Mike Katz
Album: 1-800-Im-So-Lonely
Release Date: 2021
USA
Congratulations on your debut full-length. Will you please tell us about yourself and how the album came together?
Thanks. I’m Mike and I live in LA. I’ve been recording weird lo-fi stuff on and off for a long time. Last year I was writing a lot of music during the quarantine and decided to just make an album and put it out. My goal was to make catchy pop music and then fuck it up and make it weird. Initially, I wanted to make it really, really lo-fi, like hard to listen to, but it came out kind of in the middle somewhere.
You made this whole album during the loneliness of a quarantine. What are the main subjects that you talk about in your album?
Yeah, I mean the album is about loneliness for the most part. I kind of wanted to do a take on like angsty teenage pop songs so if you listen to the lyrics it sounds like a kid wrote most of them. I basically just thought about the way I used to feel when I was a teenager looking for love, and then made tongue-in-cheek songs from that perspective.
We’ve picked the title track for our loop series. What is the story of that song?
1-800-im-so-lonely. Yeah, that song is about phone sex. Me and my friends used to prank call a phone sex number from a payphone because a real operator would pick up and we would just say like weird stuff to them you think is funny when you’re a kid. I was thinking about that and I got to thinking about the kind of people who really call a phone sex line. Like is it really sexual, or do you just want to connect with someone?
Art: Jake Reed 
Art: idrawteeth 
Art: Jake Reed
For me, it is a hidden gem waiting to be discovered. One of those songs that could perfectly be the national anthem of teenage angst. Any plans to promote it, at all?
I’m hoping to play some shows behind it at some point when the pandemic is over. I don’t have a band right now but I think I could scrounge one together pretty quick.
Will you be making any videos?
Oh yeah. Big time. My best friend Derek Milton is a hotshot video director for Beyonce so he’ll be directing several videos for me. Actually, we already made one for Derek’s Spooky Song (the comedy sketch song in the middle of the album). It’s on my Instagram @mikekatzzz oh shit I should probably put it on youtube too huh. It’ll be on youtube soon.
Lyrics: 1-800-Im-So-Lonely
When I get lonely
And I don’t know what to do
I pick up the telephone
And I just dial those numbers
1-800 I’m so lonely
If I start crying
It’s ok don’t worry bout me
I just need a minute
To forget about my problems
I think I love you
Every time I hear your voice
I wish I could see you
Either way I’ll keep calling your number
1-800 I’m so lonely
Tracklist: 1-800-Im-So-Lonely
1. “1-800-Im-So-Lonely”
2. “Fall Asleep to Fall in Love”
3. “Lovers of Nothing”
4. “Victim of Love”
5. “Derek’s Spooky Song”
6. “Can’t Talk“
7. “I Would Not Lie“
8. “No Right Turn“
9. “Angel of Desire”
