‘Lie To Me So I Will Be Alright’, a Cathartic Confession: In Conversation with Michael Whittle
- Kaavya Guhan
- 11 minutes ago
- 6 min read
Known primarily for his work in advertisements and film compositions, Michael Whittle is an LA-based composer, recognised for his ability to construct a compelling atmosphere across both his commercial and personal projects. Since he was a child, he fostered a strong connection to music after listening to ‘Iris’ by the Goo Goo Dolls. For him, music is a form of communication that transcends boundaries.
‘Lie To Me So I Will Be Alright’ is reflective of his debut album Like Shadows Do. It draws on 'Dead Internet theory', a concept where the internet is primarily run by bots and AI. The single creates a hazy and cathartic atmosphere that encapsulates the feeling of loneliness that many people can relate to in our modern lives.
His artistry is not limited to his compositions. Directed by Stefan van de Graaff, his music video heightens the feelings presented in the single. The cinematic style combined with the missing eye symbolism conveys how our urban lives cause reality to become blurry and difficult to distinguish. More than just catchy melodies, Whittle's music is rife with emotion and seeks to position the listener to experience how it feels to be alone at night. I had the pleasure of speaking to Whittle about his creative vision, future projects, and his artistry.
What can listeners expect from your debut album Like Shadows Do?
They can expect something new from me because of my day-to-day work as a film composer. It's been seven years since I've released my own music. I was doing more of an alternative R&B sound with the previous project, but this one I've come back to my roots. Something I've always loved since I was a little kid is alternative Indie rock music. So, a little bit of a genre change and just honest songwriting. It took me about two years to finish this so it's something that's very personal to me. I'm excited to have it out, finally.
‘Lie To Me So I Will Be Alright’ is based on the Dead Internet theory. As an artist, how do you feel about AI’s impact on creativity?
I've been very slow on the AI train. I think it's going to be a tool that will help but I also think it can be abused. I was recently reading an article where the head of the The Grammy Academy was saying every studio session he's in, everyone's using AI and he's in studio sessions with A-list artists. For my personal project, I liked things that come out of people.
What is your opinion on AI artists?
They're really good. One of my friends showed me this track and he asked, “what do you think of this?”. I replied, “I love it, it sounds amazing”. He then revealed it was all AI. Every instrument and the vocal had a very human rasp to it and I was just shocked. I think it's really good, first off. In general, this is a little scary. I mean, every change is a little scary, right? Like when I was born in the ‘90s, when music completely lost its value, that's scary. But I also believe that we'll find a way.
The visual storytelling of the music video is a key part of your artistry, what drew you to using the missing eye to represent loneliness?
That idea originated from Stefan van de Graaff who directed the music video. Most of my day, I'm doing the reverse – I'm interpreting visuals into music. My music that I've written comes from something subconscious. It's more like gibberish comes out and then I try to make sense of it over time. It's hard for me to translate that into visuals. Stefan had the idea, and he's a brilliant director. I talked to him about what I felt about the song and he said “let me think about it”. Two days later he said, “missing eye, that's what you need”. Then another day later he says, “we're going to end it by you trying to pluck out the other eye”.
That's the cool thing about collaboration and it feels like it was an idea that came from me. It's about missing reality, being out of touch, not being able to see things clearly and then deciding, “because I've been missing half of it, I just don't want to deal with any of it by the end”.
Your music style is very cathartic and emotional. What are you most excited about sharing with your listeners through your music?
I'm excited to finally release a project and some music that I can actually stand behind. I wanted to test things out, so I played a lot of little shows in LA and open mics while I was writing, which I've never done before. I take half finished songs in front of small audiences. Seeing how people react to it, and being able to have conversations with people after I perform made me understand that this music is very special to me more than anything I've done before. I haven't fallen out of love with it. If you know me, a few months after I finished something I'm like “eh”, but I've been done with it for eight or nine months now and I'm still loving it. I'm hoping to tour with it and to play it live. I'm just hoping people can feel that. This is something that's real to me, I feel like I've said something with it.
‘Lie To Me So I Will Be Alright’ has been recognised for the hazy and emotional atmosphere ‘suspended somewhere between dream and reality’. What was the creative process like?
I wrote it here in the ski resort of Snowbird. My wife and I come up every year with her family. It was the last song that I finished before the album so I already had a body of work that was ready to go. I had my electric guitar in our room and I was just strumming these cords and I started to sing a melody. That's usually how it happens – I take chords that I like from either other songs or stuff that I just make up on the guitar. I just started singing gibberish over it, then I thought “oh, that's pretty catchy” – it was just the vocal melody at that time. Then I had to sit with it, I was all over it for two months and then came up with the lyrics.
I didn't know it was about dead internet theory or about loneliness until long after I finished the song and produced it and I was talking to Stefan about it. Songs to me don't have a meaning until after they're done. I'm just going off of intuition and what feels right, I'm chasing something and then once it feels right enough to be done, maybe a month later or it could be years later, I think “oh, that's what I was feeling”. It's kind of like this therapist that I have.
I think it's something about taking a break that sparks creativity, like when you go up to get, go to the bathroom or get some water that you think that's what the next line needs to be.
You've previously written music advertisements. How does the process differ from this to creating your album?
It's very different. I used to think it would be the same and there'd be a lot of crossover because I started writing songs in bands, then we got lucky enough to be on a coke commercial and then one of our songs got on an Airbnb commercial, then on Amazon, and MTV. It is a lot easier for me to collaborate with creative directors for advertisements and have a prompt and visual I can latch onto. Songwriting takes triple to quadruple the amount of time, maybe because it’s something that's so personal to me. For commercials, it usually has around a month turnaround time. It's good to have deadlines and it's good to have someone that you can shoot ideas back and forth with. That's how the process is different. Maybe I will one day apply that to my songwriting and when I write with other people.
Is there anything you wish to experiment with in future projects?
I already have the second album, but I think I want to expand the sounds. I kept it as just guitar, bass, and drums because that's a timeless thing. I want to try to use that in new ways but I'm just stoked that this album is done and that I get to write this next one. In the future, people can expect a similar sound, and I'll have the next single out on August 26th which is ‘Chokehold’. They can expect something like ‘Lie To Me So I Will Be Alright’ but bigger. That's kind of like the ending and then the sequel is going to be awesome.
Listen to Michael Whittle on Spotify, and Soundcloud.
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