Psst. I have a secret for you.

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Cover art by Alper Yesiltas

Cover art by Alper Yesiltas

I just released a full band single for a song called GONE.  It's with the band behind me.  It's not officially being released until Tuesday June 12th 2018 , but since you are here, and you're reading this with those beautiful eyes of yours, I thought I would share it in advance with you.  It is only available in this one place and you can stream it and purchase it here, until it is officially released in the broader digital distribution market places on June 12th (iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, etc.).  Check it out now, funk soul brother.  Right about now (click the image if you want a direct link there—yeah, that's right "I'll take you there."

Long Beach Independent

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I recently had the opportunity get some press for my new  acousitc album EMPTY CIRCLE by the Long Beach Independent.  Here is a link to checkout the article below.  Thank you kindly to Jewell for the interview!

 http://www.longbeachindependent.com/2018/05/listening-to-mike-vitale/

The Jungle - Single

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Make no mistake.  From here on out, this year, there will be a rapid succession of music releases.  This is for the month of May.  This is something that was originally released as a The Hawkline Monster song, before I decided to make my own life difficult and go back to using the name my parents gave me (Mike Vitale—what a douche).

With that being said, this song, as of May 26th 2018, has been added to all digital streaming and digital retail services under my own name: Mike Vitale.

I am very proud of this song.

It is a song I wrote about us. It’s about people. It’s about how we behave like complete animals, yet, want to have some sort of unique distinction above them, as if we are not one ourselves. 

Given our penchant for war and destruction, as a species, I find this to be a pertinent topic that should be discussed, even if within the confines of a song. My desire is that the more we are aware of our instinctual animal behavior and our emotional base reactions, such as aggression and fear, the more we might move beyond our reptilian brain, or what Arthur Koestler referred to as the ghost in the machine. This song features my friends Frank Reina on drums, Cory Clark on electric guitar, Brad Cummings on bass, Jesse Nason on synth, and myself on vocals, acoustic guitar and electric guitar. It was mixed by Barrett Slagle and mastered by Pete Lyman.

Here are a few digital streaming links that you can use to listen to this song:

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/track/0GzkZ9M7ltL9M53HXofjZx?si=V0v9cr2mT32iPx7YpuCW0A

Apple Music:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-jungle-single/1390269918

AND

Here are places where the song can be purchased:

iTunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/mike-vitale/260074369

Bandcamp:

https://mikevitalemusic.bandcamp.com/track/the-jungle

Google Play

https://play.google.com/store/music/album/Mike_Vitale_The_Jungle?id=Bata2klx4ujrvfgotft3mjryldi&hl=en

Amazon MP3

https://www.amazon.com/Jungle-Mike-Vitale/dp/B07DBHW38V/ref=sr_1_5?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1527705217&sr=1-5-mp3-albums-bar-strip-0&keywords=mike+vitale

It exists on everything known to man for streaming services and digital purchase sites, so just let me know what you want a link to, and I'll send it to you.

I have another single that is literally about a week away from being released.  It is a full band version of the song "Gone."

No joke people.  2018 is going to be all about me playing a lot of shows and releasing a lot of music.

What I would love for you to do is to help me spread the word about these songs.  Word of mouth is king.  Please talk about them to people so that they do not die a slow death of ones and zeros on the world wide web, in obscurity.

Mike Vitale is now on Periscope

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Have you ever thought, self, if I were to have a window into Mike Vitale's living room so that I can listen to him whine into a microphone for hours on end—what might that look/sound like?  Well, look no further.  I joined Periscope It's actually quite a bit of fun!  I've been making friends on there and finding lots and lots of people who genuinely enjoy the music I write.  You can join us there online.  I have been live streaming many of the shows that I play AND I have also been broadcasting from my living room.  Come join us!

If you have a twitter account or a Facebook account, it is very easy to join (it literally took me 5 seconds to join VIA twitter).

Here is my Twitter handle:  

http://twitter.com/mikevitalemusic

AND here is my Periscope handle (you can also click that image above and it will take you to my periscope page to follow me:

http://pscp.tv/mikevitalemusic

Once you have an account setup through your twitter or Facebook, you can setup push notifications to let you know when I am live streaming music directly to your phone.  

See you there!

- Mike

EMPTY CIRCLE is now available on Spotify

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My sense of humor had been cryogenically frozen along with Walt Disney's head.  THE GOOD NEWS: It just thawed out and it's building a theme park, being crowd sourced by Spotify royalties.  Think a cross between Dollywood and Disneyland.  Help us name the theme park in the comments below.

To open directly in Spotify App:

spotify:album:7hYN1Z5NkNlEfcuPGGQ1C7

To use a browser to open the link:

https://open.spotify.com/album/7hYN1Z5NkNlEfcuPGGQ1C7

Thank you for listening!  

EMPTY CIRCLE is now available on Apple Music

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Empty Circle by Mike Vitale (that's me!), is now available for digital streaming on Apple Music.  If you are an Apple Music user, go ahead and click here to give it a listen:

 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/empty-circle/1384636182

If you're not an Apple Music, go ahead and click it anyway.  I have no idea what will happen.  Let's find out!

 

Ye Ol' Bookstore

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When I was in high school, I used to ditch class to hangout at an old bookstore in downtown Visalia called Ye Ol' Bookstore.  It's owner and proprietor was an English man by the name of J.P. Beavers.  I learned a lot from J.P..  We had many a discussion involving religion, ethics, history, literature, chess, music—you name it.  

He taught me a chess move called En Passant and hipped me to a lot of wonderful literature growing up.  He was a very intelligent guy, and I dare say that I learned more from him than I did from my high school.  I bought many book from his shoppe (he also gave me quite a few as well).  But, the greatest gift he ever gave me was his company, his conversation, and his brain.  J.P. is no longer with us on this world, but he lives on in my memories.  This visit to The Last Bookstore with my friend Sarah, reminded me of him—specifically, this art piece upstairs.  Thank you J.P., for everything.

Hotel Cafe Acoustic Album Release - May 12th 2018

Album Cover by Sonya Kanelstrand

Album Cover by Sonya Kanelstrand

I have an acoustic duo album that I am going to be releasing on May 12th 2018 on the Hotel Cafe second stage at 8pm, and I would love to have you there.  Advanced tickets are available for purchase at The Hotel Cafe website:

https://www.hotelcafe.com/tickets/?s=events_view&id=7581

The cover for the new album was photographed by Sonya Kanelstrand.  I am so thrilled to have her image as the face of this extended play release.  If you are interested in finding more of her material online, you can do so here:  http://www.kanelstrand.com

The music on the album is something I have devoted quite a bit of time to for the past several years, whether on the writing of the songs, the capturing of the material, the arrangements, or trying my best to mix some of this material in a manner that I feel is flattering, all by myself.  With that last bit being said, I'm very lucky to have Ryan Lipman stepping in to mix this material for release.

Along with the stellar talent of Sonya and Ryan, my friend Keenan Castello will be joining me on lead guitar that night to perform these songs, live, and my friend Lakin will be opening the show at 7pm.  Tom Bremer played lead guitar on several of these tunes, but will be out on tour during the release.

Your love, support and encouragement means the world to me and I would be stoked to be surrounded by family, friends, acquaintances, and fans.

Dyzzy on Vynyl In-store - April 21st 2018

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Today, in observance of record store day, I’m going to be playing music, exactly like this picture, but in completely different clothing. In observance of my birthday, I’ve been practicing naked (not true, but point in fact, I’m completely naked under what I’m wearing). You can find me at Dyzzy on Vynyl playing some music today with Bearcoon at 2pm, Dustin Robinson at 3pm, and me at 4pm. Love you! 📷: Fabiola Sanchez #recordstoreday

Mike

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I've been making friends with a homeless man named Mike over the past several days.  We met at the laundromat.  

He gave this pick to me as a gift this morning.

We bonded today over the fact that we both used to work at The Queen Mary in Long Beach for a while.

He is a very sweet man.  He likes to smoke pot and drink.  He keeps trying to offer me some weed.  I decline.

He offered me this guitar pick this morning, and some good conversation and I was happy to have both of those.  In actuality, this is one of my favorite types of guitar picks.  I used these for years.  The exact gauge: .73mm  Today, I am playing some music at the Holiday Inn later tonight.  I will use this pick.  Thank you so much Mike.

I hope today finds you all smiling and well.

- the other Mike

Time Machine

I'm turning 39 years old tomorrow. I've got a pretty wild imagination, but not even my imagination could come up with the life I am living currently (or maybe it did—I'll get back to you on that one). I'm filled with gratitude for what I have: you (yes, you reading this). 

At any rate, I wrote this song about my life. It may not seem like it, but I can explain it to you.

My mom turned me on to science fiction. She used to show me old movies like "The Time Machine" by H.G. Wells. From there, I got into the more modern varieties such at "Back to the Future" (I was a child of the 80's—and I'm an avid Michael J Fox fan). I also read a lot, and was fascinated by the work of authors such as Kurt Vonnegut, who wrote such classics as "Slaughterhouse-Five" in which Billy Pilgrim, the protagonist, gets unstuck in time. All of these elements are in my song, because, they are a part of my life—I am so very grateful for all of these influences.

The song is also about my family. The opening verses talk about playing legos with my brothers Clark and Matt. Clark is 9 years older than Matt and I, so he used to watch us kids when my mom and dad were away from the house. He would play legos with us kids. He would challenge us to make spaceships using our own imagination instead of using the instruction manual that comes with a prepackaged set. He also worked at a toy store at the time, and had access to radio controlled cars, and toy guns that shot rubber pellets and flying discs. Long story short: he was the raddest older brother two little guys could have. Thanks Clark.

Most of all, this song deals with us. It deals with people. It deals with life. We are creatures of senescence, which means that our cells are slowly losing their ability to divide and grow. It's a fancy $5 word used to say this: we are aging.

With that being said: take risks. Live life to its fullest potential. Don't be afraid to do what your heart desires. Show as much love as you can for people. Be kind. Be firm when you need to. Listen when people are trying to tell you something. Stop listening to people when you can feel with certainty that they don't know what the fuck they are talking about. Be yourself. There will never be another you on this planet. Love that person with everything that you have. Love yourself. Just be.

At any rate, this is the song. if you want to read the lyrics, they are posted beneath the actual song when you follow the soundcloud link. This will be released on Spotify and Apple Music and Google Play and all that other consumer friendly stuff soon. This is mix 2 of the song. 

This came from my imagination. I didn't follow an instruction manual to write this song (my brother Clark taught me that).

Michelle

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It's my 39th birthday on Saturday April 21st 2018—and for whatever reason, I thought of my sister this morning—the sister I never knew.  She died at birth.  

She would have been my older sister: two years older than me.  Her name is Michelle.

An abstraction in my mind would have her pushing me over in this picture: vying for attention on Christmas morning.  We probably would have had some sort of rough phase getting along with one another in our teens—but I can guarantee you, we would be best friends, right about now.  

Life would be different than it is right this very moment, in every regard.  I imagine she would have had a profound effect in shaping my life in the positive.  This is for you Michelle.  You are not forgotten.

In-Store performance at Dyzzy on Vynyl in Long Beach - April 21st 2018

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For any friends, acquaintances, and fans in the area: I will be playing an In-Store performance at Dyzzy on Vynyl in Long Beach, on April 21st 2018. That day is Record Store Day, and it's also my birthday. 

In observance of record store day, and to feed your own heart and soul, please go out and buy records from your local retail store, such as Dyzzy on Vinyl, or Fingerprints, or Amoeba Records, and any of the thousands of other brick and mortar locations that sell music on vinyl. That would mean a great deal to me, and I think it would mean a great deal to them as well.

I am going to be 39 years old on Saturday and I am so happy, thankful, and blessed to be alive and to be playing music with Bearcoon and Dustin Robinson - Music on Saturday. It's a gift in and of itself. Thanks y'all.

To learn more about the event, you can find info on Facebook, here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/158327264847229/

Dyzzy on Vynyl is located at 3004 E. 7th Street in Long Beach, CA.  Beacon will be performing at 2pm, Dustin Robinson at 3pm, and myself at 4pm.  Feel free to reach out below in the comments if you have any questions!  The show is free and open to the public.

Perception

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I'll tell you what, at 38 years old, I don't know shit.

I would like to think of myself as being a smart guy, but in actuality, the one constant I do know, is that with every passing year, I realize I know less and less than I did the year before. Do you ever feel that way too? I mean, to me, its more than a feeling—it's a near certainty that almost seems to make sense in some sort of strange-out-of-focus-kind-of way.

And with all this near-sighted and far-sighted talk that I just sort of conjured up, life, in all of its wackiness, is very dependent on how one perceives it.

Take that humorous example above. We have all heard the notion that the glass is half full or half empty, but leave it to comedy to show us what the truth is.

I started off seeing things glass half empty this morning, and then decided, nope, it's always full.  I will work hard to maintain this outlook, mentally.  I hope you do too—and that you smile.  Life is too short not to.

Fool For You (Live at Studio-333) on Spotify and Apple Music

Thank you to everyone who has been so kind and encouraging and who have requested for this live Youtube video to be on streaming music sites such as Spotify and Apple Music.  I just uploaded the song today, so it should be available for streaming and purchase within the next few days on all major digital distribution outlets:

This video was WAY more work than I had originally anticipated.  I mixed this myself.  I know, it sounds simple.  It's not—not if you're a perfectionist.  I am a perfectionist.  Which doesn't mean I got it perfect; it means I begrudgingly stopped working on it and that I read two books on the subject and that I spent 2 months working on it obsessively and that I did about 46 mixes of it.  I will never be happy with what I did here, I fear (in the mixing department).

I AM thrilled about all the people who helped me to make this and I am thrilled that a song like this came out of me.  It is one of the most popular tunes I have ever written.

4th Street Productions in Long Beach filmed the video.  I can not thank you enough Damian.  You are truly an artist.  It was filmed live as we tracked the song live.

I am thrilled that I performed this with three other musicians who I feel are some of the best players on the planet:  Frank Reina. Brad Cummings, and Tom Bremer.  You guys are my musical brothers.  Also, thank you to Ryan Lipman for mastering this mix of mine.

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I am thrilled that Alfredo Cristinziano provided the cover art for this song.  Here it is.  You can find him on Instagram here:  @alfredoziano

A lot of his work is very sexy.  Be prepared for sexy.

Most of all, let me come around full circle and thank anyone and everyone for finding something to like in this and to those, who will, and are listening to it.

In so many way, you all remind me of a time where I would make something and then hope that my parents would proudly display it on the refrigerator.  I am so thankful for the magnet between your ears if you are proudly displaying it on your refrigerator right now.  God bless.

With Love,

Mike

 

 

Ernest Cline

Man, just when I thought balancing my time was easy—I realize, it's not.  A piece of advice for myself: don't listen to other people who claim to be experts on things.  They're not.  It reminds me of an Ernest Cline video that I really like called "Dance Monkey Dance."  A matter of fact, here it is:

I posted this video many many years ago on all of my social media because the message felt real and true to me.  To this day, I still watch this video and it resonates with me.

We must all learn to listen to our own hearts.

This year, Ernest Cline has a new movie out called "Ready Player One."  It is being directed by one of my childhood heroes: Steven Spielberg.  Ernest is good art and good art speaks for itself.

I am a small grain of sand supporting the weight of his accomplishments as an artist, and I'm proud to be that.

- Mike

Peony

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Recently, I had the pleasure of settling in with the ever controversial and provocative figure behind such classics as, "I'll Sit Where I Want, Just Not in Your Lap" "Oh Were You Sleeping?  I'm Hungry," and her best selling memoir, "The Only Thing That Would Really Make That Warm Laundry Better, is Me on Top of It."  While she spent nearly a week evading every effort for me to get comprehensive coverage on her and the intimate details of her life, let alone sweet sweet snuggles, I found that one cup of food every morning, and one cup of food every evening, helped immensely with her opening up to me, a bit.  Cleaning her cat box didn't hurt either.

 

 

Mike:  So, from what I understand, you're an avid fan of my work as a musician, correct?

Peony: [silence and a slight stare to her left]

Mike: [clearing my throat] ...well, I guess I'll be moving on with the first question.

Peony:  Meow.

Mike: Would you say that you prefer me to your loving friend's Kurt and Jill.

Peony: I'm not at liberty to say.  Who's Kurt and Jill?

Mike:  Holy crap, you're speaking english!

Peony:  I asked you a question.

Mike: This isn't real.  This isn't real.  This isn't real.

Peony:  Meow.

Mike:  You know, Kurt and Jill:  Guy with the beard and the charming voice and songs; girl with one of the finer senses-of-humor since the invention of everyone else.  Really sweet people.

Peony:  [she exits the room]

Mike:  I wasn't quite finished with...

Peony:  [slight turn from the doorway] Meow.

[the next several minutes consisted of what can only be described as sounds that strongly resemble romping around the house at maximum velocity.  It is pertinent to note that for the past two weeks, this has been standard practice.  This is followed by long intervals of silence.  I assume she was sleeping.]

Peony: [from the doorway] Meow.

Mike:  You're back.

Peony:  Meow.

Mike:  While I have you here, we should probably move on to more pertinent questions regarding your stance on...

Peony: [leaves the room again]

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[At this point in the interview, I'm beginning to realize that this might be more difficult than I had originally anticipated—wait, she's staring at me from the doorway]

Love you Peony.  Thanks for letting me watch this character, Kurt and Jill.  She's a lot of fun.

 

 

 

Running Away From Home (Youtube)

Hey y'all!

I just posted this week's Youtube video.  I recorded it live with an AT4033 mic when I was still living in Long Beach, CA.  I love that mic.  It was the best $300 I've ever spent—or was it $400... I can't remember.

This is a song that I wrote for my mom and dad, called "Running Away From Home."  I've talked about it before.  Keep reading my blog, and you'll see what I mean.  If you dig it, you can find the full band version for all streaming services as well as all digital distribution sites.

The lyrics are in the description of the video on Youtube.

If you dig this solo acoustic version, give that subscribe button a click, and ring the bell so you know when I post new videos on Youtube: