Moving Forward: A Conversation with Joe from American Trappist
One of the most electrifying bands to touch the Sugar Bowl Summer Concert series here in Wilmington, Delaware, indie rock band American Trappist, encompasses everything that is beauty, art, and rock n’ roll. The four piece just released their fourth studio album Poison Reverse, out on all streaming services, and the band has been hypnotizing audiences in Delaware, New Jersey, and Philadelphia since its debut. We sat down with lead singer and songwriter Joe Michelini to pick their brains about their latest album and what we can look forward to in the future from this intoxicating band.
(American Trappist photo credit Megan Lynch)
For me the most powerful aspect of music is the potential to recognize yourself in someone else's work and say, "ok, it's not just me."
- Joe Michelini
Name, place of birth, where you currently live, and pronouns.
Name: Joe Michelini
Born: Toms River, NJ
Lives: Gibbsboro, NJ
Pronouns: they/them
What got you into creating music?
My first introduction to music was classical music, followed by 90's church music, a lot of which ripped off melodies from famous 70's/80's songs. I didn't have much exposure to pop culture (especially rock music) growing up, and didn't get into Bruce until my late 20's, but I started performing music around the age of 5. I played classical piano for many years, followed by a few years of cello, and picked up the guitar near the end of highschool so I could travel and perform songs - it was really out of convenience. For me the most powerful aspect of music is the potential to recognize yourself in someone else's work and say, "ok, it's not just me." A lot of records have done that for me over the years and I wanted to do that for other people. Music builds community in many ways, but that kind of thread between individual experiences has always been the most important and the most interesting to me.
What makes you move the way you do on stage? What do you think is the reason your band's performance is so electric and exciting?
Something that I think American Trappist shares with a band like The Lunar Year is that we are both excited by the idea of a larger-than-life live performance, but it would be called a blurry line in many circles, between "good" and "bad" entertainment, especially in the context of rock music. For example, is a big guitar solo tacky? Maybe if I think it will sell you on my heart, but if I offer my heart as the ambassador of a big guitar solo and you deny it, you are denying me - you just don't like our band. I can live with that.
Everything that we do on stage, how we move and interact with one another, it is who we are and how we are. I'm convinced that the highest chance we have of making something original is directly dependent upon disregarding the filter between our gut instincts and what we end up recording, or how we end up performing. Big sincerity is fun, it turns out, so these days I let my body lead and try not to worry about much else once we get going.
(Joe Michelini of American Trappist by Megan Lynch)
“the cost of going backwards is infinite - it is not invalid, it is not disconnected, it is not impossible, but it is incredibly costly.”
-Joe Michelini
What was the inspiration behind the last album Poison Reverse?
The title is a computer networking concept related to preventing infinite loops. As life goes on, I understand more how easy it would be to stop growing, or to even reverse growth. I think there's a certain point when we're young and looking at adults and saying, "how could someone let go in that way" but turns out it's pretty easy. Poison Reverse means reminding a system that the cost of going backwards is infinite - it is not invalid, it is not disconnected, it is not impossible, but it is incredibly costly. A lot of Poison Reverse is about the moment you start looking for another way forward, considering all options.
I came out as a non-binary person during the writing of this album, switched careers, we all went through Covid, everything was in flux. There's a certain freedom that comes with dismantling parts of yourself that you stopped questioning at some point, and facing old fears can mean the opportunity for hope you gave up on attempting to acquire. I saw a glimpse of that hope during this process, and I wanted to pass that on. I also think it's important to sing about the pain and to allow others to share in that pain, and to feel known by that pain.
What was the biggest challenge in creating the album?
I think the biggest challenge for myself and most folks is taking a picture of a moving target and saying, "I've got it - that's it." The truth is that if we recorded the album even a day later it would have come out different. What you eat, how you sleep, what you listen to that day, who you talk to, what you wear, all of it affects the recording, and barely any of the translation is in our control. That's the "magic" of recording in my opinion, and because of that, chasing something really specific can drive any artist crazy. We all think we're chasing the magic of course, but we're really just turning corners in an infinite labyrinth. It's up to us to stop and say, "I am at the center of the labyrinth, which expands around me, and I have found my way to myself on this day," and then lay it down. We try to do that, but it's one thing to talk about it and another to be in the studio, under pressure, trying to capture something you can't really define.
We have all made many records in and out of this band, and so I'd like to say we're experienced and comfortable, but we were not above the fever when things got going. I specifically remember talking to Max after a day of guitars and indecision and saying something like "I thought I was immune to this feeling," to which he responded "me too."
(American Trappist photo credit Paige Walter)
What can fans and readers look forward to from American Trappist?
We're wrapping up our record cycle and I'll be playing a few solo shows this fall, but the band will be taking some much needed time to rest, write, and see family. This was a pretty unique record cycle because we ended up making three music videos. Each one felt like making the record all over again. We were very lucky to work with Megan Lynch and Jackie Papanier on the music video for “Lamentations”, and I think we're all really proud of how it turned out. My partner Hannah Darrah is an animator and video editor. She also worked on the title card and credits for Lamentations, and stars in the video as well. Her and I put together the video for “Seg Fault”, which was shot on an iPhone and rendered by a Python script that estimated character replacements based on the average grayscale value of a small set of pixels in each frame. It's a really interesting process and not as complex as it sounds. At the same time, I don't know that the end product adequately suggests the complexity involved, but it turned out exactly how we wanted it.
Curious parties should watch in high-res with the lights off on a big screen, then it might make sense. Our dear friend Crosby Clouse was kind enough to film some of our full-band takes in the studio, and Hannah cut that together as a lyric video for "Temple Song”. I think it's important to see the band play that song in particular, and to see the lyrics in front of you, so it all worked out. With that in mind, we're not going to stop playing shows, but it's important to us that we can show up as our whole selves to the shows we do play. That means resting when rest is required. It's been a wonderful year.
We've loved our time in Delaware and can't wait to be back. What a gift to live somewhere in between two incredibly vibrant music scenes. More than we could ask for, more than we could hope for, more than we deserve.
American Trappist
Watch the official music video for ‘Seg Fault’ from the new album Poison Reverse!
