Our Recap Of Mike Haggith's Dual Interviews On The Borderline!!

Today's post is 100% devoted to local alternative/hard rock musician Mike Haggith, but not his live-streamed concert on Saturday night, which will be hitting the site in the near future. While that live-stream was a great way to promote his new album "Bridges", some big time exposure for him & the CD preceded it on local internet radio station The Borderline earlier this month, as Mike was interviewed twice on two different programs on November 6th! In both cases, these are return appearances following Mike's 2020 interviews to promote the "If Ever Comes The Day" release. Both of the new episodes are now available to stream on demand on The Borderline's website, and we'll start chronologically with Mike's appearance on Across The Tracks with Adrian Vilaca (also the station's founder), which aired first that day. If you're curious to hear this one, strap in, as it's a 96 minute episode broken into two halves, and on the website player, part 1 is the second (lower) file, so keep that in mind.

Unlike his first Across The Tracks episode from August 2020 (which ran for a paltry 84 minutes), this was conducted in person rather than by phone, specifically when Mike was in the Soo visiting in September. If you were wondering why his advertised interview that month never went online at the time, now you know! Not unlike his 2020 episode for "If Ever Comes The Day", each song is played on air, with discussion about each one bookending throughout, which will come easy to Mike given how personal the lyrics and themes are, though they do not stick to the running order of the album. Beyond the discussion about individual songs, Mike also tells Adrian about the delayed release, the album's overarching concept, how it was recorded & produced, what he has learned culturally and personally through living in Thompson, his musical evolution, the potential for these songs being played live, ...

... what he misses about the Soo, his day job, the launch of his official website (more on that soon), and where you can hear/buy "Bridges". If you're curious about specific tracks, part 1 features songs #2-3, 7-8, and 10, with the rest being covered in part 2 (the higher of the two files). Entertaining listen that gives fans more information than you may ever need about the new album, and it's a nice casual interview while also showcasing Mike's real feelings and emotions that led to this album coming together. Click here or above to hear the whole thing!

The second Borderline interview Mike had on November 6th was a return engagement with Sev's Cellar, the musician interview series hosted by Mike "Sev Micron" Severin, who previously featured Mike Haggith in an episode that aired last spring, not long after the pandemic began (click here to hear that episode). Like last year and the Across the Tracks episode, this is broken into two files (good thing too, as this runs for over 2 hours!), but at least the higher file is part #1 here. Conducted by phone like last year, this interview obviously covers a lot of the same ground as Across The Tracks did earlier that same day, complete with every song on the album being played, so casual fans should be advised about redundant ground being covered when hearing both in short succession. On Sev's Cellar, Mike discusses the album's themes, the recording process, the potential for playing these songs live, ...

..., his musical maturity, his feelings on the pandemic, his surprise website launch, his cats, his ideal backing band, while also dipping into some of the standard weekly questions that recur in every episode. Yes, you will have heard Sev ask Mike many of these last year, but these still do lead some surprising paths, even playing a couple of non-"Bridges" songs on air, like "75" from the upcoming Din live album, and even "Sun Perfume" from Mike's first Sault-era solo album "Suspended Animation"! Songs #2, 5, and 7-10 from "Bridges" all get played in part 2 this time, so that half is more weighted as the album is concerned. While there is a lot of obvious crossover in the subject matter from both Across The Tracks and last year's Sev's Cellar episode, fans of Mike's will find a lot to like here from both the album discussion and the lighter personal questions, and despite a few flubs early, Sev is clearly a fan of Mike's music and The Din, which helps a lot!

There is a lot to hear between these two interviews, even taking out the songs, so click here or above to hear the Sev's Cellar episode, let alone the Across The Tracks interview, and of course, we have a lot more from Mike coming on the SMS in the next two weeks, like our recap of Sunday's live-stream, plus our own review of "Bridges", so stay tuned for all of that, and for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!