If you are on Twitter, you know that, like all social media tools, it can sometimes be useful and sometimes be awful.  If you are not on Twitter, you'll have to take my word on that. My new podcast is a result of one of the useful things. I follow an artist consultant over there on Twitter.  Not only is he tastefully named, he also routinely gives useful advice for independent musicians on his feed. One day his advice centered around remixes.  He said that if an artist has commissioned remixes for one of their songs, they should have a podcast conversation with the person who did the remix.  This provides a useful behind-the-scenes look at the artistic process, and is also valuable content.  You know, "#content".

It turns out, dear reader, that I have a single coming out on March 15th called "Hold the Wick".  If you are currently subscribed to my mailing list, well, you received an email this morning that gives you an early listen to the new single.  (If you are not currently subscribed to my mailing list, I warmly invite you to click the link earlier in this sentence and sign up. That way, you'll be the first to know what I'm working on.)  I commissioned seven remixes of "Hold the Wick".  They come in a variety of flavors. I decided to follow that free advice I picked up on Twitter, and interview the remixers for a podcast. Shortly after I decided to do that, I decided to not stop there.

You really don't want to listen to a podcast if the only thing that will happen is self-promotion, right? I figure that this is the case because I wouldn't listen to a podcast if that was the only thing happening, either.  Ok, my new podcast will definitely NOT be all about self-promotion. I have plenty of interests... sports, travel, languages, history, food, art (outside of music), science fiction, board games... these are just some of them.  There are plenty of people who share some or all of those interests, and I would enjoy talking to them.  I think you would enjoy listening to those conversations.  That's what my podcast is going to be about.  It's called the You Could Be My Aramis Podcast, which you might recognize as the name of my publishing company and LLC.

Those of you in Dayton might remember the Gem City Podcast. Those folks brought us entertaining and enlightening conversations for several years. They covered all sorts of topics, but my favorite episodes were the Wednesday episodes with Terry "IzzyRock" Martin.  If you were a Dayton artist and were releasing a new album or had an important show coming up, you went on Gem City Podcast to talk about the hard work you put into your art, the songwriting process, your gear (the rig rundown), what your childhood smelled like, and any other topic that came up in the conversation. Alas, that podcast is no longer with us. Obviously I do not have their experience or track record, but I would like to make a humble attempt to fill that void in Dayton podcasting. If you are a Dayton artist with a new album coming, and you'd like to talk about it with someone who is ready to listen, well, I'm ready to listen. I am certainly not saying that I can replace Terry and Libby and their fine work, but perhaps I can follow in their footsteps just a little.

What are some of the things you can expect to hear on my new podcast?  Well, it is true that I'll spend the occasional episode talking to the talented people who remixed "Hold the Wick"... we will learn about their approach to remixing, but we'll also learn about their creative process for their own music.  I talk to a musician from the Dallas area and a musician from Chicago during episodes that have absolutely zero to do with self-promotion.  I'll be promoting them. Episode 2 is a wide-ranging conversation with a local doer who has his hands in a few different businesses, and whose face should certainly be familiar to Dayton musicians. The above episodes are all scheduled for release in January.  The first episode to be released in February is a chat with a gentleman who was a fixture in our music community for over 25 years, who remains one of my favorite living songwriters, and who speaks as passionately and eloquently about music as anyone I have ever met.

You should be able to find the You Could Be My Aramis Podcast on whatever platform you normally use to listen to podcasts. Just so that you don't have to search, you can find it right here.  The show notes will live on my official site, just click the navigation menu at the top of the page where it says "Podcast".  That failing, the link is https://mikebankheadmusic.com/podcast. Feel free to subscribe on the platform of your choice.  Please listen.  If you enjoy what you hear, perhaps consider leaving a review?

Episode 1 is coming your way two days from now, on Wednesday January 5th, 2022.

I enjoyed getting to learn more about some talented folks this year via these written interviews.  I hope you enjoyed them as well, and I hope you found some new music to enjoy.  Below the picture is a review of the people we met this year.

with Baby Molly in Austin before the pandemic

Riley Hall - Bass player and singer in Snarls, a band from Columbus that you really should check out.

Jenee Halstead - Artist, singer-songwriter. She released an album called Disposable Love this year.

Baby Molly - Songwriter who recently moved from Toronto to Vancouver. You'll be hearing more from him soon.  

Chris Keats - Artist name is stylized as KEATS.  He released an EP this year called When the Sails Collapse, As Live.

Elyssa Vulpes - Italian songwriter who has moved to New Zealand since we did our interview.

Emmrose - Songwriter and artist from New York City.

Kyleen Downes - A music professional from right here in the Dayton area.

If you missed any of these interviews, or would like to re-familiarize yourself with any of these fine people, feel free to visit the links.  Listen to their music, connect with them on social media, and if you find any of the songs particularly moving, maybe tell a friend?

Remember when I told you that you should listen to the Duet or Don't podcast, hosted by Baby Molly?  If perchance you took me up on that advice, you've already heard from Emmrose.  This talented young artist appeared on the episode that was released on March 15th, where she and Baby Molly created a song called "If I Knew When".  The interview was engaging, and while those of you who are my age would no doubt refer to Emmrose as "a kid", she sounds more mature than she is.  Is that a result of songwriting, or is her level of maturity what drives her to write songs?  I probably should have asked that question in the following interview.  I didn't.  Oops.  Hey, I'm a musician, not a journalist.

"The Imposter" is her latest single.  To listen on Spotify, click here.

After the photo, let's amplify the voice belonging to Emmrose.

1.  "The Imposter" is the most recent single you have released.  That's a fully fleshed-out arrangement.  In addition to your vocals (including harmonies), I am hearing drums, an electric piano of some sort, bass, an acoustic guitar, and some things I can't identify, which probably means synth.  I'm a solo artist who writes for full band arrangements, so I'm curious to learn from YOUR process for this.  Are you writing and arranging all of the parts?  If so, how do you approach deciding which instruments will best bring the song to life?  If not, where do you start when you do a demo, and how does the arrangement get determined? 

I collaborate with my producer, Mike Abiuso, on all the arrangements for my songs. He’s an amazing musician and composer, and it’s really fun when I have some crazy idea I could never play on the guitar, and he can really just flesh it out. Other times he’s full of ideas, and I pick the ones that fit in the song best. I think we work really well together when it comes to my overall sound!

2.  What was the first album you can remember buying with your own money? 

Oh gosh this is so embarrassing... but I don’t think I’ve ever actually paid for music. I was born in 2003, and I kinda just grew up with streaming! I’ve never used cd’s or cassettes, but I do own a lot of vinyl from my dads collection. I mainly just use his records when I want to play something at home. We have really similar music taste, so if it’s something I want to buy, he probably has it already.

3.  Tell me about the last concert you saw. 

It was Clairo playing at the Brooklyn Steel! What a amazing concert. Hello Yello and Beabadoobee opened for her, and they were just amazing. Definitely a dream of mine to play there. I love the atmosphere of that venue. Clairo is one of my favorite artists, I think her music is amazing!

4.  This is going to be two related questions for the price of one.  When did you start learning how to play music?  When did you start writing songs? 

I’ve pretty much been singing forever. I’ve always been musical and creative. I would sing little songs around the house, coming up with stories in my head. I think I’ve always known I would be a songwriter. The few memories i have from growing up are all about my first experiences in songwriting and music, and how much it impacted me as a person.

5.  What artists do you consider to be your biggest influences? 

Vocally I would say Florence + the Machine and Lana del Rey. A lot of my songwriting inspiration definitely comes from Radiohead and Clairo. I love how they break the mold of traditional pop \ rock songs.

6.  What is your biggest challenge when it comes to making music? 

Finding inspiration can sometimes be a real struggle. I can’t just make a song about nothing, ya know? I can’t chug out song after song after song without any real feelings behind it. But when inspiration comes, It’s honestly so easy to sit down and write a song. It’s like the lyrics just come to me.

7.  How do you intend to keep growing as a musician and a songwriter?

I don’t think I’ll ever really stop writing songs and making music. I’ll do it forever. I hope I can grow my career as an artist and a songwriter- but it’s my love for music that really keeps me going.

***

You know that feeling of discovery you get from your friends, acquaintances, colleagues, classmates, or random other people recommending music to you that you aren't familiar with?  That, or when you discover what a musician you dig is into, and then you go investigate that music?  Well, this is me after reading these answers from Emmrose, then running to the Internet to find out who "Clairo", "Hello Yello", and "Beabadoobee" are.  There's clearly some generation gap here, but hey, I just found out about three artists that I didn't know anything about, and now I have some new stuff to listen to.  Maybe I'll like it, maybe I won't, but the discovery is the important thing here, yes?

Emmrose is releasing a new single called "Waitlisted" on May 7th.

In addition to her official website, you can catch up with Emmrose on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Here are the lyrics:

Baby can you find my earplugs
They keep the city sounds away
I need to take a syrup shot, it's all I've got
To finally find a quiet place

Go to sleep

Baby can you see the monsters
Their chatter keeps me up all night
This one lost a job and that one had a kid
At least we're getting on all right

Go to sleep

Why can't I ever feel this good?
What's it like to be understood?
Who are we and where is peace?
And how mortality?
When do I go to sleep?

I don't know where I am
Halfway between cold and home
I need to take a syrup shot, it's all I've got
To finally find a quiet place

Go to sleep

***

It was my honor to be the first guest on the brand new songwriting podcast, DUET OR DON'T.  Tune in, and listen to Baby Molly and me write our way through this song.

Baby Molly comes to us from Toronto, in the province of Ontario, in the nation of Canada.  I met him back in 2017 in Nashville at CD Baby's DIY Musician Conference, and we had interesting and useful conversations... and this happened again in Nashville in 2018... and again in Austin in 2019... and then the pandemic crushed conferences, music and otherwise.  

Baby Molly plays guitar, among other musical talents... but you know what?  Let's learn all of that in the interview after the picture... and let the record show that I left the Canadian spelling of some words as-is.

1.  Let's hear the elevator pitch for your skill set and genre. 

Baby Molly is just a typical millennial. Reminiscent of Beck, Say Anything, Front Bottoms or Green Day, I just make fun pop/rock music about the downfall of society and the paradox of being alive. We can't afford to live but we don't want to die either. With my tongue FIRMLY in cheek, it's just music to rock out to, make life a little more fun and a little less pointless. 

I don't have an "elevator pitch" really so I hope that makes sense. "LISTEN TO MY MUSIC PLEASE SO I CAN EAT!!!! Or Don't I guess?" is what I wish it could be. 

2.  You've had an official change in artist name since Belladonna, your last album release.  Does this change come with a new approach to making music?  If so, can you talk about that in detail? 

It does! Molitor is my middle name (Named after 1993 World Series MVP Paul Molitor, no joke) but I always found myself correcting pronunciation, explaining the name to confused faces, etc. So even though I no longer go by a REAL mononym, this music is 100% more me. I had been performing under the name Molitor since I was 17 years old when all the cares of the world, pressures of being cool/hip/stylish/attractive mattered so much. Even though I was being original and creative and enjoyed my music, it always felt like hard work. A stretch to fit into trends, remain cool. I wanted to be the hot, clever, sunglass & leather-jacket wearing frontman. The Julian Casablancas, Pete Doherty, etc. But that's not me! At least not anymore (I did kind of have that vibe when I was younger). So now I just write lyrics as honest as they come: literal journal/diary-style lyrics. Earlier in my life, I'd try to find clever ways to say things - I had cool lyrics like "Your effervescent efflorescence Belladonna brings me to tears". Now, I have a song where the title and chorus are just literally "I'm broke. I want to be happy but I need some damn money". I think it not only works out because I'm really excited, proud, happy with my new music for the first time in a while (I think 2014's #lonelypeople_Music EP by Molitor was the last time I felt this way) but it just flows out of me. I can grab a guitar and a song will come out that feels like Baby Molly. It doesn't need weeks of production, re-writing, editing, and borderline alcoholism to get it to be moody, cool and sad enough for a Molitor release. It's just me. I developed a little bit of a character around it so that it's still marketable in the 21st century, but you can't survive without doing that really. But the character is more me than my old character even, sarcastic, witty, sad but hopeful. My angst has dissipated and I wanted a clean slate to reflect that. 

3.  What was the first album you can remember buying with your own money? 

The first one I vividly remember is A Lesson in Romantics by Mayday Parade. I bought it in a mall in New Brunswick, Canada when I was living with a family there on this, like, exchange program thing through the YMCA. I spent some time there and then their child spent some time with my family in Niagara Falls. I remember it so well, it was pre-Covid and record stores used to have headphones hanging up at the end of each aisle where you could listen to some CDs before you bought them. (Note from Mike: I miss this era of music store goodness.) I just picked this one because it had a cool cover and it really changed my life forever. I listened to 4 or 5 songs in the store because I didn't want to take the headphones off. Then, because I was on this exchange trip, my parents had given me a little spending money for food and emergencies but I ended up spending like 60% of it on this CD. It remains one of my favourite albums to this day and is probably the direct lineage to how I write songs. Super emo, but still fun and well-crafted, plus dual lead singers and overlapping vocals has been a mainstay in my songwriting; nobody did two lead singers as well as Mayday Parade on this album, to me. 

4.  Tell me about the last concert you saw. 

Concert? One sec, let me search the dictionary for that term.... Oh, yes! I remember those. It was one of those things where multiple people were indoors and enjoying the music that they love together. According to my memory, the last one I saw was in November 2019 when I was living in LA. I got to see Max Bemis of my favourite band Say Anything perform a stripped down solo show with just an electric guitar. It was amazing. Everyone knew every word and it wasn't a full band show so it was more intimate than any other Say Anything show. It was great, the crowd was singing so loud that you could just barely hear Max over the crowd throughout. His wife and kids were there too and because it's such a small venue, when his wife Sherri was singing with him on stage, you could see their kids peeking out from the green room and waving at them. It was adorable. I miss concerts, but if it's the last one I ever see, that's one of the best I've been to. 

5.  What artists do you consider to be your biggest influences?  

Max Bemis/Say Anything and Mayday Parade as mentioned above are huge. I take notes from so many artists that it's really hard to say. There's a fairly obscure band called The Veils that have a song called "Begin Again" - that is probably my favourite song of all time. The originality and boundaries pushed by Childish Gambino and all of his music are always a guiding light. The Killers, Kanye West, The National, Taylor Swift, The Front Bottoms. Green Day was my favourite band growing up and I knew every word to every one of their albums so undoubtedly people would probably find a bit of them in my songwriting. 

6.  I totally took this question from someone who interviewed me previously.  You can't control the way other people hear your music, but if you could make someone aware of a specific thing that sets your songs apart, what would that be? 

This. Is. A. Tough. Question. I don't want anyone to be aware of a specific thing but I think songs speak differently to people depending on their mood, personality, the weather, their surroundings, what they ate that day, etc. SO my only wish if I could ask one thing of each listener it would be to actually listen. There are a lot of very talented musicians and artists that make background music for studying, reading, elevators, etc. I am not one of those artists. I am arguably the LEAST subtle artist that has ever lived so if I could ask something of a listener it would be to actually listen. If you love it, that's amazing, if you hate it that's great too. I appreciate that you took 3 minutes of your life, time is the most valuable thing in the world and I am endlessly grateful that you gave me a shot with some of yours. 

7. Your podcast DUET OR DON'T is about to be introduced to the world. What's the premise? 

DUET OR DON'T! The game show/just for fun show where each week I have a brand new songwriter, artist or musician on and after having a very brief chat about our lives and how we're feeling, we write and record a brand new song, from scratch, live on the podcast for anyone to listen to. There is a time limit, of course, no one wants to listen to a 3-week long podcast. But the rule is that we need to come up with a brand new song and present it, warts and all, after the timer is up. Then, together we decide, is it good or bad? Do we love it or hate it? DUET or DON'T? 

8.  What's next for Baby Molly? 

BABY MOLLY PRESENTS: I MISS MY FRIENDS - AN EP FOR THE AGES, OUT FEBRUARY 19, 2021.

*********

Right up there at the top of the post, I link to the Baby Molly web presence, but here's that link again. The new podcast will launch shortly, and the first guest songwriter might be someone you know.  (They call that "a tease" in the radio industry, kids.)  Here's the Baby Molly YouTube Channel.  You can also shake a rattle with Baby Molly on social media via Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.