Jacob Interviews…Singer-Songwriter Mikey Wax

 

Rising singer-songwriter Mikey Wax has started out his career with an incredible start.  His 2008 debut album Change Again entered number 46 on the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia iTunes Top 100 Pop Charts.  He completed several cross-county tours supporting acts like Ryan Cabrera and Tyler Hilton.  Recently, he sat down with jacobelyacharjournalist.com for an exclusive interview that focused on his career and his 2011 album: Constant Motion.

 

Jacob Elyachar: Did you always wanted to be a singer-songwriter?

Mikey Wax: Having played piano since I was eight, I always knew I wanted to be a musician in some way.  I wasn’t sure how but I knew being involved in music was for me.

 

JE: Who are your musical influences?

MW: I grew up listening to a lot of the Beatles and Billy Joel, as well as lots of classic rock from the 60’s and 70s. Their melodic sensibility has always been a part of my own writing. During high school I got into more contemporary/pop music of the 90s and early 00’s including Dave Matthews, John Mayer and Coldplay.

 

JE: Could you tell readers the process about recording your first album: Change Again?

MW: I had just graduated college and knew I had a collection of pretty good songs that I had written through out my college years.  I had heard about a local engineer/producer named Bob Stander in my hometown on Long Island who had a quality basement studio.  I sent Bob some demos and he immediately understood my sound and direction. We began collaborating two to three days a week recording my songs – which eventually turned into Change Again. 

 

JE: Your song: “In Case I Go Again” has been featured on the Ghost Whisperer and the Real World and its’ music video has accumulated over 500,000 views on YouTube. What is the message behind this song?

MW: “In Case I Go Again” is about so many different things for me – it was the culmination of all the feelings of having just graduated college and being uncertain about my future, tied in with my own awareness that I had grown up a lot in those four years, not to mention I had been in a serious (often rocky) long distance college relationship.  It was all of those emotions that poured into “In Case I Go Again.”

 

JE: Was there anything different about recording your 2010 EP The Traveler than your debut album?

MW: Yes. Change Again was a very moody and serious album. The Traveler was much more free-spirited and optimistic I think. Songs like “Birmingham,” “Goodbye Too Soon,” and “California Skies” are three personal favorites of mine and those are all off of Traveler. 

 

JE: Could you describe to readers what your 2011 album: Constant Motion is about?

MW: Constant Motion kind of brings together everything that I had done prior. It has some of the confusion and nostalgia that I felt on Change Again, as well as some of the optimism I felt with Traveler. It was produced in more of a pop direction which is what I started going for on one of my earlier EP’s called For Better or Worse. 

 

JE: Who are your dream collaborators?

MW: There might be too many to list and so many talented people out there. But definitely some classics like James Taylor, Elton John, Tony Bennett and Billy Joel. For more recent artists like Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Coldplay’s Chris Martin and One Republic’s Ryan Tedder.

 

For more information about Mikey Wax, visit his Web site at: http://www.mikeywax.com/Site/Home.html.