We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Michael Borsini. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Michael below.
Michael, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
In 2016 a friend mentioned that an up-and-coming independent film director named Mikhail Tot was finishing a film called “In Production”. She said he was looking for Cleveland artists to feature on the soundtrack. I leapt at the opportunity to get my band Konipshun Phit in the film. I immediately contacted “Misha”, as he preferred to be called. He loved the piano outro from our first full-length album entitled “Venom Of God”. Our producer Matt Tarach wrote the piano piece, mimicking a guitar riff from the opening track “Path Of Destruction”.
In 2017 Mikhail Tot contacted me about a role in his new film, “In Guns We Trust”. I played 2 characters in the film. My main role was a janitor, AKA “Mop Guy” at a bar. I was in 4 more scenes as a Russian thug, wearing a mask to hide my face.
Later that summer, I auditioned for the lead role of Ricardo Salva in “Addiction” the stage play. Rico is the owner and manager of a hip, new nightclub but his failing marriage has his mind elsewhere. His marriage had been “on the rocks” ever since his wife lost their child during pregnancy, due to a miscarriage. Rico dove head first into alcohol to help numb the pain of losing his unborn son. He also began having an affair with one of his neighbors. Her husband is a police officer with a nasty temper. When he discovers that Rico has been sleeping with his wife, the stage heats up and sparks fly. What Rico doesn’t know is that his own wife has been unfaithful. She has been sleeping with the town barber. The opening scene portrays Rico’s wife explaining to her lover that she is pregnant and is unsure whether she wants to keep the baby.
This play dealt with difficult topics to discuss like adultery, abortion, depression, addiction in its many forms, thoughts of violence and suicide, and above all, loneliness and loss. “This was my big break!”, I thought. I nailed the audition and was awarded the lead role. The director, Luckey Necole told me that I “better be good” because I did not have an understudy. I was REALLY acting now. This was live, in front of an audience and there would be no redo’s. The whole cast built and decorated all of the stage sets for the play. There were several costume changes and even a few song and dance numbers throughout the show.
Opening night, I had terrible anxiety. It was one of the most difficult performances of my life. Not only was it difficult to recall my lines and remember all of the cues and blocking for each scene. The dialogue was very emotional and some parts were difficult to perform. There were a few scenes that left me in tears. “Addiction” was a huge growing experience for me and my acting career.
Since then I have acted in a few short films, including “Save The Filmies” and “Brad’s Story: Don’t Drink and Drive PSA”. I even picked up a small role in Mikhail Tot’s series, “The Low Lives”.
I am currently filming “The Connected: Hell City Season 3.5” by Brandon X. Bell. The Connected is a gritty, kind of funny but very real crime drama taking place in present day Cleveland, Ohio. I started on “The Connected” web series at the end of the first season in late 2016. I landed a starring role after appearing in “The Connected 2” in 2019, the first feature film of the series. I play Ivan Federov, the leader of The 47’s (a Russian crime syndicate, specializing in dealing automatic weapons and recreational drugs). It’s crazy to think that this all started with just trying to get my band’s music into a low-budget indie film.
Last summer I received an email from my colleague, Mark Banks. I had appeared in some of the music videos that he produced. He mentioned that he had been writing an animated series about his career as a hip-hop artist, called “Moke”. This was my first experience with voice-over acting. Mark wanted me to voice multiple characters who would be featured in several episodes of the show. I loved the idea of experimenting with my voice to create distinct characters. The script was hilarious and it has been a lot of fun bringing these individuals to life. This was very different from acting on camera or performing on stage.
The episodes were not animated until all of the audio had been captured, so that the animation synced up with the dialogue. I have done 3 characters so far and am looking forward to continuing with the project. I even got 2 of my band mates involved. We have been having so much fun recording these lines in our studio. It was very liberating to have complete control over the characters’ demeanor and dialogue delivery. We had a script with some directorial notes but the rest was up to our own interpretation. For many years, I have been interested in being a part of an animated series like this. This was definitely a milestone in my life.
In 2022, I accepted an offer to play guitar for Like Murder, a tribute to NOLA sludge legends Acid Bath. In mid-October, Like Murder toured the midwest, ending in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Little did we know, we would be performing in front of a capacity audience at Bigg’s Bar with members of Acid Bath in attendance. This was huge for us. The real surprise was learning that Sammy Duet from Acid Bath would be performing 3 songs with us on stage. It was an incredible experience. In October 2023, Like Murder headed down south to Louisiana. On Friday the 13th, we played a sold out Marsh Room in Metairie. Acid Bath’s first album, “When The Kite String Pops’ was recorded in the same city.
The real magic happened when both Sammy Duet and Mike Sanchez from Acid Bath joined Like Murder on stage to perform 5 songs. Our bassist Kevin Farley had the privilege of performing these 5 songs using Acid Bath’s own Audie Pitre’s bass guitar. His son Audie Jr. was in attendance. He was awarded the bass after the show. His father was killed in a car accident before Audie Jr. was born. He said that Like Murder was the closest thing to hearing his father perform.
This August 8th will be the 30 year anniversary of “When The Kite String Pops”. Like Murder plans to celebrate 30 years of Acid Bath at The Foundry in Lakewood, OH on Saturday August 10, 2024. Followed by New Orleans in September and Sioux Falls, SD in October. Hopefully, Mike and Sammy will be able to come along for the ride.
I have been watching films for as long as I can remember. Some of my earliest memories involve watching classic films with my family such as Legend, Highlander, Poltergeist, and C.H.U.D. when I was maybe 4 or 5 years old. I am a fan of many types of film. I enjoy action, horror, suspense, drama, comedy, and a lot of arthouse films. I’ll give just about anything a chance. Especially if the plot and script are good. I love films that attempt to change the way we view the world. Films that make a statement and really move me in the core of my being. That is great storytelling. When you actually care about the characters in the story. When the film isn’t JUST about entertainment and visual stimulation. That is art.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I come from a family of musicians. Both of my parents, my sisters and several of my cousins all play music and sing. Whether it be acoustic guitar, piano, electric guitar, electric bass, keyboard, drums, or school orchestra, my whole life has revolved around music. Ever since my 4th birthday when I received my very first guitar and microphone, I knew that I wanted to make music. Granted, they were cheap Fisher Price toys but that moment got the ball rolling for me.
From there on in, even my scholastic career was heavily focused on the art of song. In 4th grade, I was required by the state of Illinois to participate in choir and music appreciation. There, I learned the very building blocks of melody and rhythm. In 5th grade, I was given the choice of either continuing with choir or joining band. I opted for band. When selecting my instrument of choice, I had decided that I wanted to play tenor saxophone. Unfortunately, I did not have the embouchure or lung capacity to create sound. That is, none besides an obnoxious honking like an angry duck. My band instructor suggested that I try clarinet instead.. I stayed in band through junior high school.
In middle school, I showed interest in other instruments. Each year I received a different instrument for Christmas, starting with acoustic guitar. It was a small student scale guitar, which was difficult to play. My mom got me the sheet music for Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway To Heaven”. That was the first song I learned to play outside of school band arrangements. I studied the instrument in great detail, paying attention to what notes were on each fret, as many chord shapes as I could possibly retain and how those notes and chords correlated to scales. Once I was able to play all of the chords in the song, I made short work of the arrangement. Now that I had learned what I thought were ALL of the chords on guitar, my thirst to learn more songs was nearly insatiable.
Sadly my progress was short-lived due to an incident involving the headstock of the guitar tapping the floor while I was playing, and the whole neck broke off the guitar. I was devastated. Months later, my parents bought me a keyboard for Christmas. I grew bored of that rather quickly. I waited patiently another year before I received my first electric guitar and amplifier. At that point, I was “all-in’ and totally invested into being a “real” musician. My friends and I joked about starting a rock band since now 3 of us had electric guitars.
My father was suddenly let go from his job of over 10 years, due to downsizing. My dreams of forming a band with my friends were now shattered. When my family moved to greater Cleveland, I had no friends to speak of and nothing but time on my hands going into the summer of 1997. I was an outcast. I looked, dressed and talked differently than all the kids in school. I spent most of my free time practicing Metallica leads and solos. I spent countless hours in my bedroom, alone with my instrument. Eventually, I even began writing and recording dozens of my own original songs. We didn’t have a house yet, so my dad would commute from our rented condo in Sagamore Hills every morning. When summer was over, Dad would take my sister and I to school in Mentor on his way to work in Beachwood.
Going into 7th grade I made the switch to alto saxophone, which I preferred to the clarinet. In 8th grade, I also picked up electric bass guitar for a couple of songs in Symphonic Band. Towards the end of the school year, a new friend invited me to join his punk band. My dream had finally come true. My band director mentioned that he was holding a jazz improv class over the summer and he would love to have me join. I would be playing strictly electric guitar and there was only one other guitarist, my friend John. I was ecstatic. This pushed my focus completely to guitar. John and I split the concert setlist in half and we shared all the solos.
When I started high school, I decided that marching band was not for me and I wanted to be in a “real” band instead. This was the beginning of a barrage of many musical experiences involving a lot of talented musicians. Making all sorts of music from punk rock, to heavy metal, to hip hop. I couldn’t get enough. At one point, I was in 4 active bands that were rehearsing and performing regularly.
Sadly after graduation and the break up of all of those bands, I ventured into the working world. I took machining at Willoughby-Eastlake Tech in high school, so manufacturing is where my career path took me. I joined and started a few metal bands during that time but most of them were short-lived. I did get a lot of experience writing original music and collaborating with a lot of amazing musicians. Decades later, I am still playing in a metal band and writing music.
I currently play electric guitar and sing for the Cleveland melodic metal band Konipshun Phit. In 2017, Konipshun Phit was requested to be direct support for Ukrainian powerhouse Jinjer on their first North American tour of the east coast. It was a life-changing experience. Waking up in a different state every morning, ready to play a sold out venue every night for 2 weeks was unreal. At the same time, it was incredibly stressful. Literally every day of the tour, something broke on our bus. We would have to stop at Walmart, Lowe’s or a truck stop to acquire supplies to make repairs and get back on the road. One day in the middle of the tour, the alternator seized up and the bus was immobilized. We were stranded in a construction zone and the road workers told us that we could not leave our vehicle where it was stalled. We had to drag our trailer down the highway to give a flatbed tow truck enough room to lift the bus up and haul it away to the nearest shop. By some miracle, our friend Waylon Reavis from A Killer’s Confession had recently moved to northeast Pennsylvania. He was gracious enough to pick us up with our trailer full of equipment and haul it to our next gig in Philadelphia. He and his wife Julie fed us, gave us a place to sleep, let us all take showers and even do laundry. That was one of the nicest, most selfless things anyone has ever done for me.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
Unfortunately, most artists don’t get the recognition that they deserve. It is very difficult to make a living by creating art, regardless of what platform it is on. Whether it be music, film, photos, painting, sculpture, clothing, etc., art is expensive to create. It takes lots of time, hard work and often funding. Materials and equipment are very much attainable in today’s market for most artists but that still doesn’t mean that they come cheap. Think about the decades of practice and experimentation. All of the equipment and training required to even begin working in the trade. Musical instruments, recording equipment, computers, cameras and lenses, editing software, physical material like pens, charcoals, paints. All of the time each one of these creators have sacrificed to hone their craft. Missed birthdays, weddings, funerals. Canceled vacations, parties and cookouts with friends and family. All of those things had to happen for these artists to mature into their careers. If supporters would like their favorite artists to continue creating new works, they have to be willing to invest in that person or group. So stop saying that you support them and actually support them. Buy a ticket to their concert and grab an album and a t-shirt while you are there. Buy your friend’s painting, if you think it is “so beautiful”. Hire your co-worker to film your wedding or DJ your reception. Maybe your neighbor is an out-of-work roofer, mason or painter. Having a lavish dinner party? Perhaps your in-law could cater or make flower arrangements for your tables? There is art all around us in everything we do. Why is it just accepted that only certain types of art are worth paying for? Wish your room mate’s daughter’s novel could be made into a movie? Buy a copy. Or maybe even just mentioning that artist that you are proud of at a banquet or an after-party. That recognition could be all that it takes for the right person to discover that artist. We are all connected and it is about time that we all start caring about each other and supporting one another.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
As I mentioned before, I have been a musician for the majority of my life. There is no feeling quite like having hundreds of adoring fans at a sold out show, who are all there to support you and your art. These people, despite their own lives and personal problems: suffered through bad weather and traffic, paid to park, paid for tickets to the show, bought merchandise from all the bands performing, bought overpriced drinks and crummy food. Crammed into a small room with no air conditioning or heat and for a moment, they all are there to live in “the now”. Sharing a single moment together with the band and the rest of the fans. Singing along to all of your songs. Reciting your words. Screaming them at the top of their lungs, so loud that you can’t even hear the band coming through the PA system.
When multiple fans embrace you, crying and tell you that your music saved their life…you cannot go back to being just a normal person. On principle alone, you are not ALLOWED to stop creating the art that has touched these peoples’ lives. An experience like that forever changes you. You are now connected to every one of those people who needed to hear your words. To every person who needed to feel what they felt, when they heard you play that song and say what you needed to say.
As creators, we have a responsibility to our fans and supporters. We owe it to them to be transparent and honest. To be real, even if that means that not everyone will like the message. We do it for those who need to hear it. It’s not about making millions and filling stadiums. It’s about really reaching people in the deepest part of their being. When a guitar solo or a vocal melody can make the listener feel something outside of their own mundane existence, you have really created something remarkable. Music is art. Art is powerful.
I really do believe that music is the purest form of magic. To be able to create something out of thin air, is simply amazing. They say that music is the key to the stars, a means to communicate with the universe. All matter resonates at a unique frequency that can be translated to a specific pitch and octave. Meaning that all things produce a single note, different from every other object that exists. That’s pretty awesome. I recently had an epiphany. Art is everything and everything is art.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.konipshunphit.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/konipshun_phit/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KonipshunPhit/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtwwqzBrvWXccXkXmRuU6gQ
- Other: Konipshun Phit videos on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/saved/list/3523745411035331?isCollaborativeCollection=true&mibextid=xfxF2i Like Murder YouTube videos https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG5fq3EX2-N_sUTGm5W4nt9G84NH4RmJh Like Murder videos on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/saved/list/5531800603563125?isCollaborativeCollection=true&mibextid=xfxF2i Like Murder private group on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/572735793531201/ The Connected Web Series on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/connectedcleveland The Connected Web Series on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkFnYol1rMfgwuolZho6ax7xjrKt3g9CE The Connected: Hell City trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NiuqHAUAmE&pp=ygUXdGhlIGNvbm5lY3RlZCBoZWxsIGNpdHk%3D In Guns We Trust (2017) full film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta1shN1jnwU The Low Lives web series https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD9KYEZv3vk&list=PLiueFk3IWtKvwLaVVuYAuTs9cveAzO_Nv&pp=iAQB Moke “The Animated Series” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz5Pkf9VuKI Brad’s Story: Don’t Drink And Drive PSA https://ms-my.facebook.com/DontDrinkandDrivePSA/videos/2194460570768685 Save The Filmies https://www.facebook.com/1100940897/videos/10220873334918752/
Image Credits
Personal photo courtesy of John Edward Battes at @Settabphoto / www.settabphoto.com