After years as a drummer for independent artists like Gary Wilson, Fancy Space People, and Javier Escovedo among many other acts, Anders Michael is ready to kick off his solo career.
Michael grew up in San Diego and is an alumnus of the San Diego State MALAS (Master of the arts in liberal arts and science) graduate program. He attended SDSU from 2012 until 2013.
Michael completed his undergraduate degree at Loyola University New Orleans as a jazz studies major but after spending time performing in England and Sweden, he found himself back in San Diego. Michael wanted a master’s degree but not in music, and he ended up carving his own path at SDSU by tackling various creative paths. With the way many artists cross over into multiple artistic areas like film, music and writing, Michael primed himself for his passions all at once.
“I was able to combine all these interests I had with film with music and literature … synthesized into something that made sense to me,” Michael said.
Even before going solo as CAL (Creative Audio Laboratory), he’s always enjoyed writing music and supporting other peoples’ visions as a drummer. But with the time he got to think over his musical career during the pandemic, Michael re-evaluated his own musical visions. Though going solo means increased vulnerability and betting on himself as an artist, he’s taken it in stride.
“Of course, there is that aspect of increased vulnerability, and that’s what these songs are about,” Michael said. “Not being opaque or mysterious – instead really putting it out there and saying for better or worse here I am.”
Michael’s debut solo single as CAL, “All Along,” was released on Jan. 14 and is just one of multiple singles he has planned for the year. His relaxing, soft rock tune has a trippy, bedroom feel to it and a hazy atmosphere to match in the song’s music video.
The music video for “All Along” was filmed in a friend’s house in Silverlake and took advantage of the vintage look of the interior, which Michael referred to as a mish-mash of cultural periods. The video was directed by Filipino bedroom pop singer Eyedress, making his directorial debut. Michael and Eyedress crossed paths through Weirdo Music Forever Records and their shared creative concept for “All Along” made for a captivating result.
As he prepared for the start of his solo career. Michael honed down and created a batch of songs, all produced by renowned musician Jason Falkner, who has performed with several groups and is a celebrated studio producer. Michael says he learned a lot from Falkner, especially in terms of song formation, giving him “a wealth of experience.”
“Every single second I’ve spent with him I’ve learned something whether it’s through listening to stories or experiencing what an idea sounds like then go into fruition,” Michael said.
Michael said the hardest part of the music-making process is getting music from the idea to the finish stage since the finished product won’t be great if there’s poor execution. Now that his first song is released, he said it’s very gratifying to have received lots of positive feedback and to know many people are enjoying and sharing his music.
“To see your song added to people’s playlists and to know that they’re listening to music at home is a wonderful feeling,” Michael said.
Michael’s second song will be coming out in March and the corresponding music video has already been filmed in Tijuana. He currently has a third video in the works as well. Instead of packing all of his songs into a single release, Michael wants each of his songs to have a moment in the spotlight and he hopes to keep his music rolling into summer and fall.
“I think it’s important to celebrate each thing and let it live on its own, rather than first packaging it in this larger thing so it risks getting lost in the mix,” Michael said.
CAL’s debut single “All Along” is available to stream on Spotify and Apple Music, and watch the music video now on YouTube.
