Doomtree's Mike Mictlan Interview Part I
The Real Story: What Was Really Going on During the Making of SNAXX
By Kyle Eustice
Doomtree's Mike Mictlan doesn’t drink coffee, which is surprising considering the moment he steps on stage his energy level is through the roof. While he appears jovial and carefree on the surface, Mictlan has been through a hell of a lot–hella frreal. The California native has been on a fast track since emerging with the Minneapolis hip-hop collective in 2005. Through all the ups and downs in his life—broken home, substance abuse issues and crazy ex-girlfriends—music has been his catharsis. With each album, Mictlan shows his growth as both an artist and human being. His most recent effort, Hella Frreal, dropped October 27 and is another colorful chapter in Mictlan's story. In part one of this candid interview with Mictlan, we get to what was going on during the making of SNAXXX and how he's bounced back with Hella Frreal.
RAPstation (Kyle Eustice): Each Doomtree member is talented in their own right for different reasons, but you always seem energetic and fun. Is that your personality spilling into your music?
Mike Mictlan: Yes, for sure. It's a big contrast to who I am in real life. I'm usually pretty chill. I go at the pace of people around me so if people are energetic, I can be that, too. A big part of my stage presence is pressing a button and being on autopilot, like 'go!' When it's time to rap, I rap loud, as loud as I can. Now that I'm getting older, I’m learning dynamics, but when I'm on stage it's go mode. The energy almost comes from a fear of having to perform like, 'it's time to go, 100 percent, all the time, now.'
I saw that during your performance at MAHA Festival in Omaha. I really liked the song "Creep" from your last album, SNAXXX.
I made that song for it to be fun. I did a lot of heavy, personal music for awhile. Performing it became redundant because it's so emotional and I had to tap into that emotion every night while on tour. It's just one emotion. One reason I made SNAXXX was to have a wide range of material and to be able to perform fun songs.
You accomplished that. During the making of SNAXXX, I read you had a lot going on. What was happening?
The album was definitely a result of me being depressed. Before that, I was going on tour with Doomtree and I just had a kid so I was sending money home all the time. My ex-girlfriend was pretending like it was all good and right before I got home, she told she was moving all my stuff out, was seeing her ex and hadn't paid our rent. She kept all the money and was basically like, 'fuck you.' She took my kid and I didn't hear from her for two months. She got rid of her phone. It was really bad. To put it in perspective, that was three-and-a-half years ago and now I recently moved back in with her. I live in a big house with my girlfriend, her kid, who is the same age as my daughter, and my ex-girlfriend. We've gone through a lot of ups and downs.
Well, now you get to see your kid all the time.
Yeah, I pay more rent now because it's a big house, but I don't pay child support anymore. I am a very family oriented person. I come from a broken family and had a really bad childhood. So I wanted to maintain my family no matter what. It's for the kids.
After all the stuff she did? Wow, that takes a lot of strength [laughs].
[Laughs] It's a lot of work. I had a big family, but I'm the only kid from my mom and dad. All of my siblings are half-brothers and half-sisters.
You're originally from California, right?
Los Angeles, yes. My dad was born and raised in Venice. My mom is from Orange County, like the hood area outside of Anaheim though.
In between going to Europe, coming back home and going back out, you were placed on a 72-hour hold in a psych ward. Is that true?
It was crazy. That year was some of the best times and some of the worst times. When that happened, I was pulled out of my house with no shirt, no shoes and in handcuffs. I was at home, in between tours. I had already had a lot of hard years. When you're on the road, you feel like you miss a lot back home and that causes a lot of anxiety. You have to reacclimatize when you get home. So I got home and got into an argument with my then girlfriend who lived in Wisconsin. She laid all of this heavy shit on me. I don't drink clear liquor unless it's tequila. Somebody had left a bottle of vodka in my room and I had a xanax. I never took xanax like that and I never black out. I took the xanax and drank like a half a bottle of vodka. I proceeded to get in an argument with my ex-girlfriend over the phone. My kid's mom also started fighting with me via text. Apparently, I was blacked out and saying whatever. I guess I text her that I was going to kill myself, but I don't remember that. I don't have suicidal thoughts and I'm not scared to talk about my feelings either. I guess I turned off my phone so she freaked out and called the cops. They came and saw the state I was in. I was yelling at the cops. I didn't have to stay for the entire 72-hour hold. They put me in the 'talk to the walls, loony bin, crazy crazy' people part. I just thought, 'what the hell am I doing?' On the way to the precinct, I was talking shit to the cop. I hate cops so I was just going at him [laughs]. That's what the first song on the new album is about. I'm talking shit about cops and going out of my mind [laughs].
Check out http://www.doomtree.net/ to cop Mictlan's music.
Mike Mictlan from Doomtree: The RAPstation Interview Part I
Doomtree's Mike Mictlan Interview Part I
The Real Story: What Was Really Going on During the Making of SNAXX
By Kyle Eustice
Doomtree's Mike Mictlan doesn’t drink coffee, which is surprising considering the moment he steps on stage his energy level is through the roof. While he appears jovial and carefree on the surface, Mictlan has been through a hell of a lot–hella frreal. The California native has been on a fast track since emerging with the Minneapolis hip-hop collective in 2005. Through all the ups and downs in his life—broken home, substance abuse issues and crazy ex-girlfriends—music has been his catharsis. With each album, Mictlan shows his growth as both an artist and human being. His most recent effort, Hella Frreal, dropped October 27 and is another colorful chapter in Mictlan's story. In part one of this candid interview with Mictlan, we get to what was going on during the making of SNAXXX and how he's bounced back with Hella Frreal.
RAPstation (Kyle Eustice): Each Doomtree member is talented in their own right for different reasons, but you always seem energetic and fun. Is that your personality spilling into your music?
Mike Mictlan: Yes, for sure. It's a big contrast to who I am in real life. I'm usually pretty chill. I go at the pace of people around me so if people are energetic, I can be that, too. A big part of my stage presence is pressing a button and being on autopilot, like 'go!' When it's time to rap, I rap loud, as loud as I can. Now that I'm getting older, I’m learning dynamics, but when I'm on stage it's go mode. The energy almost comes from a fear of having to perform like, 'it's time to go, 100 percent, all the time, now.'
I saw that during your performance at MAHA Festival in Omaha. I really liked the song "Creep" from your last album, SNAXXX.
I made that song for it to be fun. I did a lot of heavy, personal music for awhile. Performing it became redundant because it's so emotional and I had to tap into that emotion every night while on tour. It's just one emotion. One reason I made SNAXXX was to have a wide range of material and to be able to perform fun songs.
You accomplished that. During the making of SNAXXX, I read you had a lot going on. What was happening?
The album was definitely a result of me being depressed. Before that, I was going on tour with Doomtree and I just had a kid so I was sending money home all the time. My ex-girlfriend was pretending like it was all good and right before I got home, she told she was moving all my stuff out, was seeing her ex and hadn't paid our rent. She kept all the money and was basically like, 'fuck you.' She took my kid and I didn't hear from her for two months. She got rid of her phone. It was really bad. To put it in perspective, that was three-and-a-half years ago and now I recently moved back in with her. I live in a big house with my girlfriend, her kid, who is the same age as my daughter, and my ex-girlfriend. We've gone through a lot of ups and downs.
Well, now you get to see your kid all the time.
Yeah, I pay more rent now because it's a big house, but I don't pay child support anymore. I am a very family oriented person. I come from a broken family and had a really bad childhood. So I wanted to maintain my family no matter what. It's for the kids.
After all the stuff she did? Wow, that takes a lot of strength [laughs].
[Laughs] It's a lot of work. I had a big family, but I'm the only kid from my mom and dad. All of my siblings are half-brothers and half-sisters.
You're originally from California, right?
Los Angeles, yes. My dad was born and raised in Venice. My mom is from Orange County, like the hood area outside of Anaheim though.
In between going to Europe, coming back home and going back out, you were placed on a 72-hour hold in a psych ward. Is that true?
It was crazy. That year was some of the best times and some of the worst times. When that happened, I was pulled out of my house with no shirt, no shoes and in handcuffs. I was at home, in between tours. I had already had a lot of hard years. When you're on the road, you feel like you miss a lot back home and that causes a lot of anxiety. You have to reacclimatize when you get home. So I got home and got into an argument with my then girlfriend who lived in Wisconsin. She laid all of this heavy shit on me. I don't drink clear liquor unless it's tequila. Somebody had left a bottle of vodka in my room and I had a xanax. I never took xanax like that and I never black out. I took the xanax and drank like a half a bottle of vodka. I proceeded to get in an argument with my ex-girlfriend over the phone. My kid's mom also started fighting with me via text. Apparently, I was blacked out and saying whatever. I guess I text her that I was going to kill myself, but I don't remember that. I don't have suicidal thoughts and I'm not scared to talk about my feelings either. I guess I turned off my phone so she freaked out and called the cops. They came and saw the state I was in. I was yelling at the cops. I didn't have to stay for the entire 72-hour hold. They put me in the 'talk to the walls, loony bin, crazy crazy' people part. I just thought, 'what the hell am I doing?' On the way to the precinct, I was talking shit to the cop. I hate cops so I was just going at him [laughs]. That's what the first song on the new album is about. I'm talking shit about cops and going out of my mind [laughs].
Check out http://www.doomtree.net/ to cop Mictlan's music.
