Interview: Michael Stosic
Musician and songwriter Michael Stosic talks to Louder Than The Music about how he has given a new lease of life to the songs he recorded 40 years ago, with the release of his new album 'Still a Brand New Love'.
For those who haven't heard of you before, can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you got involved in making music?
I started making music at a pretty young age. I was ten when I took up piano and didn’t love it then but I grew to love it later. But I took up playing guitar at eleven and instantly loved it. I started writing my first songs then at eleven. Songs like Fun In the USA and Lovin All I Gotta Do. Not sure why an eleven year old wrote a song called Lovin All I Gotta Do, but I started my first band then playing at my elementary school while in fifth grade. When I was fourteen and in ninth grade my band took first place in the Nevada State Battle of the Bands beating out bands much older than us. I knew at a young age that making music was what I wanted to do. To date I have written and recorded probably twelve albums and written and published 150 songs.
Tell us about your new album 'Still A Brand New Love' and what the inspiration behind it was?
In 1986 I wrote and recorded my first Christian album called Brand New Love while living in Seattle Washington. That album actually launched my music ministry and touched a lot of people thanks to KCMS radio in Seattle. All that was available to people then was cassette tapes, there was no streaming yet so the only people that got to hear that music then were people in the Seattle area who came to my concerts or heard my music on the radio. I realized this past April that it was the forty year anniversary of that album and I felt that I wanted to get that music out to a new generation of people, so I re-recorded each track, every guitar part and piano part and bass and vocals and mixed and mastered it at my home in Friday Harbor Washington. All that those songs had meant to me back in 1986 and my faith in God and His love for me have not changed, so I called the new album Still a Brand New Love.
Which is your favorite track on the album and why?
As a songwriter it’s hard to pick a favorite because they all mean something personal to me, but if I had to pick out one from this album I would have to say the song Brand New Love. That song really sums up the feeling behind the whole album and is why it’s the final song on the album. "It's fresh as the flowers when blooming in springtime it’s fresh as the morning dew. This love I've discovered is not like any other, this love is so fresh and so new."
What message would you like people to take from your music?
My music is written either from my personal experiences or my observations of others and their experiences. My songs are faith based and driven by hope and encouragement as we all walk through life together, to say everything is going to be okay.
How would you describe your style of music and what are your influences?
My style of music can be all over the place from indie acoustic to rock and roll to pop to country gospel. This album is mostly high energy upbeat and uplifting, with a pop/rock feel. There are two ballads on the album which I feel are powerful but it’s mostly energetic.
If you could work with any songwriter, who would it be and why?
It would be Kenny Loggins. His style can also be all over the place but his progressions are often alternative chord progressions, for example a song in the key of C Major in a 1-4-5 progression C-F-G, he might do a C - F- and then instead of using a G to resolve back to the C he might use a DbMaj7 to go back to the C. I like to use alternative chords when I write.
How would you define success in your career as an artist?
Success to me as an artist would be knowing your music is positively affecting people’s lives, whether they tell me in person or send me an email or text or even a letter to say thank you, your music did this for me at a time that I really needed it.
What is your favorite album of all time?
Wow that is really hard, but when I want to sit down and just chill and listen to music I would say my go to album is Miles Davis - Kind of Blue. That probably caught you off guard.
You're stuck on an island, it's hot, you only have enough battery life left to listen to one song on your phone. What track is it?
Because I’m on an island and it’s hot... it would be Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffett. Again probably caught you off guard.
What does the next year hold for you?
Hard to say, I’m hoping for some more live performances and just getting to minister to people and let them know they are loved.
