Page 90 - ION Indie Magazine MayJune 2020 Issue

CL: When you are on stage, how does that feel?

MS: At first it felt like I was about to have a heart attack, however, over the last year
or so, I have grown much more comfortable on the stage, and now-a-days it's mostly
just fun. I love to laugh and joke and mess around. And I think that shines through
during my live shows. There was a time in the beginning where I would literally write
out every single word I was going to say and practice it with a mirror or a phone. I
have since loosened up a great deal and rarely know what I am going to say on the
stage. My only rule is that I am honest and open to whatever reception the audience
may give me.

CL: What genre of music do you most identify with?

MS: I think singer/songwriters are genre-less by definition. My genre is the song.
Sometimes, that song sounds like a country song, other times, it sounds like a blues
song. But I actually make a strong attempt to stay out of the song’s way during the
writing process. If it wants to come out sounding like an 80's hair metal ballad, then I
try to trust the process and let it be what is is. My friends and fans say I sing with a
country twang in my voice, and I definitely do at times, but that's just because I grew
up listening to Garth Brooks and singing along to every record of his. So, it naturally
comes out that way. But I would not consider myself simply a country artist.

CL: Any last words you would like to say to your fans? What do you want them
to know about you or your music?

MS: Last words? I sure hope these are not my last words. However, if they were, I
guess what I would want to say is this: My entire life I felt a strong sense of
compassion for other living creatures, humans included. This may be because of how
I grew up and witnessing the things that I was forced to witness. And there is this part
of me that wants to turn away from that compassion. It believes that living without
empathy would be easier and less painful. That very much may be true. But it certainly
wouldn’t help anything or anyone but myself. Today, I choose not to live that way. We
are all human. No one is better or worse than anyone else. And I hope to leave this
world better than I found it. In order to do that, I believe we must end the stigma of
things like substance abuse, mental illness, homelessness, etc. We can do this by
speaking to it and educating those around us. Am I less of a human because I was
addicted to drugs at one point of my life or because I stood on a bridge trying to work
the courage to jump? No, of course not. And neither is anyone else.

https://www.facebook.com/mikescullymusic/