Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mike Przygoda. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Mike, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I started playing music just as something social to do with my friends. They all were joining the school band and I liked music a lot, so I thought I would try it. I rented a clarinet and played in the school band for about two years until the band director told me that I wasn’t good enough and that I shouldn’t be in the band anymore. I was devastated because I had really enjoyed making music, learning how to read it, understanding how it fit in with the rest of the instruments, and of course the emotional aspect of making music. So I didn’t think I was going to be involved in playing music anymore. But i loved music. I would get lost listening to albums and trying to figure out how they created the songs in the studio or why they made the choices they made when they wrote them. Over the next few years I would start to learn other instruments and start writing my own songs at home. I would record myself between two boom boxes on cassette tapes, playing all of the instruments on a track. I’d jam with friends or classmates in their basements, and I learned to love playing music again. I went to college to study composition with the intention of writing music for films. That didn’t really pan out, but one thing I really learned in college that I hadn’t been aware of before was how to practice my instruments. I had always had teachers that told me “I should practice,” but they never told me how to do it, how often to do it, warm-ups to do, what to look out for, etc. Throughout college I became much more proficient playing a variety of different instruments because I learned the routines and methods to practice more effectively. Eventually I’d end up teaching music, and I always made it a point to tell my students “how” to practice music, so that they could get past the physical barriers of putting their fingers and hands in the right spot on time and move on to enjoying the art of playing.

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’m a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer from Chicago. I started out playing in garage bands and writing my own music just for fun in high school. After high school I decided to study composition with the intent of scoring films. At the time that I graduated, it was really hard to get into that industry unless you lived in LA, and I couldn’t afford to move out, so I decided to stay in Chicago and see what I could do with music. Along the way I played in a ton of bands, some of which toured the country. I also found my way into writing incidental music for theatre. Another thing I kept getting asked to do was write orchestral arrangements (string and horn parts) for local bands who wanted extra sound on their albums. This also led to producing lots of records for local bands.

At one point, one of my mentors recommended that I sub in on accompanying a modern dance class because he thought I had the skills to do that. That led to a 15 year career of writing original music for dance, accompanying classes and rehearsals, and through a roundabout way a job at a performing arts high school where I’ve been a dance accompanist, a teacher, a production manager, and now I work in administration.

Beyond that I still write my own songs and lead my own band around Chicago, and I produce records for other musicians.

I think one reason people work with me is that I’m very open to “music” as an art and I don’t worry about defining the genres within it. I’ve worked just as easily with R&B bands, country bands, avant garde ensembles, hip hop groups, and indie rock bands because I always approach every project in how I can serve the song. I get hired to produce records for people and that can encapsulate a lot of different jobs. I try to go into every project without an ego or an agenda and just serve the vision of the artist I’m working at. Sometimes that’s playing some instruments on their songs, sometimes that’s writing arrangements for their songs, sometimes it’s connecting them with other musicians who I think would work well with them, sometimes it’s setting up microphones and recording them, sometimes it’s sitting in a chair and giving the artist feedback about whether they should do another take or what they can do differently. Often it’s some combination of all of these things. I try to be available to provide these skills as needed, but I also am mindful that the song comes first and I don’t ever want to make the song about my presence in it, I only want to elevate it.

I’m very passionate about art as something to share, not as something to prove, and I think that’s another reason people work with me. I like the process, I like the product, but I’m not worried about the product proving anything, only sharing ideas.

Influences on my work: I liked Steve Albini’s approach to being functional but getting out of the way, I love Prince’s visions about what music can be and his chameleon like work on redefining genres, and I think Duke Ellington is a genius that continues to inspire me every day.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

It’s not only a way for me to learn to communicate better, but it also helps me with problem solving. I think as a society we regulate creativity only towards emotions and feelings, and those are very important. But exercising creativity helps us think outside the box in order to get through our day-to-day lives. Maybe the route we usually take to work is shut down so we have to figure out another way to get to work in real time. Maybe we don’t have a tool we need to fix something in the moment so we have to improvise and figure out something else that could function in the same way. Maybe we’re trying to tell someone something and they’re not receiving it the way we are intending it. I think the practice of creativity allows us to figure out other ways to get our message across or adjust to how people are receiving information so that we can make better connections.

Playing music allows me to ask questions about myself….WHY do I like certain melodies or grooves or chord changes or words set to music? Being confronted by these questions, even subconsciously allows me to get to know myself better too.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I think artists and creatives need to have their work paid for so that they can have the space and freedom to make more work. I think as a society over the last 20/25 years we’ve gotten used to not paying for music and tv shows and movies in the same ways that we used to. Having all recorded music able to be accessed for relatively cheap (or just having to sit through a few ads) seems wonderful for the consumer, but I think it devalues the music. Having to buy an actual song or album from the artist not only gives them some compensation for their work, but I think gives the consumer more of a connection to that art as well. I still go into record stores and look for albums I want to buy, never knowing if they have them or not, but having that rush of excitement when I do find it. I get to hear the songs in the order the artist intended so I can hear their vision. If I buy it on vinyl, I have to make the effort to go and flip the record over at a certain point which means I’m paying attention to what I’m listening to, it’s not just something in the background. If my internet connection is out or my bluetooth isn’t working, I know I can always dig out a vinyl record or a cd and put it on and that I’ve made a choice to invest in this music, in this artist.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://theprzmatics.bandcamp.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/przmatics

Image Credits

Joe Mazza