(Liquid Mike. Photo by Marissa Dillon)
Modern Midwestern angst has never sounded as hopeless and hooky as it does on Liquid Mike’s new album, Hell Is An Airport
“Airports are these weird intermediary spaces that have always made me feel like I’m stuck in limbo,” said Liquid Mike vocalist/guitarist and namesake, Mike Maple. “The album deals with a lot of themes surrounding feeling stuck and unable to crawl out. Airports are stressful and congested and bureaucratic and never sleep––I imagine hell operates very much like an airport.”
The Marquette, Michigan-based band announced their latest release with the songs “Groucho Marx” and “Selling Swords” earlier this summer. Their latest single, the “big and hyper” track “99,” arrives the day that Hell Is An Airport officially lands.
“It’s definitely the heaviest song on the album. It’s one of the songs I was more nervous about people hearing for a while. I thought it was one of the more alienating songs. But I’ve come to really like the song,” Maple said.
I caught up with Maple by email to get the story behind their latest single, discuss Hell Is An Airport, and find out what’s next for Liquid Mike. You can catch Liquid Mike on a U.S. tour with Militarie Gun and Public Opinion this Winter.
Congrats on the great new single! What’s the story behind “99”?
Mike Maple: It’s a nostalgic song. Lyrically I’m reflecting on some very carefree times of my life that I hold dearly. There was a summer in 2019 that I worked landscaping for the college I had just graduated from. I worked with some of my best friends that whole season and it was just such a magical time. We didn’t have much supervision so we goofed off a lot and every evening after work we were swimming, fishing or playing slow pitch softball. Just the most idyllic summer of my life. It feels like it was forever ago and yesterday at the same time. It’s one of the happy songs in the tracklist and I wanted it to sound big and hyper.
Musically, this one’s a heavy basher with a great bass line in the verses. How do you think this track sits in the context of the rest of Hell Is An Airport?
Mike Maple: I think the album in general is a bit on the rockier and punkier side but that’s always been in our music and I really enjoyed letting the side of us shine a bit more throughout the recording of the album. I didn’t intend for that to happen but that’s kinda just how the cards fell in to place. I think deep into the album is also just a great spot to put a loud cathartic song to keep the blood pumping.
Hell Is An Airport is a great album title, by the way. Any particular inspiration?
Mike Maple: Thanks! I love flying. I never really get tired of taking off of the runway and being in the sky. But I find airports to be extremely stressful and claustrophobic. You’re just at the will of the weather and how pleasant TSA will be or losing your belongings or a million other things. And at the same time there’s so many rules to follow and an order to do them in. It’s chaotic and calculated. There’s no other kind of place like it that I can think of, other than hell maybe.
Liquid Mike has been touring a lot. Is “99” in your current live set?
Mike Maple: I really enjoy touring. It’s stressful in a way that I can handle better than at my job at home. Even though you’re stuck in a van for hours everyday and waiting around a lot, it still feels like a getaway to me. And it’s really fun when we get to play new songs. We’ve only played the new singles (‘Groucho Marx’ and ‘Selling Swords’) live up until now, but ‘99’ will be in the mix soon enough. My favorite songs to play at the moment are all the new ones.
What’s next for Liquid Mike?
Mike Maple: I never know where I wanna take it or do next. I keep on being pleasantly surprised by every opportunity that has come up so far. We will be doing some touring in the fall after the album comes out and I have a batch of songs to record at some point. But I’m really in no rush to get them finished. I’ve just been enjoying the writing and demo process so I’m just gonna let that ride for a while.
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