Mike Viola – An Xperience Interview

Mike Viola – An Xperience Interview – by Rob Smittix.

RRX: So, how’s your day been?

MV: It’s been good. It’s been busy … making music. Just been doing some writing and recording. It’s my favorite thing to do, but I go into a bit of a time warp, that’s why I lost track of time. Sorry I was late.

RRX: I wasn’t worried about it. I was online looking at your Wikipedia stuff. I don’t normally do that but I was like … I’m gonna check it out, and I saw lots of really cool credits. Of course, “That Thing You Do!” and all sorts of credits. But I saw a couple that stuck out … The Figgs, for one, they’re like local heroes here.

MV: Yeah, exactly.

RRX: And Rasputina. A lot of people don’t know that Melora Creager, last I knew, lived in Troy.

MV: Oh, that’s right. Yeah, totally.

RRX: So I was like, oh, that’s kind of cool, a couple of our hometown heroes on your resume.

MV: I’m inextricably connected to the Figgs. I played in the band for a little while and toured with them, I was on a record or two, and Pete Donnelly played in Candy Butchers. He was a huge part of what I was doing with that band. And to this day, we are still making music together. He went on tour with me last year. He opened up some shows, and I made a record with him in my home studio, Barebones, where I make all my records. It was just a fantastic experience to be making music together again, and you know? It really was just like picking up where we left off.

RRX: That’s the best.

MV: Great record! If you haven’t heard that Pete Donnelly record, it’s really good. It just came out.

RRX: I’ll definitely have to check it out. Isn’t it great doing what you love for a living?

MV: It really is. Let’s see … technically, it was four years, but two of those years were COVID; I worked as an A&R person for Universal Records, and that sucked!

RRX: A real job.

MV: It was my only real job I’ve ever had. But I wanted to try it because I was offered the job out of the blue. I was on the road playing guitar with Ryan Adams, and my phone was blowing up; it was a headhunter or whatever trying to get me to work for Universal Music. I’m like … uh, I guess so. I tried that. It was so dumb. I made some cool records, but the job sucked.

RRX: I’ve had lots of real jobs, but I do this now 100% full-time again. However, my wife is the bread-winner. But I love what I do.

MV: The money always follows where the good energy goes, that’s what I feel like, you know?

RRX: I’ll have to work on my energy (laughs). I see you’re living in LA, but your most recent album is entitled “Rock of Boston.” Is it safe to assume you’re a Boston guy?

MV: Yeah, I’m a Boston guy, born and bred. My formative years … I learned how to do what I do, mostly in New York, I think, when I was in my 20s. And then I moved to LA, I guess in 2008. So I’ve been here for a chunk of time. It feels like home, I really love it here, but it’s definitely like the East is pulling us back.

RRX: And we’re glad that you’re gonna be coming to the Northeast again. I’m also enjoying this conversation, that’s my style … I’d rather not bombard you with overdone questions.

MV: Like how I learned how to play music and stuff, right?

(Both Laugh)

RRX: Totally!

MV: That’s my favorite thing to do, just unpack what’s going on in the world around me and what’s going on with you, you know what I mean?

RRX: That I do. Oh, I also saw on your Wiki page that you have a credit for “Club Penguin.” What’s that about?

MV: It’s really funny cause, you know? I’m in my 50s, so “Club Penguin” to me was just some dumbass show that was on TV when my little kid was watching it. But it’s really funny, those little kids that watched that show have grown up, and sometimes at my shows, they’ll request some of the songs from “Club Penguin.” I sang a couple of the songs.

RRX: Wait till I tell my kids that I talked to you, a guy who sang on “Club Penguin”!

MV: That’s gonna be the most impressive. It really is funny. Especially when I toured in Europe, there were a lot of, like, young adults requesting this song called “Ghosts Can Dance,” and I’m like … I don’t even know that song. But anyway …

RRX: That’s pretty cool, though, man. I imagine you still get some royalties coming in from some of these projects?

MV: I call it mailbox money. From “That Thing You Do!”, I’ll still get checks for like nine cents.

RRX: But they start out nice, and those are just some really cool credits to have. I was overly impressed.

MV: Oh, that’s cool, man. It’s like we were saying earlier, if you do what you love, the money follows. Someone will call you for something. You’ll get the gig

RRX: Fortunately, there’s room for you and me to do what we love, but honestly, if everybody did what they loved … s*** wouldn’t get done.

MV: Yeah, I guess you might be right. Oh s***!

RRX: I was really digging the new music. I was checking out, and what I mean by that is I would listen to it on purpose on my own time. I support everybody, but you know? They could be my best friends, but I don’t always love all of their songs.

MV: Yes, I know. I’m glad it resonates with you. I grew up listening to local Boston radio, and “Rock of Boston” was actually the slogan for WBCN, one of the big Boston radio stations. I grew up listening to a lot of classic rock. It wasn’t classic at the time; it was just rock, but I just kind of leaned into it. For the last three records I’ve made, I really felt like leaning into the s*** I really love, you know?

RRX: That’s what you gotta do.

MV: Glad it’s resonating.

RRX: Well, listen, I appreciate your time. Anything else that you would want to tell people before we wrap it up?

MV: Oh, I just remembered because I was on a call about it this morning. I have a book coming out. It’s a photojournal with writing for each photo. It’s like a couple hundred pages or whatever, and it’s about the years 1980 to 1984, growing up in Boston. Like being on the Boston rock scene and the crazy s*** from when I was a teenager. I was like 14 during those years. It’s got some cool local flavor, a lot of cool stories and run-ins with some rock legends and stuff like that. So that book’s coming out, it’s called “Superkid.” That might be something to mention.

RRX: No, we’re mentioning that for sure. I love that.

MV: Cool. I’ll send you the blurb from the publisher. They haven’t circulated it to the press yet, so this would be the first announcement of it!

RRX: Exclusive Xperience announcement – you heard it here first!

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“Superkid” is a photographic journal that illustrates the thrill, confusion, and disenchantment of growing up and becoming an artist along the way. Thrust into the spotlight at 14 years old and dubbed a rock music “prodigy” on the Boston rock scene in the 1980s, a time when that sound dominated the airwaves, Viola narrates how his seemingly straightforward path to stardom bent in unexpected directions.

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