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| Joe Michelini of American Trappist |
Amuse-œil
by Matt Chrystal
Joe Michelini announces American Trappist's new EP Amuse-Orielle and opens up about his fear of death, living in the afterglow of River City Extension, and falling in love with his new project, American Trappist.
CoolMattyC: When you pour your heart and soul into a project like you clearly have with American Trappist, is there a fine line between flattery and annoyance with people, such as myself, continually asking you about your previous band, River City Extension?
Joe Michelini: Not really. I am just flattered that anyone who was interested in RCE is now interested in American Trappist. I am flattered that anyone is interested in any of the music that I am making in general. You don't have go very far from Ocean County, NJ to realize that most people have no idea what River City Extension was. River City Extension was big for our local scene; but, on a national scale, we were just a very small grain of sand on a very big beach.
And there is something very exciting and refreshing about that because, now that I am starting over, I have found that I really do not even have to talk about RCE that much. People don't know or care. I would love for River City Extension fans to connect with American Trappist, and I am not sure if I have done that well enough yet. I have tried to build that bridge and will continue to try and build that bridge. Since I moved to Philly, I have realized that River City Extension is virtually unknown and that is actually kind of nice.
I will be doing a run of solo acoustic shows coming up where I open up for Matt Pryor, who is an old friend of mine. Those dates are set up to get those people who listened to River City Extension to cross over. I will be playing some River City Extension songs and some American Trappist songs to introduce more people to it.
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| Joe Michelini with River City Extension at Asbury Lanes in 2015. |
CMC: Am I reading too much into the American Trappist record, that the majority of the songs can be connected to your feelings about shedding the skin of River City Extension and evolving into American Trappist?
JM: I think some songs were. There's a song or two; but, in general, no. The last RCE album, Deliverance was more about me shedding skin. The whole Deliverance album was very self-referential about being in a band, the people in the band, the band politics and the relationships we had with each other.
When I sit back and look at it, American Trappist does feel a bit like a departure; but, sometimes, it doesn't. The song, "Nothing Short of Faithful" was written later, but that's something that could have been written with RCE in mind. "Sour in the Rye" was written for the next RCE album if there had been one. "Afterglow" is the only direct and spiteful thing that is on the record where I felt like I needed to say something to a specific person or persons in the band. Some people I had a falling out with, but lots of those guys I still keep in touch with and several RCE members played on the American Trappist album.
CMC: So while the songs on the album may not all be about the transition between bands, there is undeniably an extremely personal feel to the songs and album as a whole, where it does not seem as though you are singing about characters…
JM: The record is more about me being raised in a pretty religious household. My parents were super religious; but, at the same time, they were actually pretty open-minded, and they were good about raising us and telling us this is what they believe but then allowing us to wander off. I think the record is about me losing my faith in God; and, because of that, everything changed including my perspective on love and people. So those sentiments are paired up with some of my inner dialogue.
I felt pretty free to make whatever I wanted with American Trappist. Some of these songs that I put out with American Trappist would have been RCE songs if we had continued to be a band. They would not have sounded like they do on the American Trappist album. When RCE fell apart, I found that I had some new tools to work with; or maybe I realized I had less tools to work with, so naturally these songs just came out different then they would have if they were made with RCE.
CMC: Speaking of songs from the American Trappist album coming out different, you wanted to announce something to the loyal readers here at CoolDadMusic.com…
JM: We are putting out an EP this summer called Amuse-Orielle Volume 1. It will be two new songs ("Fear of Nothing" and "Soot") and two songs from the American Trappist album that are alternative versions ("Fireworks" and "Heaven").
If you have ever been to a really fancy restaurant, they sometimes serve what is called an "amuse-bouche," which means something like "mouth surprise." The chef has created something that is not on the menu, in very small quantities and you can't order it and you don't have to pay for it. I is just served to you in a bite size portion.
By the way, this is not something that has ever happened to me. I cannot afford to eat in restaurants like that. But I have worked in restaurants that have done this.
Anyway, we wanted to put out an "amuse-oreille" or "ear treat" in between albums. It's us just saying, here are two songs that we like but did not fit with the album and here are two more songs that are reimagined. The plan is to put these EPs out between records.
CMC: In regard to a proper album follow up album to American Trappist, you recently posted an online poll gauging interest around a pledge fund for the new album. How did that go? And is that poll an indicator that the new album has moved beyond the concept stages?
JM: We were testing the waters about a pledge fund but I do not think we would get it made with a pledge fund. I do not think there are enough people who know what we are working on, and that is ok; I just have always been curious about the sort of thing.
The album is being written right now. The next record will explore anxiety and fear of death, as those are like my biggest feelings that I have right now. That is what I have to write about because it feels close and real for me.
I'm pretty sure I am going to die every single day. I am going to die on my way to work, or on my home from work or plugging in the vacuum, or slipping in the shower or falling down the stairs or that I am going to eat something that will give me salmonella. I feel like that every day. Every day I am thinking about death. I feel very temporary here and very temporary in my body.
The next record is currently being written and we'll be returning to the Asbury Park Yacht Club this summer to do another residency. We did a residency there last summer and it was really helpful for us to develop as a band and develop the songs as a band. We hope to do that again this summer and then start recording the new record in the fall.
CMC: With your next record focusing on your anxiety on death and addressing your own mortality, is your musical legacy something that concerns you?
JM: I just think that one of the great things about being an artist and that excites me to continue to be an artist is that I can create work to express myself that will hopefully be around for so much longer than I will ever be here. With the internet and iTunes and resources like that, it's not like I have to worry about all my tapes burning in a warehouse fire and that would be the end of that.
Art will be around forever. You can walk into a museum and see stuff that was created hundreds of years ago. So yeah, I think about my legacy a lot.
CMC: So it sounds like making a connection with people in both the present and the future is something that is important to you…
JM: Artists can leave stuff behind that can be found by other people and make them feel less alone. People can hear a piece of music or see a work of art and feel a sense of comfort and relate to what the artist was feeling. I think at one point or another, everyone finds themselves feeling totally alone in this universe, and while there may be some truth to that, I think art can help remind people that there are others out there that felt like they do or maybe even felt worse than they do. And maybe art or music can remind a person something about life that they find worth remembering and worth living for.
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| River City Extension's final bow at The Stone Pony in 2015. |
CMC: The majority of the songs you have released are very personal, reflective and self-referential, is it a fair statement that authenticity and the "search for true self" are major themes in your life and work?
JM: Yeah, definitely. Absolutely. I want to be who I am both onstage and off. Otherwise, I would just be fumbling around in the dark. If someone tries to undercut me and talk shit about what I am putting out now, my reflex is to say, "Oh yeah? Well, this is who I am!"
CMC: We have talked about the music on the album, American Trappist, and a some about your upcoming works… but how about the band, American Trappist… will American Trappist continue to be evolving project with rotating band members with you at the helm or have you settled in on a fixed lineup at this point?
JM: We have settled in for sure. On the surface, this appears like it's just my thing, and in a way it is my thing, but once you hear us and see us play it will be apparent that we are much more than just my songwriter project, we are a band.
I have to start with Shane, he played drums for RCE and now plays with Cranston Dean and also has a new project called SLPMNSTR. Shane and I did the American Trappist album together. There were people that came in to play on the album but it was mainly a project of both Shane and I. He helped direct the flow of the record and produced it with me, all in addition to him to playing drums. And sure this is a singer-songwriter project but this is really a project that belongs to both of us for as long as he is available or interested in doing it.
Justin, from the band Modern Television, is playing keys and he is an incredible pianist and vocalist and has such a great mind for arrangements. And then there is Louie 2, who plays bass on the album. Louie 2 also plays in a band called Algebra 2 and I recently recorded them in my studio. Shane and Louie play together so naturally.
When we a started American Trappist, it was like was kind of just my songwriter project but as we have played together and put songs together, it has become apparent that we have the opportunity to do something really great. It's weird. It's like I tell myself not to fall in love again but here I am. I just really love these guys and love playing with them. Everyone brings something irreplaceable to the album. I think we all get excited by each other, there's just a feeling that everyone is making it worth everyone else's time. Everyone is really talented.
All the guys in the band do have other bands, so I do not know how long everyone will be able to stay on the line but I sure hope it's for as long as possible.
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| American Trappist at APYC last summer. |
CMC: I heard somewhere, that you do the recordings of American Trappist songs in your old bedroom of your parents' house, is that true?
JM: That's partially true. Before my wife and I purchased a home in New Jersey, we were living in an apartment in Philly and I could not record there without making the whole building very angry. So I took ten days off of work and went to my parents' house in Toms River to record the meat of the American Trappist album. The tracking and other parts were done in Philly. At the beginning of the song "No Bible," there's this sort of drone tone and that was us tuning wine glasses with spit on our fingers. Shane and I also went to UArts to do some of the piano parts and then other parts were done at 816 Studios.
It was all such fun, and felt personal and emotional and felt peaceful in a way that recording records has not felt like in the past.
CMC: Despite the personal and sometimes heavy subject matter of the songs, in terms of recording and playing in American Trappist, is it safe to say that fun has returned for Joe Michelini?
JM: Yeah, fun has been a huge theme with American Trappist. We try to keep things with this band as fun as possible at rehearsals and at our shows. And I think the fact that these guys are so good and so professional about what we do that it allows us to have fun. Our live show is a little theatrical and just feels natural and that makes it fun for us.
I like to be entertained and when I go to shows and I see someone on stage that looks like they do not want to be there then it makes me feel like ugh, I do not want to be here either. Yeah, there were definitely some nights when I was playing with River City Extension that I felt like that. There were times when we were still trying to find ourselves and what the right thing to do was to work through how we were feeling about things that were happening before we got on the stage.
With American Trappist, we have been able to check our feelings at the door or channel that energy into the performance. If we are not feeling it at first, we work through it and it the emotions of wanting to perform and entertain just take over.
I got really good advice when starting American Trappist. Someone in Philly said to me, "Take nothing seriously and try really hard." So I think I have just gone by that and let everything else fall by the wayside.
CMC: Continuing with the theme of fun… the name American Trappist is partially an ode to your love of craft beers and you recently played a set at Atlantic City Beer & Music Festival. So, I am wondering what are your some of your favorite beers?
JM: The name American Trappist definitely has to do with beer. That is for sure. I am very interested in Asbury Park Brewery right now. Every beer that that I have had from AP Brewery has been so good. I feel like they found a way to take simple beer styles and approach them in such a way that gives them a little something that is new and fresh. I have been really impressed by them.
I have also been into Bolero Snort. I have had some really amazing beers by them and I have also had a couple that I felt really burned by. I felt like someone just held me up for $14. But the ones that I have had that I liked, have been so good, that I am willing to keeping going with Bolero Snort. Bolero Snort has done the IPA thing well a few times but other times I think they could have been a bit more open about some of their beers being on the experimental side.
There's also Carton Brewing and they have some good down the middle stuff but then they will make like a crazy beer like pad-thai flavor or something weird like that. Carton is open with the fact that they are experimenting and that they will try another crazy flavor after that one. I'm sure some people will not like a wasabi-apple beer but it's like whatever, someone has to be on the front line and push the boundaries.
CMC: So, it sounds like you definitely have some strong opinions about the local brewery scene here in New Jersey….
JM: Yeah I do; but, hey, I'm not on the brewing side of things. So if one of these brewery guys came up to me after reading this and was like, "If you don’t like my beer, why don't you brew your own?”
I would have say, "You are right! Fuck me!"
It’s the same with music. If someone came to me and was like, "Hey, I don't like your record," I would say "Ok, then listen to something else or better yet, go make a better one and listen to that."
That's one thing I never got about art, all the criticism. If you think you can do better, then go fucking do it!
CMC: Well, you mentioned criticism so that's a good segue for a question that I have wrapped up all of my interviews so far this year with…. What are your thoughts on the political climate in today's America and your hopes for the future?
JM: I just think that Trump should not be president.
I am kinda scared. It feels like this is a bad time and what is coming next? Another war? Another depression? I wake up and watch the news and ask myself if today is the day that that something like that happens? The fact that there are still human rights issues in today's America is crazy and sad.
But on the other side of things, I am so excited to see the LGBT community becoming stronger and becoming more visible. I wish that Trump's presidency was not the reason that we are seeing more people stand up for LGBT rights but it's great that that to see the rise in the voice of LGBT community and see a rise in the feminist movement.
I would like to see more people bridge the gap and see more unity but it is very difficult to have a conversation with someone who thinks that a group of people should not have basic human rights. When it comes to human rights there can be no compromise.
The album, American Trappist, is available now.
American Trappist will be performing as part of a CoolDadMusic-presented showcase at the Asbury Park Yacht Club on May 5th along with Dentist and Toy Cars.
For more dates and info head over to www.AmTrappe.com.
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