The Go Rounds’ former guitarist chats about his new project for Local Spins on WYCE, which also debuted tracks by Michigander, Wuzee, Lowke, Sarena Rae and more. The Artist Spotlight and podcast.
Inspired By ‘Pretty Stark Scenes’: The latest project from Mike Savina, aka Miglodesh. (Courtesy Photo)
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Kalamazoo musician and composer Mike Savina views his latest music project as a reflection of the natural world – an oft-meditative exploration inspired by working in the garden and taking walks in the woods.
“Some of that came directly from these moments in nature when I just felt inspired by some pretty stark scenes – everything from an idyllic inland lake with birds, sandhill cranes and swans and geese and herons, and then other moments like stumbling upon a mostly decomposed deer carcass that was very alive with activity just like maggots and microbes,” said Savina, one-time guitarist for The Go Rounds who now performs and releases music under the moniker Miglodesh.
“It was kind of stunning. As I’ve been moving through the world and processing change and what comes after death in the natural world, I was really inspired to write music that felt like a transitional scene. It felt like it was directly linked to some of these experiences that I was having.”
Savina: Missing the band but appreciating the transparency of solo work. (Courtesy Photo)
So, for much of his upcoming album of “grimy lo-fi pop” and “cinematic landscape music” titled “On Death & The Art of Making Peace,” Savina said he meditated on “the phrase that in a system of natural variance, it’s those things that are very regular that sort of stand in stark contract to the norm.
“Undulation and change is part of the natural landscape, and rigidity and regularity is something kind of stands out in contrast.”
Savina, 37, a native of Ann Arbor who’s lived in various parts of Montana, California and Michigan over the years, has embraced change in his own way since first picking up a guitar while growing up in Grand Haven to spending years as a member of indie-rock’s The Go Rounds.
He eventually left the band because he was “too overwhelmed in my personal life,” Savina recalled, while sending his love to frontman Graham Parsons and the rest of the band.
“I was on the cusp of finishing remodeling my house — a total odyssey of years of piecemeal work when money and time presented itself. Ironically, when the music was hitting, it was some of the best sounds we ever made together to my ear anyway. Maybe I didn’t have the fortitude or patience to wade through the sediment of misunderstanding with the tremendous amount of growth and change happening at home.
“I jumped ship. I jumped into deep, dark water of unknowing. I know it was painful for all of us. But we’ve all been seeing each other around a little bit and it feels good to be around one another.”
He conceded he misses the “forward-facing nature” of performing a “tightrope act” on stage with a full band, but appreciates the transparency and self-accountability that comes with solo work.
COMPOSING ‘REACTIVE MUSIC’ TO FILM REELS OF DIFFERENT LANDSCAPES
Inspired over the years by the likes of The Grateful Dead, Jeff Beck, Brian Setzer, Adrian Belew, Marc Ribot and the minimalism of Daniel Lanois and Hiroshi Yoshimura, Savina’s new solo venture leaned on field recordings and “long film reels of different landscapes projected on a screen to compose reactive music.”
But there are robust contrasts on the album, too, supplied by the aforementioned grimy lo-fi tracks that are “rhythmically driven by drum sounds” he created on his sampler.
Funded by the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo, “On Death & The Art of Making Peace” was recorded in his home studio and at La Luna Recording and Sound in Kalamazoo.
Reflecting Transformative ‘Moments in Nature’: Mike Savina (Courtesy Photo)
Although the album officially gets released digitally on Sept. 30 with a pre-order Kickstarter campaign that kicked off Thursday, he’ll perform live takes of some of the tracks tonight (Friday) at The Pyramid Scheme in Grand Rapids.
The show headlined by singer-songwriter Fiona Dickinson, will also feature sets by Miglodesh and Slow Spell (the latest project of Michigan’s Laurel Premo). Tickets are $15, available online here, with doors opening at 7 p.m.
Miglodesh and Slow Spell also perform at The Alluvion in Traverse City at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $15, available at thealluvion.org/tickets.
“It feels really meditative,” Savina said of his new recording and ambient approach. “I do hope that translates (to listeners). I’ve come to learn that when you act with total conviction with whatever you’re doing, something is translated when you sort of imbue your entire spirit into the act of creation.”
Savina, who’s participated in the Earthwork Music’s spring tours of Michigan with other collective artists, frequently joins Grand Rapids singer Molly Bouwsma Schultz as a guitarist during her band’s performances, does some session work and teaches at The Suzuki Academy of Kalamazoo.
But he also views Miglodesh’s latest project as “the beginning” of a new chapter as he continues to develop “a new bank of sounds” for future releases.
“Things feel pretty open,” he said, “but there’s definitely some stuff in the works as well and I’m really excited about that.”
In addition to showcasing part of the new Miglodesh album, this week’s edition of Local Spins on WYCE – which spotlights Michigan music at 11 a.m. Fridays and 5 p.m. Sundays on 88.1 FM WYCE and online at wyce.org – featured fresh tracks by May Erlewine, Michigander, Light Speed Engine, The Fridays, Eric Engblade, Wuzee, Lowke and Sarena Rae, as well as a song from Fiona Dickinson. Listen to the full radio show here.
PODCAST: Local Spins on WYCE (8/16/24)
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