and I've made great connections. Most importantly in my opinion, John is always willing to selflessly help indie artists in many aspects. He really is the Robin Hood of the indie scene. I would like to emphasize the effort that John is making defending the interests of small indie artists like Enimatik and many more.
The work that John is doing in denouncing the bad practices of Deezer, a streaming platform that does not pay artists and hides information, is fully current, and deserves all the thanks.
I'm sure you'll like the interview...
The interview
John and I have agreed on a structure for the interview that I am convinced is the best possible, he himself developing questions that I consider interesting for everyone.
Who is John?
"Hello I am John, I have a beard, I have long hair, I own two cats, I live in Morpeth in Northumberland and I like drinking beer. That is the short story.
I have lived mostly in the south of the UK from London to Surrey as well as other places for most of my life but my family are all Scottish and from the North of England… I have worked in more jobs than you can shake a stick at from teaching to a supermarket… to Parliament to a Pub.
I then got to a stage in life where I had hit my early 30s and realised that I hated my job, despite earning good money… hated where I lived… and just decided to change my life and move into music… after a few years of struggle and learning… here I am… and all I can say to people is if you’re not happy with your life make changes and develop a plan… as it’s the best thing I have ever done."
How did you start your passion for music?
"I’ve always loved music as a child and had a set of tapes from my dad of the 70s classics like Dark Side of The Moon. I was never listening to the pop of the day. I’d sit and play these albums and think that the soundscapes were amazing.
But the real start would be when I had a holiday in Italy at 15… and at some point, on that holiday, I thought it would be cool to play guitar. Not sure what caused it. I came back bought a shit guitar and started writing songs. Wish You Were Dead was the first song I wrote so once I had that done, I thought this is easy. I then spend the next 17 odd years just writing as a hobby but never doing anything with the songs. Until I heard the Grimes album Visions. When I read, she had recorded it on a crap computer and GarageBand I thought I could have a go. The technology is here… you don’t need to be signed.
I installed logic. Recorded a handful of my best songs and that is High Vibrations. Then after squeezing out my ambient experiment album called Toward The Rainbow… my main computer broke… so I have kinda been in limbo for the greater part of a year saving for a new one… and when the cash arrives bought a guitar instead. The new computer is coming next… and maybe another guitar.
My family is musical though so it may be genetic. My grandfather was a doctor but always wanted to be a professional piano player… my dad could tinker on piano and guitar. On my mums side my uncle and Granddad were both drummers… it’s in the blood."
What are your main influences?
"Pink Floyd, Grimes, The Chemical Brothers, Brian Eno, The Beatles, Phil Spector, The Beach Boys, Nicolas Jaar, The Velvet Underground and Noel Gallagher are probably my favourites. I think if you shoved them in blender, you would get my music out at the end. My music tastes are very broad though and can sometimes be found listening to classical music or blues music. Country music is shit though… I don’t listen to that."
How do you define your music (style, emotions...)?
"Messed up, can’t sing, experimental, all over the place, crafted, broad. I like all music except pop so everything is on the table and as I go forward, I don’t want to be put in a box as that dude who sounds like Oasis. I really can’t tell you what music I will make next but I’d like to do one normal record and one experimental in tandem.
In terms of emotions. I am not confessional so the music is just the emotion. If it sounds and feels good to me it goes up. I like to spend a long time over my music. I am not someone who just writes a song and puts it up. I am the kind of person who will spend a few months working on every 8 bars seeing what sounds good in each section. Don’t expect any new releases any time soon. I also hate working with others so if you have come here to read this you other musicians… I likely will turn down a collaboration."
How is your composing process?
"Firstly, my songs are 100% meaningless. They do not reveal anything about me. If I sing a love song it’s about no one. Sorry ex-girlfriends you don’t inspire me that way… They are not about real events in my life or about others. I don’t express emotions that way. Buy me a pint and I will tell you anything but my songs aren’t like Adele moaning about a divorce.
I have a bulk of songs that I have written just on an acoustic guitar still in my head and not committed. That is how I’d say most of my songs have been written on an acoustic. Just finding a few chords and finding any words that go over the top... changing the lines to try and create a story. The songs write themselves and the words which are my least favourite part are just whatever fits in.
When I installed logic though that process changed a little as I fell down the rabbit hole of that programs features/learning. The best way to describe it is I started new songs writing in a sectional way. Finding a drum loop and finding a groove over the top and building a song in bits. That’s kinda how I got songs like Ballad of John Wayne.
Overall, I don’t really have a process. The music comes first and that is it."
What software/hardware do you use?
"I record in Logic. The majority of musicians I talk to on a mac are in that DAW. Kinda wants to move to Ableton at some point and see what those crazy German men have to offer. I am a bit of a plugin nut and tend to try and shove as many as I can get on a mix as possible kicking on and off where they sound good… I am not a less is more guy… I have gone through phases with what I buy… I spent ages just buying delays then tape machine emulators… I am a big fan of Izotope plugins just because they do the job quickly. Arturia V collection I also really love. Waves as well though I think everyone hates that update plan. I still have loads of plugins I want to buy.
In terms of hard ware… I need a new computer so that will be coming at some point. That has totally knee capped my recording as my old mini is crash central. I have a sm7b mic and a Scarlett Interface… That’s about it. All my money has gone into instruments… electric piano... guitar wise I am in the Gibson camp but I have a Telecaster too just for those different sounds Gibson struggles to reach."
The meaning of music in your life is...
"It started off as just a hobby pretending to be John Lennon or Elvis at the age of 15 with a guitar. Then moving into learning music production for fun when I hit my early 30s. I have an incredibly broad taste of music and spent a long-time collecting vinyl (now all sold for guitars). Music has always been central… but since the end of covid… if we are out of it… it has become my job. I quit teaching, I have a source of cash and have some investments but music makes up the other segment. I have found more and more ways to make money out of music from doing mixes and masters for some people willing to bung me a fiver…
Music… lots of people moan about as not generating money but the game is to chase every fraction of a penny you can find from streaming to publishing/physical formats to side work.
I have also started a side project “Heavy Soul PR” where I am going to be promoting people’s albums. It’s just presentation and sending emails. I can’t take on too much work as I seem to be juggling a lot of plates on my own. Down the line though when I’ve crafted a decent beer gut and hit the age of 60… I’ll probably move into band management or setting up some form of record label.
In short music is really my life but I seem to enjoy the behind-the-scenes part the most. I have recently found with my recent run ins with Deezer, who haven’t been paying artists, that all the people that look like they have an “A game” going on… they don’t… no one seems to have their shit together. For me that has been a big confidence boost. I may not have my shit together either but at least I know the ground is there to be taken if you go after it and work hard."
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What are your current and future projects?
"Drink more beer, buy a computer, buy a guitar, record a masterpiece of an album which likely won’t be out anytime soon… its ready when its ready… these things take time… promote some peoples albums. I have a collab project with OrangeG and Chris James Willows… basically I shoved over a couple of demos I couldn’t sing and they’ve done all the work… that’s the type of collabs I like where I do zero work.
I have a few songs I have played guitar on for Lewca… again though Lewca understands my hate of collabs so makes it easy. He just says 100 bpm play anything and he returns the song as some unrecognisable beast… other than that… I plan to just enjoy the ride."
This guy is cool
I am absolutely sure that John is a person who will have caught your attention, and that you will have read many interesting things. I sincerely believe that John is an endearing, honest, friendly guy who helps without expecting anything in return.
I have to thank him for his help and advice to grow the Enimatik project, thanks to his playlists I have managed to exponentially increase the followers of my socials and I have met artists from all over the world. I've managed to get into communities of indie artists that I didn't even imagine existed until recently, where I find support, advice, and of course, good music.
John really is the Robin Hood of the indie scene, in the twitter groups he kindly provides us with useful information about free plugins, new playlists, promotion opportunities... I and many others are truly grateful to him.
Regarding the music of Johh Michie Collective, as he himself has said before, it is difficult to classify. To me it seems like a music with a great production work (lovely guitars and vocals processing) and with a lot, a lot of meaning. "I´ll write your constellation" seems to me to be a magnificent and unique song, composed by someone with an exquisite taste in music. And "Beautiful day" is a warm song that you can listen to over and over again, nice, simple and catchy.
In this link you can find all of John's music, I strongly recommend that you listen to it:
-https://songwhip.com/thejohnmichiecollective
This is the John Michie Collective website, you can learn much more about John, his music and his current and future projects:
-https://www.thejohnmichiecollective.com/
Please follow John on social media, if you're an indie artist you'll appreciate it... @johnmichiemusic for all socials.
