Classics of Love frontman Jesse Michaels is a few hours away from playing a sold-out show at Black Cat with Bomb the Music Industry and Mike Park. I meet up with him at the obnoxiously loud Starbucks around the corner, with the hope that this crap tape recorder picks up his soothingly measured voice and omits my incoherent, nervous stuttering.
It turns out this tape recorder is amazing, perhaps even magical! I can even hear the noise of my angry glares at the barista as he blares the frappaccino machine. Everyone who needs to conduct an interview and doesn’t trust electronic devices, buy this tape recorder. It is Jesse Michaels-approved. He even reassures me several times before we start that it is a great machine, and he actually uses the same model.
Michaels has a contagiously laid-back demeanor I can only describe as Berkeleyan Serenity. He says he has just sampled the infamous Ben’s Chili Bowl. A great choice for lovers of junk food, perhaps not so great when you are hours away from jumping around the stage while sweating and screaming into a mic. I feel slightly guilty for the recommendation, but roll the tape and quickly ask what he likes to listen to on the road.
