Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Witt.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Michael. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started playing music when I was pretty young, beginning piano lessons when I was five. When I was 11, I wanted to learn the guitar, but my parents said that I couldn’t stop taking piano lessons. I had a small classical guitar that I received as a gift, so I figured that I could just learn how to play myself. I started my quest by sitting down and clumsily plucking through Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on one string. It wasn’t much, but I remember feeling so accomplished. I had figured out a song on the guitar. After that, I couldn’t be separated from the instrument. My parents bought me an electric and I learned as many classic rock songs as I could manage. When I got into high school, I was ready to start making music of my own. A friend of mine and I had planned to start a shoegaze project that never ended up getting off the ground. I ended up abandoning my guitar nerd persona in order to fit into the expectations that were being placed on me by the people around me.
Expectations to be the football star, the valedictorian, the president of the student council. And nowhere in those expectations did a songwriting guitar slinger fit. I think I just got tired of fighting. Tired of trying to defend my interests. Tired of trying to convince people that not playing sports didn’t invalidate me as a person. So I just fell head-first into the role that people wanted me to play. It wasn’t until my freshman year of college that I realized how twisted I had become. So I made a decision to return to myself – to embrace my aptitude for musical creation. I remember thinking to myself, “If I could excel in things I didn’t even like, how well could I do if I dedicated my energy to something I actually love? Something that comes naturally to me?” So I started writing music and carving out focused practice time on the guitar. I was back. This return to myself is what has to lead me to where I am today.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It hasn’t been a Sunday stroll down a tree-lined street. But I am very fortunate to have the support of my parents, my friends, and of the few fans that I do have. Once I got out of my hometown environment and realized that I could be whatever I wanted, the environmental obstacles just sort of faded away. I don’t have to try and balance my time between creating music and going to practice some sport that I don’t even want to play. So that’s made things much easier for me. At this point, the most obstinate obstacles come from within myself. I’ve internalized a lot of bullshit that is difficult to unlearn. I struggle with anxiety, paranoia, and rampant perfectionism. These struggles can certainly make it difficult to feel good about my own ideas, my own creations. But I’m doing my best to get through them. It isn’t all doom and gloom, either. I’m surrounded by incredible people who are nothing but supportive and inspiring to me.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
I am a guitarist, a songwriter, and a solo artist. I would say that I specialize in creating interesting musical atmospheres that accompany the lyrical narratives of my songs. I’m not sure that I’m “best known” for anything since I don’t have much of an audience at this point. But I would guess that the quality which people would most likely point to is my guitar playing – this is what I try to share the most. This is not at all to say that I’m a phenomenal guitarist, just that I want to be known as a guitar player.
One of the things that I’m most proud of is my ability to write guitar parts that fit within a certain piece of music. I am not the most technically skilled guitarist around, nor am I the most interesting composer on the instrument. But what I can do really well is write a guitar part that serves the song for which I’m writing. I think something that sets me apart from others is the meticulous and patient approach I take to making music. I’ve been working on my current record for over a year, and one reason is because I like to take time to let ideas simmer. I have to be able to listen to demos over and over and over again so that I can really do my best to hear what the song wants.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
There isn’t one singular moment that I could point to. I think that my proudest moments are the moments when people reach out to me and say that my music has had an impact on them. This is really all that I want from all of this – to feel heard, to feel like I’m not alone. So having somebody fulfill those needs, in any capacity, is something that fills me with joy and pride.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.michaelwittmusic.com
- Email: michaelwittmusic@gmail.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/michaelxwitt
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelWittMusic/
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0rgdq0oXnYi6TDKsLypBPj
Image Credit:
Jessica Whitson
Nick Wagner
Candace Moore (Minerva House)
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