The Mural and The Mint

Sometimes you stumble upon something that restores your faith in an angry city. Restores your faith in strangers and ideals. Not in a cheesy way; just a nice refreshing way. The Mural and the Mint did that for me. Michael Kiley is doing something different with his free music project. As he put it, "Free music isn't an original idea", however how many people do you know who are making and giving away full albums without the goal of eventually turning a personal profit?


The Interview

Louisa: Explain how this whole project came about.

Michael: I started thinking about releasing my music for free a few years ago. Only recently have I had the courage to actually do it. To be honest, I am not really sure if its a good idea. But I do think that in the end, more people will hear my music than they would if I had a label press copies and release it. I just try and not spend money on this project. If I don't spend money, I can't loose money, which is what 99% of musicians end up doing (and what I have done in the past). The times of record sales supporting an artist are long gone. Most of the people that make money off of record sales are non artists. Songs have become marketing materials, so that's what I am letting them be.


L: Your project from title down is distinctly Philly. Are you a native?

M: No, I grew up in North Jersey, and spent some time in New Mexico before moving here. But I love it here. I never wrote a song until I moved to Philadelphia. It has definitely inspired every ounce of this project in one way or another.


L: The idea of making music and not getting financially compensated is so completely backwards from today's mainstream music industry. How have you been received by listeners and other musicians?

M: Well, that's what I'm reacting against. It shouldn't be backwards. Everything about the music business is about making as much money as possible, which is what's really backwards. Neil Young will throw images of Clear Channel planes dropping bombs during a show at a Clear Channel venue. That happens because Neil and the people around him are more interested in making money than producing themselves. And if there is anyone who could set up in a parking lot in the middle of nowhere and play a sold out show it's Neil Young. Its just been going on for so long that people like him who actually care about music and actually hate Clear Channel or Live Nation or some other conglomerate can't separate the two any more, or just don't choose to. It's not anti-establishment to trash a company and then cash their checks.

That's not to say that I don't think musicians should be financially compensated for what they do. Of course I do. I just think that the existing model for paying musicians is so fucked up that I no longer want any part of it. That's why I am asking for donations. People who care about what I do support me, through giving money or donating time and ideas. Like Punk Ave, the company that host my website for free. They believe in what I am doing. I have made more money through donations than I ever have selling records. And that money, little though it may be, goes directly back to the art.

That has been the most negative thing that I have heard though, that giving music away cheapens the artist. But that's not how I see it. Giving 90% of your record sales to managers, label execs and promoters is cheapening yourself. Now, that's not to say that those people shouldn't get paid for what they do, but it is to say that they have become the focus. The artist is the one who takes the risk now, not the publicist or whoever. That is why all art should be free. It should be funded, and free. I'm just trying to find a different way of getting paid, and of making sure the money goes back into the work, not back into the add budget. And look, there are exceptions to every rule. There are good labels and good mangers, good promoters, and good people who work for Live Nation. I'm friends with some of them. But on a whole, it is mostly rotten.


L: You have an upcoming show at L'etage. This space seems perfect for your style of music. Are you planning on playing more shows this winter?

M: Yeah, I love L'etage, when the crowd is right. It's great as a small music venue. I'm going to play a show in Delaware on December 15th, for Tric Town at Mojo 13. After that I think I am going to focus on setting up my own show in an alternate venue. I want to collaborate with dancers and film makers on an evening. Less like a rock show, where people will filter in throughout the night, and more like a performance that starts at a certain time. I try to work with different people every time I perform, creating new versions of the songs for each show. We'll see if I can keep it up.


L: I love the embroidered image for the cover of Caterpillar-Cocoon-Butterfly. Who made it?

M: Her name is Katie Henry. She has the moniker Made By Hank for her work, which you can find on her Myspace. She makes embroidered drawings of people with animal heads and animals with animal heads...I'm still waiting for the animals with people heads, but she doesn't like sewing faces. She also makes great bags. She's gonna be famous.


L: Have you been involved with any other projects (musical or other) in Philadelphia?

M: Right now I do sound design and compose music for theatre and dance. I'm working on a piece with my wife, Nichole Canuso, for the '08 Live Arts called Wandering Alice. It's a site specific work where the line between audience and performer blurs.


L: How do you feel about the music scene in Philly? Any favorite local bands/musicians?

M: It's good. I feel like we could help each other a bit more. I like running into other musicians around town and chatting with them about what they are up to. I feel like most of us are going through similar things...how to legitimize yourself as a musician, how to have a relationship or a marriage or a family and still do what we love. Maybe I should start some sort of support group. That sounds so lame though. No one would come. I love Josh Marcus and Pattern Is Movement among others.


L: Obviously you are proponent of free music. How do you feel about the Limewire type downloading of music not intended to be free?

M: Limewire is stealing, I think it is wrong. I also think it's bullshit that a program like Final Cut Pro should be $1000. That's just people getting fat. But that's not up to me. I don't have the ability to make a program like that, so who am I to say what it's worth. But you can't look at stealing on a case by case basis can you. Is it ok for the start up director to swipe that program because he can't afford it and could be a great film maker? Is it o.k. to take Radiohead's record for free because they don't need the money? No, I took it for free because I make free music myself, and because they let me. I also think it's wrong that a club will take all the money from the bar, AND pay out the sound guy and door guy FROM THE DOOR before they pay the band, but I also don't have the power to open my own club. People can do things however they want to. I'm just disappointed with people's inability to put themselves in check. For a club owner to say, I'm gonna make $100 less dollars tonight and give it to that band that drew five people because they were GOOD, which is why I booked them in the first place. Now they have $100 more to make music with, and I still made money off them and their friends at the bar. When people start thinking that, this town's music scene will really flourish.


L: I'm sure the internet has been critical in getting your music heard. I've noticed lately that bands will list their Myspace page before their real band website on flyers. What do you think of Myspace's involvement in music promotion?

M: Well, My Space is free and having your own web site is not. It also takes no knowledge of html to use it and that's why it is brilliant. It streamlined the web for the masses. It's too limiting for what I want to do though, I can only post 4 songs there for example. It's heyday is over, but it is still invaluable. And it is owned by one of the worst men in the world...I suppose all us peaceniks are hypocrites for using it, just like Neil.


L: Do you think a project like your's would be possible without the advent and popularity of "online communities"?

M: Of course not, the internet is the only place to get my music. There are no copies of it. I think "online communities" are my only hope of being heard. I just hope they find me.


L: Give me a favorite Philly memory/story/experience.

M: I don't know that you could call this a "favorite" but I can't shake it. I was in the police station at 24th and Wolf about a month ago, waiting in the lobby for someone to drive me back to my job (its a long story). There was a mom with her daughter in her lap, she was like 7 or 8. They were both visibly shaken up. Her husband walks in, to which she promptly says "You need to put your fanny pack in the car." And her eyes motion to a sign that reads: NO FIREARMS BEYOND THIS POINT. IF YOU ARE ARMED, NOTIFY DECK OFFICER." He ignores her and sits down. I can't help but think how ridiculous it is to carry a gun in a fanny pack. Fucking hilarious. He asks what happened. Apparently some kids shot a gun off while she was driving her car with her daughter in the back seat. The bullet went through the rear window, and the girl got cut from some of the glass, but the bullet didn't hit anyone. The dad's response was, "We'll that's why I've been carrying since I was 21. This weekend we'll go get you your permit so you can start packing too." The wife just nodded in agreement. It took all my restraint to not ask the guy if his gun could stop bullets. It's so strange to me that people in this city and in this country consistently try and solve problems by becoming them. That's what the song Tyree is about...a boy was shot dead right in front of my house, and it turned into people yelling at each other when they should be coming together.


L: What are some of your favorite things going on right now in the city?

M: Baby disco. Benna's cafe. Pig Iron Theatre and Headlong Dance Theatre. The city wide free wireless. Just kidding.


To donate or learn more visit www.themuralandthemint.com or their Myspace. And come see The Mural and The Mint live at L'etage above Beau Monde on Bainbridge between Sixth and Seventh on November 29th at eight pm.


Written by Louisa Engle. Photo provided by artist.