Keeping up the momentum of his recent singles and albums, Michael Aldag continues to work on new music for his dedicated fans. In his Spotify bio, Aldag describes himself as a “ginger boy crying over synths”, and I couldn’t agree more, in the most amazing way possible. Michael Aldag’s music has changed over the years, but with his debut album, sorry for everything being released, he has wrapped up a lot of his most loved songs, alongside some new ones into one project – one home – one journey.
This winter, I had the pleasure of meeting Michael Aldag in the heart of Liverpool, in the world-renowned Cavern Club, the home of The Beatles (they’re kind of indie, not sure if you’ll know them). As a personal fan of Aldag’s music, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous for this one…
Can you tell me a bit about your introduction to music?
“I started making music when I was 14 and started writing, before that I was singing in choirs since I was 7, but I’d gig in the cavern pub open mic on a Monday or Wednesday night, but you had to sing three of your own songs. So once I’d got three of my own songs I went there and I played there and loads of other places across the city and just around Merseyside”.
Can you tell me a bit about yourself outside of music?
“There’s not much that goes on outside of music really, I spend a lot of my time either making music, making content for music, or thinking about music I want to make, or listening to music. I also posts videos on TikTok. I run – not very fast, but you know, on my own terms”.
Did you always plan to build your TikTok audience and then move it to music?
“No, it was a complete coincidence really. I had been doing music since I was 14 and 7. Since then I knew that was what I wanted to do. And then TikTok came along when I was about 18, in lockdown, showing my age. It was just weird because I started doing these videos that seemed to start getting some traction. I thought ‘ah, this might be a good way to show these people who like the videos to my music’, then it kind of went hand in hand, it wasn’t something I thought about”
You went on tour with Dean Lewis and Caity Baiser, how did that happen and what was that experience like?
“They were both really cool, crazy experiences, that was a wild time. It taught me so much about how to tour, I’d only been on a run of headline tours, and I still had tonsils so I used to get very ill, but then I got my tonsils taken out after all these tours”.
Did you write a song about it…?
“Yes, yes I did! Sorry, I went off on a tangent about tonsillitis then, that wasn’t quite what you asked! On the tours, they were brilliant. We went around Europe with Dean which was just incredible, playing to like 10,000, 8,000 people a night in Germany and Amsterdam as well – just Harry and I, my guitarist. That was so so special and taught us so much about just meeting people and how to perform and how to be an opener because it can be difficult, but it can also be so beneficial for you”.
“And the Caity tour was great as well, that was around the UK, with Ellie as well playing drums”.
“What would you say was the biggest turning point in your career? When did everything become a bit more real?”
“It’s always gradual. There’s definitely been massive milestone moments that have mainly come through BBC and BBC Introducing with the live side that we’ve done and doing sessions, as they’re thinking I’ve always looked up to since I was a young kid”.
“The one that springs to mind is when we played Reading and Leeds. That was insane because Leeds was the festival that all my friends went to when we were 16. I didn’t go actually – that’s a lie – I was too scared. But I went this time! And we played Reading as well, and that set was really special”.
What’s it like having a song go viral?
“It’s cool, don’t get me wrong, but it taught me just to make whatever you want and it will get out there. If you persist with it, I think with girlfriends I didn’t have to do that much due to how viral it had gone just off it’s own accord. But with bleak I had to keep trying a bit more but they’re on the same playing field now, and so you shouldn’t- I try not to compare songs just for the numbers because it gets a bit weird”.
Who have your biggest influences been?
“I feel like everyone’s influenced by everyone because of just the way things are now. Years ago, I would immediately say The Killers and The 1975, who I definitely still love for sure. But I think in terms of making music at the moment, I really like 80’s music, and stuff like The Pesh Mode, and there’s this band that I love called The Psychedelic Furs and I only recently discovered them and I’ve just been losing my mind over them recently, listening back through all their songs. I think it changes and everything’s fleeting but I’ve made more of a conscious effort to listen to some people and try and get some stuff from them”.
Do you ever get writer’s block and how do you overcome it?
“Sometimes, I guess. But just go away and do something else. Go for a run”.
What’s your favourite gig/concert that you’ve played
“In terms of festivals, it’s definitely Reading and Leeds, specifically Reading. It’s filmed on BBC so it’s on YouTube so you can go see it if you want. That was a really special performance, I don’t know what happened that night but everything just came together and somebody gave me a nice bottle of red wine afterwards so maybe that is tainting the memory of it in a positive light”.
“We just finished touring and we did the biggest headline we’ve done yet in London in a venue called The Scholar and that was so cool because it was stacked up and people were up at the top. It felt like you were a gladiator in the colosseum. That was really cool”.
Who’s going to be on your Spotify Wrapped this year?
“The psychedelic furs, for sure. I have ‘the ghost in you’ and also there’s one called ‘she’s mine’ – I’ve been listening to them so much. They just make me laugh some of the lyrics, it’s really good”.
You can pre-save Michael Aldag’s new album, The Carousel on Spotify below.