Features

Do you like power-pop? Big guitars and even bigger choruses? Then chances are you’re already a Liquid Mike fan. Last year saw the release of the band’s breakthrough album Paul Bunyan’s Slingshot, and now the Michigan group is already back with a brand-new record, Hell Is an Airport, packing 14 songs that hit the sweet spot. We caught up with Liquid Mike songwriter and frontman Mike Maple.

PRT: When you say ‘Hell Is An Airport’, is that because it’s full of people and ‘hell is other people’ or because of the long waits, the overpriced food and amenities or the stressful security procedures?

Mike: I find airports to be pretty high-anxiety environments. I always stress about connecting flights making it on time, being hassled by TSA, plane failures, it could be a million things but mostly it's that you have to play the hurry up and wait game. Things rarely go as expected and that's how I felt at the time of recording this album. I didn't know if I should quit my job and take music more seriously? I don't know if I'm ready to buy a house or keep wasting money on rent? Should I stay in the small Upper Peninsula or move somewhere with more happening? Just always feeling stuck between two things like being stuck between two cities at the airport. It's not a great feeling and that feeling obviously seeped into the writing and that's how I came up with the title for the album. Plus it's catchy haha.

PRT: Lyrically, the album deals a lot with feeling stuck, which I feel ties in to other songs of yours that deal with small-town Midwestern life. Have you ever considered moving or is that a big no-no?

Mike: I've considered it but I don't wanna start over in a new place again. It's comfortable here lifestyle wise, but it's complicated music career wise. Maybe one day, but I do love it here and don't see myself moving anytime too soon.

PRT: I’ve read interviews where you talk about how there’s a lot of low household incomes and poverty and how remote workers and Airbnb drive up prices. But what are some of the best things about living in a small and remote Midwestern town?

Mike: It's just bad everywhere it seems. Marquette is a cool town and you pay the cool premium for sure. Our rent has gone up $300 since our Self-Titled record came out. And I mostly put the blame on the landlords. I don't blame people for wanting to move here, but there's just not that many great paying jobs to make it easy. But living next to the lake is nothing short of incredible. It's just very comforting for me to live here away from a lot of noise. The remoteness is vast and easy to explore. You become a regular pretty much everywhere you go and it's nice.

PRT: Just in the last months, you’ve toured with Descendents and Drug Church. Does it feel that things have been moving faster since the release of ‘Paul Bunyan’s Slingshot’?

Mike: I never toured a day in my life before Paul Bunyan so it feels incredibly fast. I feel incredibly lucky that it's connected with as many people as it has. It makes me feel like there's a lot of people that feel the way I do about life and music and how they intertwine. So I can only hope that people connect with the new album and builds on that connection. It's the most fun I've had making an album so I feel pretty good about it.

PRT: I read somewhere that you tried keeping the fact that you play in a hotly tipped band a secret for as long as you could. Which made me wonder… why would you want to keep that under wraps?

Mike: For sure I was keeping it hidden at work. I was writing a lot of songs about work and didn't want people to get the idea that I was writing about them. I just didn't know if co-workers would understand what was happening. Usually when people at work found out I was in a band they would ask me what bands we cover. They just didn't understand it ya know? But word travels fast in small towns and when the articles got shared around town they were very supportive and encouraging. So that was nice. But when I go to my hometown and see people I haven't seen in forever I don't bring it up often. I just feel awkward talking about it because it feels like gloating sometimes. How your band tours around the country and gets to do cool shit. If people ask me about it I'll talk about the band, I just don't like initiating it.

PRT: ‘Hell Is An Airport’ is your fourth album in four years. Are you just constantly writing?

Mike: It's actually our 6th album in 5 years haha! Yeah I try to write as often as possible and keep it flowing. It can be hard to start up again when you stop writing for long periods of time.

PRT: Is there a label involved for the new album or are you releasing it yourself again?

Mike: This album is actually our first with a label. It's licensed through AWAL. It's not the most traditional of labels. They're handling our digital distribution and want nothing to do with physical distribution so thankfully we get to keep doing our physical releases ourselves. It's been great so far working with them. I'd like to keep all that stuff in-house as long as possible.

PRT: I’m hearing a lot of 90’s echoes in your songs from bands like Weezer, Guided By Voices, Everclear and the likes. I always assume everyone still knows those bands, but my 18-year-old niece recently told me she thought she had already heard about Nirvana. Have you already had people tell you that they discovered those bands through you?

Mike: Haha no but that would be amazing if we were a gateway band to Nirvana for somebody.

PRT: All of the songs are short and snappy. Will there ever be a 4 or 5-minute long Liquid Mike song when it feels right? Or can you adamantly say that will never happen?

Mike: I would love to stretch out sometime soon. I just feel like I haven't put in the effort yet. I'm still having a blast with the short ones. The first four songs on the new album all bleed and transition into each other so that's kinda like my 7 minute song haha. I would love to surprise people and make a 10 minute jam that rocks ass.

PRT: With two members of the band also playing in Charmer, does that ever cause any planning issues?

Mike: So far not really at all. We have an understanding that we'll have to do what's best for each respective band when that comes along but there's really been no snafus yet.

PRT: What’s up next for Liquid Mike now that the new album is out? Any plans to come over to Europe at some point?

Mike: I hope so! It's a big bucket list item to get over there so hopefully within the next calendar year. We're touring the US in two months with Militarie Gun and Public Opinion so that'll be it show-wise the rest of 2025. Maybe start recording some more songs? We'll see. I'm just excited to see how this album does first though haha.