Photo by Erick Frost
Michigander, the project of singer Jason Singer, has just released its highly anticipated self-titled debut album on Thirty Tigers. This comes two years after his fourth EP, It Will Never Be the Same, when Singer expressed his desire to move beyond EPs and create a full record. That ambition has now been realized. Singer’s journey has already included performances at major festivals like Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo, tours with established acts like Andrew McMahon and the Wilderness and Manchester Orchestra, and the widespread popularity of his song “Let Down.” But this debut suggests an artist far from complacent. The album is a collection of twelve songs, each with its own character, bound together by instantly memorable choruses. It’s an album that feels both fresh and familiar, a testament to Singer’s songwriting talent. Despite his prior achievements, this full-length project feels like a significant step forward, marking a new chapter for Michigander. I spoke with Jason while he was on Michigander’s first headline tour of Florida.
You’ve had a pretty great last six months. You had a successful end of the year tour, you launched your own podcast, you’ve released some singles before your debut full-length. Must feel like a satisfying six months leading up to the album release.
JASON: Yeah, I would say that. Truthfully, the album was supposed to come out before the tour. That the inside baseball of it. But it ended up not being done so it was kind of like let’s not rush it, but let’s continue the tour. That was kind of cool, because we got to play these songs before they’re out and gauge what songs people are digging. That was all really cool. And then like launching a podcast was something I always wanted to do, and it was like, now’s the time to do it, because I had some downtime, I was not super busy, even though I feel like I’m always super busy. But, yeah, it has been a good six months leading up to the thing. I feel like everything kind of kicked off this cycle with Bonnaroo last June. It kind of felt like, “Here’s the new thing.” And we played “Giving Up” for the first time at that show. That’s when things felt like they were starting to click for the next cycle.
I read an interview you did, and you mentioned that you’re looking forward to playing the new material on tour and maybe cut out some old songs to make room. As a frequent concertgoer, I appreciate that because if I like a new release by a band, I’d like to hear those songs rather than the same setlist filled with the predictable older songs.
JASON: I’m kind of torn on that. I love playing new stuff and I truly feel like this is the first collection of songs that I have that doesn’t have a miss. I can go to every other EP and be like, “Those couple songs aren’t good.” I mean, obviously we don’t play a lot of them. We’ve got new stuff and I feel like our whole set can be really quality from start to finish, which feel a little rare in a way.
But also, when you go to see a band play and you love the band, but they’re playing their whole new record and the new record isn’t that good, I hate that. So, it’s like, “Man, I just wish they would play the whole old record in full cause that’s like THE record.” I understand, as they are the artist, and they make the decisions, I’m there for whatever they’re doing. That’s what’s drawing me to the show. It is kind of a weird thing. It’s been cool playing these released new songs on the tour. You got to come to the Columbus show. It’s weird playing songs that are not released. That’s what we did first and we haven’t really done that before. We haven’t really done that since the beginning, in 2014, when there was no music released, and we had to just play whatever. People couldn’t really engage with it that much.
It does feel kind of special to be like, “Here at Skully’s in Columbus, we’re going to debut this song, and I hope it’s your favorite song one day.” We played a new one for the first time two nights ago in Fort Lauderdale and it’s cool knowing that we’ll always have debuted that song there in that city.
When I saw you in November in Columbus, there were 5 or 6 of my friends also at the show. The thing about your music is you have this knack for writing these amazing hooks that people only need to hear once before they feel like they know the song. I was looking around as you played new material and after your first time through the chorus, the next time you reached that point, people were singing along to a song they had never heard. Is writing hooks something that you’re conscious of or is it something you picked up from artists that you love?
JASON: That’s a good question. I’m not entirely aware of it and I think it’s because I don’t overthink. I just want to move on quickly when I’m writing something or doing anything and that usually is not a good thing. It’s like, “That’s good enough, let’s keep going.” I just want to keep the output consistent, and I want to keep going. I’m not the smartest guy, I don’t read a ton, I don’t have a massive vocabulary or anything, so I just feel like the simple songs is what I’m good at.
Is this album the first time you’ve done co-writes on songs?
JASON: The last EP, It Will Never Be the Same, was the first time I really did co-writing. We did do a good bunch on the new record as well.
How do you feel about that?
JASON: I feel good about it. It’s finding the people that that really works for and that you work well with. That was always something that was hard, trying to find the people you work really well with and sticking with them but then also realizing there’s probably other people out there you can work well with. It just takes searching. You have to be like, “I’m searching. I found some people. Cool. This is working good.”
I’m sure there’s other people that I would vibe well with, it’s just time management, figuring out who you want to work with. Now I’m in this phase where it’s like, “I just want to find all these new people for the next thing because once I get home, I’m going to start writing the next record. That’s just how it works, I guess. Just keep going. I haven’t really written songs in a couple months.
There’s always an uproar on social media when an artist wins a big award, like a Grammy, for a song that has 15 co-writers. People will say, “Yeah, but this artist that didn’t win writes all their own songs. Why do you need 15 co-writers?” That doesn’t bother me. People don’t complain that actors and actresses don’t write their own lines. They are hired to deliver those lines. So, if a singer sings words that others helped write, I don’t understand why it’s a big deal.
JASON: Especially when they are solo artists. Most people nowadays are co-writing. It works for some people, it doesn’t for others. That’s just how it is. Sometimes I like it, sometimes I don’t.
Butch Walker was someone you wrote with for this album. Did you know him before working with him?
JASON: I didn’t know Butch. I’ve been a fan of Butch, but I got to go down to his ranch. His studio is one of the coolest places I’ve ever been and we wrote that song, “Peace of Mind,” in a couple of hours. He’s just so great and we vibe well together. He’s a friend now, and I really think he’s just an incredible human being.
Was he suggested to you by someone?
JASON: My publisher, or someone, was like, “Do you want to write with Butch?” I said, “Yes, please.” That’s the thing about Nashville. There’s a lot of country music here but there are some alternative and rock people who are pretty notable and it’s not oversaturated with that here yet. It’s kind of cool to be able to be like, “I got to go work with Butch on something.” He’s not really making tons of country music so he probably felt equally excited to find somebody who works in his lane in his town.
I image that now that you’re putting out a full length on a label, and you’re working with people like Butch Walker, your check gets split a lot more ways than it did when you were doing stuff on your own. It’s a double-edged sword because you need people to help push you to the next level but to get to that level, there’s a lot of people wanting their cut for the work they’re doing.
JASON: It’s cool to be able to do that now. I love being able to pay people for their work and support something else beyond myself. And to know the songs are doing that is crazy. But it is hard as a musician. You’re starting out and you have nothing and then you have something, and then you have to spend that something, or get rid of that something, to get to the next thing. And that’s how it is every time, from the very beginning to the first tour to the first successful tour. You have a tour, and you sell out all the shows, and it feels amazing and then you are like, “This is sick.” And then you go to the next tour, and you’re like, “How do we make this better than the last ones?” We buy all this production, we pay everybody more, we do this stuff. And then it’s like, “Okay, now how do we top it again?” Because you always have to be improving. That’s just part of the game.
When the ’70s rolled into the ’80s, a lot of the artists had to learn how to be actors and make videos in hopes they’d get played on MTV. These days, artists have to be active on social media to get their name relevant. How much does social media play into what you have to do to get people to check you out? Do you enjoy having to take on other roles besides just the guy who’s making the music?
JASON: It ebbs and flows the enjoyment of it. Sometimes I’m like, “It’s fine. It’s part of the job.” I’m in a mode now where it’s like, if I’m touring, it’s hard for me to tour, do the Zoom thing and then be like, “I’ve got to make a video today.” There’s like a bed behind me. I just want to sleep all day. So when I’m home and I’m not touring and I’m not busy, and I’m not getting ready for tour or working on record, it’s easy to post a dumb video. I feel like recently things are probably changing a little with it, like in the last couple of weeks. I’m kind of like, “I’m good.” I deleted my TikTok off my phone so I can’t get it back, which is okay with me. It’s kind of a weird thing. But at the same time, you meet people at the shows who are like, “I found your TikTok. I bought two tickets and I bought a t-shirt and a record and I’m here and I’m definitely going to come back next time and I’m going to bring my friend” That stupid 30-second video I made really like was worth like 200 bucks. And it’s not like it’s about the money. It’s like I created a fan.
As you know, I follow you on various platforms and you seem to have a pretty thick skin. You’re not shy when expressing your views. I’m sure you must get a lot of DMs, or even public comments, that say “Shut up and play music.”
JASON: All the time. I’d rather say something about the world than just be writing some stupid song, I guess. An artist at any level, no matter what they believe, whether they are a Democrat or Republican or whatever, it feels insane to me that these artists aren’t using their platforms to express their opinions. And it’s even crazier to me to see these artists tiptoe around it by putting it in their “close friends” feed. It’s like, just say the quiet part out loud because if you’re not doing that, then what is the point? It’s more and more that like music is entertainment, and that’s fine, but if you’re not using like your platform to say something, then you’re just wasting everyone’s time.
You played Columbus right after the election. I was very disheartened by everything that was going on and it was so great to be able to come and see you play music. It allowed me to escape reality for a little while.
JASON: It was the first show after the election. That was so weird being on the road for that. The other day, we had the day off on Inauguration Day and we’re just like, “This is crazy.” It’s insane to me.
There are two songs I want to talk to you about. In past conversations, you’ve mentioned how The National is one of your favorite bands. I didn’t really get into them until 2023 and now I’m obsessed. “Breaker Box,” especially the opening to that song, sounds like The National to me.
JASON: To be fair, I wrote that with my friend Jeremy Lutito, my producer, and then Trent Dabbs, another songwriter, and Trent had the idea of “Breaker Box.” We had this melody, and then Jeremy had this other track that he was playing with. The “Breaker Box” song was supposed to be like this big banger, a fast song. And then Jeremy had this other idea, and I was like, “I don’t really like the music here, but I would love to take the lyrics and the vibe over to this sad piano thing.” It has that meandering piano. There’s horns in it and everything. The National are one of my favorite bands, there’s no hiding it at all. That’s a song that I’ve always wanted to write and a song that I can’t believe is my song because it just feels it just feels so special. It’s obvious very National influence.
The other song is “Socialite.” That’s the rocker. That seems a little bit different than other stuff you’ve done.
JASON: I would say over the last couple of years, we’ve been a heavier rock band or something. For the shows, there’s more grit than when it used to be smoother, and we wanted a song to reflect that. Trent had that guitar riff idea. I don’t remember what was happening in the world when we wrote it, but it’s a satirical song. It’s about kissing the ring.
Before we go, I wanted to mention I love the Breaker Box podcast. My favorite podcasts are ones where hosts make me feel like I’m hanging out in the room with them and just listening to conversations they are having with cool people. You’re doing that and I think it fits your personality. Is that what you’re trying to do with the podcast?
JASON: I’m always someone who wants to like champion my friends and I’ve been fortunate to have a platform that’s maybe two inches higher than some of their platforms. I know I have people who listen. A lot of times, the guests are my friends. Most of the people on there are people that I am friends with or casual acquaintances with, and I’d like to get to know better. Now that we’re like 12 episodes in, it’s kind of hard to find the guests, because I’m like running out of people. It’s just kind of hard to find a guest that I can feel super comfortable with. I would love to have conversations with huge celebrities or bigger artists that I admire but it’s also the vibe of it being like, “This is just my buddy.” I hope it’s informative and fun for people to listen to.
I’m curious to see how it progresses. I want it to be a consistent thing. I’m not trying to make like seasons or anything which is maybe not the best idea because it’s a lot of work to schedule, record, edit and when I’m gone on tour, it’s hard to create them. So when I get home, I have to record probably four in a week and schedule all those and then edit all those. And I do it all myself. The consistency is the hard part.
