During the peak of the pandemic, queer indie-pop musician whatever mike changed their name and left their record label to pursue a new direction in their music. About a year ago, they pulled up stakes in New York, where they had grown up, and moved to Los Angeles. With a new EP, Word to the Trees, out now, and a successful summer tour through Latin America with writer-performer ALOK under their belt, whatever mike is back to writing music and touring in the U.S.
Their spring 2023 single “California” is what attracted our interest. “Didn’t want to go to California / Didn’t want to leave it all behind.” But they did anyway? We asked whatever mike about the appeal of the Golden State, as well as their favourite U.S. city and favourite international destination.
Los Angeles, California
For me, California was a metaphor but also this very true thing, where I had this push and pull relationship with leaving New York City and coming to L.A. I kinda grew up there, my family is there, a lot of my friends were there. I had this whole world that I had built. Coming here was just a reflection of the way I was changing on the inside. I’m sitting here in my room and I’m looking out the window and I see a mountain in the distance. In New York, you’re in a metal box underground. I love New York, but there’s a certain spiritual cutting off.
Here, I live in an area called Highland Park. It’s a very quiet suburban, demographically-mixed residential area, with rolling green hills in northeast Los Angeles. It’s 15 minutes from downtown, but also 15 minutes from Angeles National Forest. I can be fully on a hike in 15 minutes. A lot of artists live here. There are flowers, gardens, butterflies, birds, trees. It’s really lovely. Very quiet. There’s a great coffee shop called Amara Café (55 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena), which has Venezuelan arepas and chocolate. There’s another place called Kitchen Mouse (5904 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles), which has healthy veggie-vegan food, because I tend to eat vegan. It’s on Figueroa Street, which is an awesome, bustling street with lots of vintage boutiques. There’s a farmer’s market every Tuesday.
On Monday nights in Hollywood, there’s a thing called Very Good Mondays at Gold-Diggers (5632 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles). All the most awesome musicians in L.A. come and do a show. Last week they had a lot of the musicians that are in Stevie Wonder’s band. It’s mostly instrumental. Sometimes it becomes a jam session with singers. It’s really fun hanging out there with friends. [Gold-Diggers also has an 11-room boutique hotel; each room has vinyl vintage cassettes for guests to play.]
Austin, Texas
Texas has its own identity because it’s one of the biggest states. It’s obviously a neighbour to Mexico, and Mexican culture has such an influence there, but it’s also not Mexico. Austin is sort of a liberal-leftist bubble that’s popped up in the middle of this very conservative state. So there’s a sense of resistance where people are fighting for their lives in a way we don’t necessarily have to yet in California or New York, which creates a really special environment. It’s really its own flavour—small but happening. There’s this slow pace, so it doesn’t have the rush of New York or Los Angeles, but it’s still hip, with cool restaurants and bars. The music scene is awesome and there’s a more underground queer and trans music scene that I had the chance to experience a bit and be part of.
Go see some music at Mohawk Austin (912 Red River St., Austin), which is where I perform.
You can go swim in the Colorado River. There’s actually a few different spots—some might be in the woods off the road somewhere but you might be swimming in the middle of the city, so you have this integration with nature.
São Paulo, Brazil
After this last visit to Brazil, I’m obsessed with Rio and São Paulo. I have a history in Brazil and I’ve spent more time in Rio, but this time I found Paulo to be incredible. It’s one of the largest cities in the Americas and it’s a global mecca for culture. The food! To start, you have to have Japanese food in the Japanese neighbourhood of Liberdade. [The city has the largest population of people with a Japanese background outside of Japan.] I had the most amazing vegan Congolese food at Congolinária (Av. Prof. Alfonso Bovero, 382, Sumaré, São Paulo).
Then you have to take a walk around Parque Ibirapuera, which is this huge park with multiple museums in it. [We recommend Museu Afro Brasil Emanoel Araújo (Av. Pedro Álvares Cabral, Parque Ibirapuera, Portão 10, São Paulo) and Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo (Av. Pedro Álvares Cabral, Parque Ibirapuera, Portão 10, São Paulo).]
São Paulo has amazing music and an incredible scene of queer musicians playing in lots of different spaces. We went to AFROJAM, which features all Black artists. Brazil is, at this time, similar to America, really aware of the last few hundred years and the delusion and terrorism of colonialism. There’s this collective consciousness and awakening that’s happening. Some of the most popular artists in Brazil now—big national stars—are queer and trans artists like Pabllo Vittar, Liniker and Linn da Quebrada.
Visitors should take in a performance at one of the locations of Sesc São Paulo. [That’s a state-wide network of cultural and leisure centres; one of the biggest is Pompeia (Rua Clélia 93, Pompeia, São Paulo) and one of the coolest is 24 de May (Rua 24 de Maio 109, Centro, São Paulo).] I do speak Portuguese so I love the theatre scene there.
There’s this word they have in Brazil, solto, which means free spirited or open spirited. And I think we, in America, we’re not so open. We don’t talk to strangers. We don’t smile at each other as much. If you’re at a party or an event and you want to talk to someone, it often feels scary or intimidating. In Brazil, there’s more of an idea of ‘Let’s go to the plaza and have a beer and stand around with our friends, and we can smile and talk and make eyes with someone over there and go talk to them.’ There’s just more of an open energy flow, which I love.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
