Michael Deni of Geographer Talks Turning Life’s Oddities into Something Good

Michael Deni, the man behind electro-indie band Geographer hasn’t always been this confident with his songwriting. Today, Geographer’s success has him touring with bands all over the map and headlining a few shows of their own. With an intensified love for songwriting and finding the best process for his band, Deni continues to develop and strengthen their discography, with their most recent album, “Myth,” released in 2012. Geographer will be at El Rey Theatre on January 17 as they tour through California in January.

When did you decide that your two band mates were the collaborators you’d been looking for?

Well, I mean we just met; we met. I was a young musician at the time and I didn’t have anyone to play with. I met Kacey Johansing who introduced me to Nate, and with him, I thought ‘Well, that sounds pretty.’ Brian [Geographer’s drummer] didn’t make the cut at first. We had a guy with us recording at the time and it was awkward. It was formal. Not great vibes. But we thought, ‘Chris is the best drummer we know.’ So we had him back and with the first note, it was awesome.

What is your personal opinion with Geographers music relating to what actual scientific geographers do?  

Well, the whole reason behind the name is really the metaphor for cartographers. I mean, I took one geographer course in college and it was essentially the study of everything. The metaphor stems from the way my songs felt back then. All my songs were a detailed abstraction of an emotion, which is the same thing that can be said about a map. Like right now, I’m in San Francisco. But the experience is entirely different from looking at a map of San Francisco.

To deal with life, you need to turn it into nuggets that people can chew on faithfully. I think it’s interesting that people can listen to intensely emotional songs, but not discuss the same material casually. Emotions are bottled up tightly and music is the release for that. Geographer was emotionally cathartic for me from the beginning.

What do you think of the labeling of your sound as “music from outer space”?

Well, I think I said that first. People kind of picked up on it and decided to put it in everything.

Do you have an infatuation with space?

No, I’m actually scared of space. I mean, first of all, it’ll kill you. [laughing]

Emotionally, space terrifies me. I already feel really small and insignificant in the face of society, and then you put on top of that an ever-expanding universe. I really admire people who get excited about it, but I can barely figure out my own mind, let alone space. I love “2001: A Space Odyssey,” it’s just one big metaphor. I just watched “Interstellar” and it made me depressed; thinking about all that space really is.

Did you really find your first synthesizer on the street? Do you remember where?

My first one out here in San Fran, yes. I had these synths at home in my basement from my dad. He was an early adapter of MIDI, a cool, antiquated technology from the 80s that’s still around somehow. I didn’t realize how powerful the snyth was before, I just had my guitar. And I was running in Golden Gate park, and it was really dark. I remember thinking I was running for way too long and I got lost. I found a synth against a lamppost. Back in New Jersey, if it was on your lawn, it was still yours. But I thought, ‘Wait…city living?’ So I looked both ways, grabbed it and kept running. I wrote “Can’t You Wait” from Innocent Ghosts on that one. But I never recorded with it, cause it wasn’t very high quality. I was moving some stuff out of a recording studio recently and put a synth of my own next to my car. Someone on the street grabbed it and I was like “HEY!”

Geographer embellishes the skills of cellist, Nathan Blaz, did you always hope to incorporate strings into your music?

No, it was just cause Nate was in the band. Now I write for that, I would write these parts for him and he would tell me, “That’s actually a part for violin.” So we brought in a violin and viola for our recent stuff.

What was the best part about touring with Tokyo Police Club?

Tokyo Police Club was the best part. Those guys are just so cool. I almost produced David’s project recently and Graham is just awesome. All those guys are awesome. You meet a lot of bands that are not so cool, as people. But they got into it so young, so they are kind of like show biz kids. I was amazed by who they are as people. I really like Canadians.

What’s been a noticeable development for Geographer as you’ve continued to write new music from when you started?

Well, I think it was all focused on emotions. For me, the songwriting process was asking myself, ‘What makes a good song?’ Or ‘What doesn’t make a good song?’ So, I was trying to just try harder. At first, I would dump the song out and be like ‘Okay, there it is.’ And now I understand that the sky is the limit and that makes me feel like I can do anything. I work on a song and think, ‘I want a different synth sound here,” and develop it as it’s being written. In the beginning, I was limited by my insecurities, and I still have them, but now I have the confidence to try. I was forced to and I just did it.

Your music is able to combine darker lyrics with such uplifting sounds. How do you find that balance and decide when the two opposites should be mixed?

That’s a great question. Yeah, sometimes my songs go through a lot of integrations. A somber sound will be accompanied by somber lyrics and it’s just too heavy. And a lot of what I’m trying to do with music is to say, ‘Hey, life is very strange and it can be really hard, but let’s find what’s good in it.’ Not like Pollyanna, cause life CAN suck. I am dedicated to not being a victim of life. Like most, I’d rather enjoy life than be sucked under that wave of sadness. So my songs are really all about truth and really turning to the right direction from that truth.

Working on a third studio album right now?

Well, the new one is done. It’s coming out probably in March. It has been recorded for about a year. We’ve been sitting on it for a while. And since then I’ve written about 20 songs. If I can’t record a good album at any given moment, I’ll feel bad. So if I ever need a break from writing, I’ll take three days off and keep writing again. And I’ll keep doing that for many more years.