Mike Interview with MIX Malaysia

[LPLStaff]

Mike did a quick interview with MIX Malaysia on March 17th, here's the recap!

 

- He explains how 'Happy Endings' came about with UPSAHL. They wrote the song, loved it, and the more other people heard, it they loved it too so it encouraged Mike to release it. He got Iann on the track before wrapping it up to release it.
- He isn't planning an album, "but basically, the bigger the song gets, the more likely I am to release an album. If you want me to make an album, then show me you want me to make an album."

- 'Happy Endings' was the first major label release affiliated with NFTs. Mike's label as well as UPSAHL and Iann's labels were like, "What does an NFT even mean?" And Mike was like, "Well I want to put it out tomorrow so you better do your research!" Ha. He explained that the money will go to his scholarship but he wanted the labels to just not worry about the money - only worry about the rights for the music.
- Mike goes into detail about why he also surprised fans with the 'Happy Endings' NFTs with a bonus signed art print for the song. He expected that the 'Happy Endings' NFTs would exchange hands amongst fans/be resold when he announced that the art prints were coming too, but none of them changed hands. He speculated that this is because actual fans of his bought these specific NFTs.

- The environmental debate with NFTs is brought up. Mike feels that it's a somewhat temporary problem (he's guessing), because so many people are working on solving it.

 

Watch the video here.

[Coizu]

8 minutes ago, LPLStaff said:

He speculated that this is because actual fans of his bought these specific NFTs.

I am sorry but this is so out of touch. Most people don't have any crypto currency at all, let alone enough to just use it randomly for something like that on such a short notice. I would assume that I am rather on the tech savvy side of the fanbase and still, even if I wanted to pay $10.000 for one of the prints, there was simply not enough time for me to even get that money into any usable crypto currency. How is someone without any crypto knowledge supposed to get that done?

[Somebodyangry]

So he’s not trolling about “if the song goes big, I’m gonna make an album even tho i didn’t plan it”. Ehm ok, not a big fan of this, TBH. But I hope he drops a great album and proves me wrong (pun intended lol).

 

[PeppePark]

43 minutes ago, Coizu said:

I am sorry but this is so out of touch. Most people don't have any crypto currency at all, let alone enough to just use it randomly for something like that on such a short notice. I would assume that I am rather on the tech savvy side of the fanbase and still, even if I wanted to pay $10.000 for one of the prints, there was simply not enough time for me to even get that money into any usable crypto currency. How is someone without any crypto knowledge supposed to get that done?

 

Good point, when he first talked about NFTs on Twitch there wasn't even one person who knew what he was saying 🤣

[Justin]

“If you want me to make an album, then show me you want me to make an album.”

 

HAHA what?! Mike... Don’t go down this path, please. I get what he’s saying, but it very much feels like he’s saying the quiet part out loud every time he says this. Like, it’s obvious that Happy Endings doing huge numbers would make an album release more appealing to the label and to Mike himself as an artist who makes a living through his music. You don’t need to literally spell that out, though, because I think it’s risking giving the perception of an album inspired by potential sales rather than for the sake of the art.

Edited March 17, 2021 by Justin

[Somebodyangry]

55 minutes ago, Justin said:

“If you want me to make an album, then show me you want me to make an album.”

 

HAHA what?! Mike... Don’t go down this path, please. I get what he’s saying, but it very much feels like he’s saying the quiet part out loud every time he says this. Like, it’s obvious that Happy Endings doing huge numbers would make an album release more appealing to the label and to Mike himself as an artist who makes a living through his music. You don’t need to literally spell that out, though, because I think it’s risking giving the perception of an album inspired by potential sales rather than for the sake of the art.

Definitely this

[JZLP-NaughtyNottingham]

It's confirmed

there wont be a new album.

 

im fine with his singles approach i would love an album if he tours.

[martinez]

3 hours ago, LPLStaff said:

 If you want me to make an album, then show me you want me to make an album."

Is "Post Traumatic" was that bad that he keeps repeating this?

[Somebodyangry]

11 minutes ago, martinez said:

Is "Post Traumatic" was that bad that he keeps repeating this?

How much did PT sell ? IIRC it did like 33k first week in the US, it’s not that bad. It even charted top 30 in many countries. It was not a flop 

[yagamilight207]

luckily they uploaded the video.

i recorded the live broadcast but missed the talk during NFT and afterwards.

[Cesar656]

14 hours ago, martinez said:

Is "Post Traumatic" was that bad that he keeps repeating this?

PT has nothing to do with this but ok

[LPLStaff]

44 minutes ago, Cesar656 said:

PT has nothing to do with this but ok

 

Playing devil's advocate - why not? A general assumption (whether right or wrong) among fans is that the sales of Post Traumatic would lead the label to want a single like 'Happy Endings' to do big numbers.

[JoForumBlueGold]

Quote

19 hours ago, LPLStaff said:

He isn't planning an album, "but basically, the bigger the song gets, the more likely I am to release an album. If you want me to make an album, then show me you want me to make an album."

 

I've always disagreed when people said A Thousand Suns and One More Light were the band selling out. I believe those were the band's genuine creations, not because "MtM was big" or "Hunting Party metal didn't do well so let's go pop". Even Happy Endings, a song that undeniably fits in today's pop genre, does not qualify as a sellout in my book. A song's genre has nothing to do with selling out. 
Unfortunately, this statement by Mike is drifting into that sellout narrative and yes, I am taking this out of context. Like Justin said up there it's like he's "saying the quiet part out loud" and that just invites other people to take it out of context, possibly with harsher words than I do. 
All that said, do I want more songs from Mike and maybe an album? Absolutely. But I don't want the sales/reception of a single song to be that album's sole motivation. 

[Somebodyangry]

27 minutes ago, JoForumBlueGold said:

I've always disagreed when people said A Thousand Suns and One More Light were the band selling out. I believe those were the band's genuine creations, not because "MtM was big" or "Hunting Party metal didn't do well so let's go pop". Even Happy Endings, a song that undeniably fits in today's pop genre, does not qualify as a sellout in my book. A song's genre has nothing to do with selling out. 
Unfortunately, this statement by Mike is drifting into that sellout narrative and yes, I am taking this out of context. Like Justin said up there it's like he's "saying the quiet part out loud" and that just invites other people to take it out of context, possibly with harsher words than I do. 
All that said, do I want more songs from Mike and maybe an album? Absolutely. But I don't want the sales/reception of a single song to be that album's sole motivation. 

Happy Endings to me is not bad because it’s selling out, it’s just that I don’t like the sound. But I totally agree with you that calling the song a sellout is wrong, as much as I don’t think ATS and OML we’re just the band wanting to sellout and achieve a bigger audience (to me OML is A LOT braver and  boundaries- pushing than Meteora and LT, because it’s totally different from the other records by the band). 

[Cesar656]

I think its easier than that. He did not want HE to even come out. People insisted so he put it out. Mike is a smart guy, he doesnt want to publish an album that would flop, giving him bad press and rep with the label. Therefore, smartly enough, he will put out an album if the numbers justify the risk. Hey, thats exactly what companies do before launching a product

[Somebodyangry]

18 minutes ago, Cesar656 said:

I think its easier than that. He did not want HE to even come out. People insisted so he put it out. Mike is a smart guy, he doesnt want to publish an album that would flop, giving him bad press and rep with the label. Therefore, smartly enough, he will put out an album if the numbers justify the risk. Hey, thats exactly what companies do before launching a product

Agree on the fact that he’s not gonna out an album with press, cd, vinyls, etc just due to the demand of a strict fanbase. He’s smart enough to estimate and consider the situation as a whole with its pros and cons and then go for the cleverest thing to do. 

[Coizu]

Whenever I am listening to a new release I am wondering if that artist would be successful if that release would be their first release.

So in general if you need an existing fanbase to hype it up and make it worth putting out (and you kinda rely on that) the answer most probably is no and it is questionable if anyone needs that release in the first place. 

I can't make assumptions about Mike's upcoming release, just a general thought.

 

I personally don't want an album for the sake of an album. I want an album if and when he thinks that he has some really good stuff (which he eventually will have, no doubt) and he wants the world to hear it. Otherwise I can't be excited about it.

[Somebodyangry]

8 minutes ago, Coizu said:

Whenever I am listening to a new release I am wondering if that artist would be successful if that release would be their first release.

So in general if you need an existing fanbase to hype it up and make it worth putting out (and you kinda rely on that) the answer most probably is no and it is questionable if anyone needs that release in the first place. 

I can't make assumptions about Mike's upcoming release, just a general thought.

 

I personally don't want an album for the sake of an album. I want an album if and when he thinks that he has some really good stuff (which he eventually will have, no doubt) and he wants the world to hear it. Otherwise I can't be excited about it.

I think he’s pretty cold on making a new album right now, I don’t know, if he is more satisfied in putting out single songs it’s probably the best way 

[martinez]

2 hours ago, Cesar656 said:

PT has nothing to do with this but ok

it can have more than you can think of it right now.

 

I think PT didn't done great because the first single wasn't the best as to choose it as the main from the album. Also, the first 3 tracks were released few months earlier, maybe Mike shouldn't include them to full album.

[lpliveusername]

It seems everyone forgot about Mike doing the same thing with Post Traumatic. He released an EP and said he might do more if it's well received.

 

2 hours ago, PurpleFlinstoneVitamins92 said:

Agree on the fact that he’s not gonna out an album with press, cd, vinyls, etc just due to the demand of a strict fanbase. He’s smart enough to estimate and consider the situation as a whole with its pros and cons and then go for the cleverest thing to do. 

That's a sad statement and fits in the sellout narrative. It's like he won't release music for the fans, but for the masses with the sole purpose of making money.

[Cesar656]

2 hours ago, martinez said:

it can have more than you can think of it right now.

 

I think PT didn't done great because the first single wasn't the best as to choose it as the main from the album. Also, the first 3 tracks were released few months earlier, maybe Mike shouldn't include them to full album.

I really dont think this album has anything to do with PT. PT was his take on the feelings of Chester passing, shared with the closest fans so they could get closure

26 minutes ago, lpliveusername said:

It seems everyone forgot about Mike doing the same thing with Post Traumatic. He released an EP and said he might do more if it's well received.

 

That's a sad statement and fits in the sellout narrative. It's like he won't release music for the fans, but for the masses with the sole purpose of making money.

He belongs to a label, he needs to justify the investments. He is not in a place where he can just put out music freely for masses to share without a profit for him/the label

2 hours ago, Coizu said:

Whenever I am listening to a new release I am wondering if that artist would be successful if that release would be their first release.

So in general if you need an existing fanbase to hype it up and make it worth putting out (and you kinda rely on that) the answer most probably is no and it is questionable if anyone needs that release in the first place. 

I can't make assumptions about Mike's upcoming release, just a general thought.

 

I personally don't want an album for the sake of an album. I want an album if and when he thinks that he has some really good stuff (which he eventually will have, no doubt) and he wants the world to hear it. Otherwise I can't be excited about it.

Debut albums have nothing to do with the following ones. On a debut album the artist shows a first glimpse of its sound, not completely defined, that can portray in which direction the music of the artist can go.

Would LP be where they are if their first release was ATS?

[Coizu]

14 minutes ago, Cesar656 said:

Would LP be where they are if their first release was ATS?

That's not the point at all. It's not about getting as big as they are right now. ATS could stand on its own. Even without the history of LP I would consider it as an album that I would be interested in and I would understand if it is successful.

[Cesar656]

7 minutes ago, Coizu said:

That's not the point at all. It's not about getting as big as they are right now. ATS could stand on its own. Even without the history of LP I would consider it as an album that I would be interested in and I would understand if it is successful.

The point is its not the same to release a debut album or a follow-up album.

I highly doubt ATS would have had the same commercial and popular success if it was the bands first album

[Coizu]

8 minutes ago, Cesar656 said:

I highly doubt ATS would have had the same commercial and popular success if it was the bands first album

Of course it wouldn't but that wasn't my point at all.

[Somebodyangry]

1 hour ago, lpliveusername said:

It seems everyone forgot about Mike doing the same thing with Post Traumatic. He released an EP and said he might do more if it's well received.

 

That's a sad statement and fits in the sellout narrative. It's like he won't release music for the fans, but for the masses with the sole purpose of making money.

I know and I don’t like this way of thinking, I’m the first one who expressed many times his disappointment for Mike’s material in terms of quality and the first wishing he’d release a weird experimental record with stuff like “it goes through”

or UIB or rap battle stuff like IOU, so yeah it’s sad