Mike Fuller spent much of the pandemic like many others–floating in existential dread, contemplating life & his future. During this time, he found a theme in 3 of his songs: chaotic love that filled a decade of his life.
The first song from his upcoming The Missed Connection EP is “Ms. Wrong” – the lady he knew wasn’t right for him but couldn’t resist. Fuller recorded “Ms. Wrong” in Brooklyn with Jordan Rose (Theo Katzman/Cory Wong) on drums & percussion & Andy Hess (Black Crowes/Gov’t Mule) on bass.
Fuller’s rock and roll roots run deep. The son of a church organist and a cover band singer/rock and roll enthusiast, it seems only natural Fuller would follow the musical path laid by his parents and find himself writing a collection of uptempo, foot-stomping tunes.
In his interview, Fuller cited some surprising influences behind his forceful power pop — as well as the importance of scheduling time to write.
Do you have any songwriting tips you can share?
Schedule time to write. There are millions of things you can do to put off writing if you leave your time completely open, but you may have better luck if you build an hour or two into your calendar. I don’t always stick to it, but I have an afternoon blocked off every weekend just for writing and it’s worked wonders for me. Also, save the editing for later! Get the ideas down as quickly as you can and decide if they make sense after your session. Worst case scenario, you have a bad song. Bad songs are great – they strengthen your writing muscles and encourage your brain for the next go round.
Recent release you cannot stop listening to?
Aaron Frazer’s “Introducing…” has been in heavy rotation.
Also really digging Ali Awan’s “Moon Mode.”
Do you start off with the music or lyrics first? Why?
A classic ambiguous answer – it depends! The pattern I’ve noticed lately is I’ll start with a chord progression first when I sit down for a writing session, and then build the lyric idea around that. Other times, I’ll get a lyric and melody idea that zaps me randomly kind of at the same time, and I’ll record it as a voice memo and put some chords to it later on. It’s always a little different, which I think is part of what makes it so much fun.
Does your album have an overarching theme?
The EP is really a coming-of-age journey through distance and time. Romantic entanglements, trials and tribulations…stories over the course of a decade that led me to today.
What’s the first concert you ever attended? What do you remember about it?
The first concert I attended was Red Hot Chili Peppers. My buddy and I were in a band together at the time and we were so stoked to go. My Dad took us and we had an absolute blast. The energy at the show was electric. I was buzzing for months after. I knew I needed to get more of that feeling into my life.