Eleven songs that are barely 18 minutes in total, but I guarantee that’s all you need today.

Liquid Mike makes POWER Pop, which is infectious, energetic, catchy, solid, and, most of all, very, very good.

Mike himself explains.

The meaning of success has changed over the years. What would success look like for the new record?

As long as Monica, Cody, and Zack like the album and like the parts they play I don’t have to worry about people liking it or not. I trust their instincts and tastes, so as long as we’re all on the same page, I’ll know we made something good. That’s our only goal as a band is to make something we’re proud of and to write songs that are fun to play live. So far, we’re a huge success.

Cassettes are back. Which 5 five songs would make your first mixtape?

Virginia – Clipse,

If You Don’t Love Me (I’ll Kill Myself) – Pete Droge,

Same Old Life – The Flashing Lights,

Milk Man – Deerhoof,

Sittin’ Sideways – Paul Wall.

Haven’t figured out what order I’d put these in, but these are the best songs ever recorded, to my knowledge.

How do you decide when a song is finished and ready to be recorded?

I like to record them as I go, so as soon as I have at least a verse and a chorus, I record it. As a band, we don’t like having a bunch of songs sitting around waiting to be recorded because the process gets overwhelming. We like having one song to think about when we record. I don’t like revisiting the recording after the initial takes are laid down; I usually get attached to the demo and decide to just go with that one haha. The new record is filled with metronome bleed, crackles, talking, and feedback. I think that’s a more honest reflection of the music and how we do it ourselves. Plus, nothing’s worse than a crystal-clean record.

If you could pick three singers to sing harmony vocals on your next record, who would you ask?

I’m gonna go ahead and use dead or alive people. So Harry Nilsson, Elvis, and my Dad. Might as well get some crazy voices on the album! My dad’s not dead, but I think that would be fun haha. 

How great is the urge to stay creative?  To keep writing songs and lyrics?

I find the recording process to be the most exciting. I think that’s why our songs are so short, so we can record more of them. So I try to write at least something every day. Sometimes (rarely), it’s a complete song; most of the time, it’s a riff or a lyric or two. but those add up pretty quickly, and you can pump out a lot of songs that way! I have a fear sitting in the back of my head that if you don’t use it, you lose it, so I try to treat it like exercise and do a little something every day.