We were lucky to catch up with Mike Tony recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mike, appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I started learning how to play instruments at an early age. When I was 4 years old, I would make a drum set out of boxes, pots, pans and pillows and play them wooden spoons. Around the age of 5 I was enrolled In a music program in my elementary school where I learned how to play a multitude of instruments, including violin, thought at that age I just wanted to beat on things so I gravitated towards drums and percussion. At the age of 8 I was gifted my first real drum set and took to it very quickly. I would mimic and play along to songs on the radio and try to keep up with my dad while he played guitar.
At 11 I wanted to be a DJ so I got a really cheap pair of decks and a mixer and tried my best to be scratch DJ, but quickly realized it’s not as easy as it looks and I ended up mostly talking and making noises into the microphone while the record spun.
At 13 I wanted to write songs so I asked my Pops to teach me some chords on the guitar. He taught me E, A, and D and told me “you can write thousands of songs with those three chords” and I dove into learning Tom Petty songs. This sparked my interest for songwriting, and with those three chords I started writing my own. This quickly grew into an obsession and I was writing songs almost everyday, and in order to remember these songs, I decided it was time for me to record them. A year later, I bought a 4 track Tascam cassette tape recorder and started laying down my ideas. I thought myself bass and keyboard out of necessity to bring these song ideas in my head to real life. Soon enough I had full, fleshed out, real songs with drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals recorded to my tapes.
A few years later, a friend of mine taught me how to use a DAW which gave me the ability to record as many tracks as I wanted so naturally I expanded on my recordings. I learned about compression, EQ, dynamics, mic placements, automation, effects, the wall of sound, and string composition. Before I knew it I was scoring out orchestral string and horn compositions for my songs, elevating my skills to a whole other level. Which is leads me to where I am today. Still writing, recording, performing, producing, engineering, and mixing my own recordings.

Mike, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a self-taught musician, songwriter, and producer who’s been making noise since the late 80’s. Since 2003 I have recorded and released 9 albums of my own projects, and have contributed on countless others. Whether it be as a musician, or as a producer, I’ve dabbled in many genres ranging from, garage, soul, r&b, hip-hop, pop, experimental, psychedelic, etc.

I think one things that sets me apart from others is my versatility as a musician, producer and entertainer. Another thing that sets me apart is my stage presence and ability to charm any crowd of people, no matter what their musical preferences. I can balance familiarity and obscurity. Most of all, the distinct sound of my voice and my ability to showcase different versions of it.

One of the the projects I’m most proud of to this day is my solo debut LP “Post Party Depression” I wrote it off the back of a divorce which resulted in a cross country move from LA to Atlanta. I was feeling a lot of intense emotions and had a lot to say, and to me the album feels like the most important work I’ve done so far. It was the first piece of art I had completed and released in many years so it felt triumphant, and real.

I’m also really proud of the new material I’m writing. I’m starting to expand on my sound, bringing in new elements I’ve yet to explore previously. I’m becoming a little more fearless in my songwriting and that feels good.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn some industry garble about what a “hit song” consist of.

In 2008 my band Très Bien, played a showcase for Island/Def Jam records in NYC. We were never signed but were a part of their “artist development” program which taught us how to “write a top 40 hit song” In the industry there is (or was) this very strict song writing formula that they deemed the (only) way to write a hit song. There was this box with time stamps and parameters and rules that they said was the ONLY way I’ll ever have a song on the radio. Sometime later the program was disbanded due to the rise of free online music downloading and we were dropped from the program.

I was stuck on this “top 40” formula for so long it took the joy and authenticity away from my songwriting. It was no longer fun as it was work, trying to make this formula work for everything I was doing. I had to unlearn this to regain control of my own taught process when it came to songwriting. Most of my favorite songs were not a “top 40 hit” and they have so much more substance and beauty and authenticity. It took me years to break out of this box and now I can say I’m happily writing songs for me, I’m writing what I want to hear and not thinking “oh this needs a 4 bar hook and that needs to go right into a 2 bar pre chorus into a massive 8 bar chorus followed by a post chorus hook” (don’t get me wrong, I love a good hook and smart song structure) but I think it’s better then you can throw the “rule book” out the window and just do what feels and sounds right to you.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me the most rewarding thing about being a creative is having this vessel to express myself. And when I’m doing this I’m making something that can potentially live forever. I’m making something that could potentially help, or serve someone else, and there’s no time limit on it. Because it lives forever, someone 100 years from now might discover it and enjoy it as much or maybe even more than someone enjoying it in present day. I think art and music is one of the most crucial and necessary aspects of life, and to know I contribute to that makes me feel important.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/miketony
• Instagram: @miketonyofficial
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOGwURnncBtLTY5h6Z93UNA

Image Credits
Jayda Abello, Michael Bostinto, Julie Starner, Oscar Perez