Strum Und Drang
The nautical-themed ukelele stylings of Michael Leviton.
by Sarah Harrison
October 13, 2006
Michael Leviton is amazed at how many women ask him out after hearing his nautically-themed ukulele love ballads. "The songs are about me being lonely and sad and bitter and angry, so I guess people don't feel intimidated," he says. Michael is tall and lanky with pale skin and black hair. Onstage, he wears an old suit, hunches over the microphone and delicately plucks his small instrument. His girlfriend, Leah Hayes, accompanies him on the glockenspiel. Michael's album, "My Favorite Place to Drown," includes "Summer's the Worst," in which he laments the season's humid longing: "I'm in a crowd looking for a girl / I'm gonna drown looking for a pearl." Michael sat down with Hooksexup to talk about love songs, sex songs and life with Leah. Sarah Harrison
Is it hard to write a successful love song?
It takes effort to write a song for somebody. I've written songs for people who didn't like the lyrics, or were kind of uncomfortable about them. I wrote a song to my beautiful, insecure friend about how frustrating and sad it was that she didn't realize how beautiful she was. I think that really annoyed her. I never played that song again. Once I wrote a song for a girl I played it for her and before it was done. She responded really positively and later I found out that she thought it was really awkward and horrible that I'd done that and she was just trying to get out of the room as fast as possible.
Have you ever made a girl fall in love with you through a song?
No. A song can help if the person's already in love with you, but writing a song for someone who doesn't love you and hoping they'll be converted is a bad idea.
Have you written any songs for your Leah, your current girlfriend?
I started a couple of times but it's hard because being in love doesn't inspire cleverness in me as much as being downtrodden and lonely and I have a hard time not trying to be clever in songs. There's no need for that stuff when you're in love. There are songs in the world that just say "I love you, I'm crazy about you" and there's a beautiful melody and beautiful harmonies and that's moving, but they're just saying basic things. The ultimate example of that is this song by James Blunt, which I think is funny because his name is Blunt, called "You're beautiful," and it's just him shouting "You're beautiful! You're beautiful!"
What about sexual songs — do you write those?
I have lyrics in my songs that people think are sexual jokes but to me they were never that way. I have one that goes, "what do you keep there in the deep there," which people think is a vagina reference. And also there's the part where I say "Must you always play the glacier, must I play Titanic," which people think is a Bon Jovi line about how big my dick is or something, but I just meant, "in my attempt to get close to you do I have to destroy myself?" I don't mean to be vulgar, but maybe I have a sexual side that I think comes out without my knowing it.
Do you ever write purposefully sexy music?
A lot of my favorite music is stuff that sounds very dirty and intense but doesn't have very much lyrical content. It's more like the feel of it and the fundamental energy and darkness of it through the sound of dirty guitar playing.
What is dirty guitar playing?
I like surf guitar, even though it's played by dorky older guys who aren't sexual at all. It sounds like the youngest most rocking guys in leather jackets who are out to party and have sex with girls in cars.
You've played around NYC for a while but touring with They Might Be Giants was your first time playing in front or lager crowds. What was that like?
I've played in rock bands and I found that a ton more people approach you when you're a ukulele player. I think they're less intimidated. I sold all my own merch so I was there for anyone who wanted to talk to me. It's amazing how many girls actually have given me their numbers or written to me asking me out on dates. It's always really moving. I guess I'm kind of asking for that by playing the kind of music I play.
But you have a girlfriend.
It was funny, we were always talking about whether everyone could tell we were together when we played. I think it's way more fun when musicians that you're seeing are romantically ambiguous. I kept making jokes about being lonely and the ukulele being my girlfriend. Leah and I would play these shows together and I would introduce her as my glockenspiel player, I didn't say she was my girlfriend.
Why not?
I wrote all these songs before I had a girlfriend, when I had never really been serious with anyone so the fact that I have a girlfriend would sort of contradict the songs. I didn't see any reason to make it a big upfront thing. There are plenty of rock stars that sing about rock star stuff and then they have office jobs at the same time. The rock star stuff and the office job are both equally true in a way but it wouldn't be any fun if they sang about the office stuff. The feelings I had before I had a girlfriend and the feelings I have now are also both equally true. I'm not the way I am in the songs anymore but I still remember how I felt when I wrote them.
Do you think it's weird for Leah when you sing about how lonely you are when actually you're in love?
I just think that's a part of being a musician in public singing love songs. Leah's music is the same - she writes really lonely songs and guys fall in love with her through seeing her play.
You don't mind that guys fall in love with her?
I don't really understand jealousy a lot of the time. Leah and I have chosen each other over all these other people that have crushes on us.
What was it like touring with Leah?
It was amazing. It felt like a really incredible road trip. Everyone told us we would fight and break up if we went on tour together but they were completely wrong. I don't know why everyone thinks spending time together means fighting. I tend to think most people are completely off in their ideas about romance and relationships. Before I met Leah, I was always hung up on not being normal, or not being good with girls and not having "real relationships". It took a long time to see that all these really hot people who are with people all the time are often just having dysfunctional relationships every time.
When you're not touring you're both artists who work at home. Is that hard?
Sometimes it's hard to work cause it's so tempting to hang out. But it's really amazing, because we have a relationship where we have fun together almost all the time. We have a one-minute fight and then it's forgotten within an hour and we're hanging out.
Do you ever not get along creatively?
Sometimes, especially when we play music together. Leah's a really intense musician on her own, and has her way of doing things and that's not the same as my way. But using both of our ways for music is great. It's really amazing to be able to collaborate with your girlfriend, like to having her designing stuff for me. She's an illustrator and everything she makes is so beautiful. I have no way of designing a T-shirt or designing my album.
How was opening for They Might Be Giants?
Well, one thing that is great about They Might Be Giants fans is that they are used to humor and quirkiness. Also it's great to go on tour with any band that has an obsessive fan base because they think, "Oh, this act has been selected by this band we love to open, so we're going to listen to them." I would walk on stage with the ukulele and everybody would go nuts. I used to go and see They Might Be Giants all the time when I was in high school and I totally loved them. I got this visceral feeling that these were just people really being themselves, you know? That there was no trying to look cool. I think that's why they've gotten such a visceral response, while being so weird the entire time.
What was the best show?
St. Louis. It was incredible fun, there were tons of people and it was amazing. There was one point where I was saying that I sing mostly love songs, but I was going to sing my hate song and everyone cheered at the word "hate song" and I thought that was really funny so I said, [creepy voice] "So do you like hate?" and everyone laughed and it was just like being Marilyn Manson. I was Marilyn Manson on the ukulele. n°
©2006 Sarah Harrison and hooksexup.com