It was a sleepy, wet Saturday morning in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The five year-old, Michael, had just put the finishing touches on one of his usual slapdash, but out-of –the-box songs. He was known for writing a new song at least once a week, performing with his younger brother on the weekends. It was the usual material a person of his age group would have been recognized to write. Michael was known to be a troubled boy, but his parents didn’t think much of it. Writing songs was how he expressed his feelings, without being too upfront. The young Michael Angelakos hated, and still does disdain being obvious with his song lyrics. He takes pride in leaving the listener pondering; waiting, anticipant, and hungry for more.
All throughout high school, Angelakos formed multiple bands but never quite followed through with any of them. Known for being a busy and enthusiastic face around his school, Michael was always working on something. Ironically, he never seemed to get good grades; his mind was often elsewhere. However, after pushing his way through senior year, Angelakos was accepted to Boston’s Emerson University, where he studied music, but was eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder that same year.“People don’t understand that it’s not just debilitating,” he explained in a press conference earlier this year, “it’s all encompassing. Bipolar disorder is something I have a history with, so people don’t trust me. They try to take it easy with me, and I don’t like it, because I don’t want to be known as an artist that’s super volatile.”
Around that same time, he had been seeing a girl from school, whom he rarely talks about much aside for in his first EP, Chunk of Change (2008), which was written for her. “I’d had a relationship with her for a long time, and the record was a mixture of a love letter, an apology letter, a ‘things will get better someday/get well soon/sorry this isn’t going as planned’ letter. Relationships have rough patches, and I guess we were there,” says Michael. Without much effort, the EP gained immediate acclaim from several sources, and was the initial catalyst for launching one of his more popular songs, “Sleepyhead,” to the top of the charts.
One year later, while attending Boston’s Emerson College, Angelakos attempted to take his own life.
“Creativity essentially leads to suicide- where you think to cut yourself up, sit in the bathtub, and take more medication than you should,” said Angelakos. After posting Chunk of Change to his personal MySpace account, the EP blew up, and was immediately bombarded with positive reviews. “I just thought MySpace was for people who wanted to get famous,” he says, “and I really didn’t care about that – I thought I was going to go into film scoring.” During this time, Michael made it abundantly clear that he desired the prestige of writing chart-topping songs, but not the fame associated with it.
After hearing Chunk of Change, Frenchkiss Records and Columbia Records immediately signed Angelakos. It wasn’t until the beginning of recording their first studio album, Manners in November of 2008 that the label convinced him to put together a band. Passion Pit released Manners that May, and it was an instant success, with “The Reeling” promoted as lead single, along with others such as “Moth’s Wings,” “To Kingdom Come” and “Little Secrets.” In addition, “Sleepyhead” (originally featured on Chunk of Change) was included, and mastered on the record (none of the songs on Chunk of Change had been mastered). The album eventually reached #8 on the US Independent Albums Chart, and peaked at #51 on the Billboard Top 200.
After the release of Manners, and quite a bit of critical acclaim, Angelakos discussed the album in a less positive light describing it as “claustrophobic, and a bit narcissistic.” In reality, the album was given 4/5 stars by Rolling Stone magazine, and Pitchfork Media’s Ian Cohen viewed Manners as “the sort of heart-to-heart populist record that’s every bit as sincere as it is infectious.” It is quite literally the befuddling and exploration through the mind of a flustered, disconcerted, college student. Seeming to capture the hearts of fans worldwide, is the zealous spirit that Angelakos applies to his diary-like entries of everyday events and opinions. “What Michael considers to be a documentary of his confusing Emerson years, we as the listeners, are introduced to a masterpiece of the mind, experiencing his emotions firsthand,” says senior Jennifer Cook.
Following the release of Manners, Passion Pit’s popularity only climbed higher, but with it, the stress on Michael’s shoulders. “I don’t hide my emotions well,” Angelakos says. “I’ve hung up on journalists in the past. If they ask something really off-putting, it’s hard to get it off my back.” The band even agrees that Angelakos’ bipolar disorder can get out of hand at times. Guitarist, Ian Hultquist after a March 19, 2009 concert at SXSW Music Festival in Austin says, “We were all drinking heavily, and Michael was getting out of control. He started throwing his thousand dollar keyboards and synthesizers. It got to the point where he was just rolling around on the grass, going crazy. When we got off the stage, all the Columbia people were very excited. He was on the side crying; he couldn’t control it.” Later that day, Michael drove himself to a rehab clinic in Houston, where he stayed for five weeks, missing six shows. The following message was posted on the front page of the band’s website by Michael a few days after the incident.
“On behalf of the band and myself, I would like to greatly apologize for the show cancellations. In order for me to ensure that there will be no further disruptions, I am going to take the time to work on improving my mental health. For now, I’d like to thank all of our fans for their understanding. I hope to see all of you very soon in a much different light… With love, Michael”
“It’s horrible,” Michael explains after leaving rehab, “They yell at you, and make you feel like you’re small. They do all these terrible tests. They wake you up and check on you every 15 minutes. They brought things out of me when I was on drugs that I didn’t want to take. Everything you do, they monitor. I wouldn’t go to any of the courses they offered, so I wasn’t allowed to go outside for an entire month. There’s a book that contains every single movement I made over the course of that month- it freaks me out thinking about the fact that, somewhere, that book exists.”
Three years later, after countless counseling sessions and hospital visits, Passion Pit released their second studio album, Gossamer, quickly taking its place at #4 on the Billboard Top 200. Leading single, “Take a Walk,” received positive acclaim earning #5 on the Billboard US Alternative Chart, with “I’ll Be Alright,” following close behind. Angelakos’ suicidal past is discussed multiple times in the hazy finale, “Where We Belong,” in which Michael writes, “And then I’m lifted up/Out of the crimson tub/The bath begins to drain/And from the floor he prays away all the pain.”
If Manners was the soundtrack to Angelakos’ college life, then Gossamer was a realistic slap in the face. The new album involved such themes as immigration, depression, alcoholism, suicide, economic disparity, mental illness, drugs, and domestic abuse. While listening to Gossamer, it’s easy to see where Angelakos was coming from as he describes his rough upbringing, unstable mentality, struggles with depression, and steadfast love for fiancé Kristy Mucci.
JUNE 21, 2012- It has been one day since the release of Gossamer. Passion Pit is scheduled to play a homecoming concert at Boston’s Bank of America Pavilion the next day for over 5,000 people. Later they will headline New York City’s Governor’s Ball Festival. If all goes well, they will be granted a coveted spot on Saturday Night Live. Michael tries to keep himself together, as he boards the van in Providence, RI. It’s less than an hour’s drive to Boston from Rhode Island, but to Michael it feels like a century. “He definitely should not be touring,” says guitarist Ian Hultquist on the ride over. “That lifestyle is not made for him. You can see it in his face, when he’s not doing well. He’s constantly working on making and keeping himself healthy, but whenever he’s in a weak state, it’s the worst place to be.” “My lifestyle doesn’t bode well with what any doctor has told me I need to do to regulate my disorder,” Angelakos concurs. “I can do it while I’m young, but the older I get, the harder it’s gonna become. There’s this clock ticking, and at a certain point, an alarm is going to go off: ‘You’re done touring.’ Nothing in my life comes easily.”
The rest of the day includes an acoustic session for radio station WFNX with an impromptu Q&A following, in addition to a brief photo shoot. The next day Michael has an appointment with a voice specialist; the same one that Adele uses to be exact. After the specialist give him the OK for show time, Angelakos heads back to the hotel before sound check. While he’s away, things begin to unravel backstage. The opening band fails to show up. Later, as the crowd begins to arrive, the power goes out 90 minutes before Passion Pit is supposed to go on. Venue employees and tour managers talk nervously in hushed circles. The only thing they can do is wait. Keyboard player, Xander Singh, cracks open the stash of rapidly warming beer. “It’s a good thing Michael isn’t here to witness this,” says Xander.
When Angelakos arrives at the venue an hour later, he was surprisingly slightly okay with the circumstances. “We learned later that it was because he secretly wished the event wouldn’t happen at all,” includes bass player Jeff Apruzzese. At 9 pm, talk has arisen of cancelling the show, but as if on cue, the power is kindled one last time, and finally there is success. A surge of crowd cheering is heard from the other side of the venue, and each of the band members’ faces is elated; even Michael’s.
I think what captures the hearts of Passion Pit fans worldwide is the dedication Michael Angelakos puts into each and every one of his songs. These aren’t just normal songs that get their turn on the radio, and then are promptly retired, never to be heard again. Heck, Passion Pit’s songs are rarely on the radio to begin with, but that’s not what they are about. Aside from the occasional Taco Bell commercial or movie soundtrack, Passion Pit’s music is rarely ever heard outside of the usual indie rock Pandora station. The public admires their works because they create material for the love of it. It’s not for money at all. This is why Michael Angelakos will continue to have a rising fan base, and should be around for a long time.
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