With the recent release of his EP, Wall Street Blues, Sanjay Michael continues to turn up the heat, reintroducing the swagger of ‘70s blues rock.
Now based in Singapore, Michael grew up in Malaysia and Australia. In 2023, he released his debut long player, Rocking Into Midnight, featuring the title track and “Rockin’ Machine.” The album traveled on powerful riffs and contagious choruses.
Michael held one song back from his debut album. The song was “Wall Street Blues,” the title track of his latest EP, and it explores the love of money. Accompanying “Wall Street Blues,” two other tracks appear on the EP – “Baby Baby” and “Who’ll Be My Friend” – both love songs.
We spoke with Sanjay Michael about the inspiration for the EP, how he got started in music, and his guitars.
Americana Highways: What three things can’t you live without?
SM: My family, my music collection, and some cheap guitar to play around with once in a while.
AH: How would you describe your music?
SM: Good, tough rock ‘n’ roll… power from simplicity.
AH: Can you share the inspiration behind your EP, Wall Street Blues, and the creative process involved in bringing it to life?
SM: The title song was a holdover track from my previous album, Rocking Into Midnight, recorded in a small studio that no longer exists. Instead of releasing it as a single, I thought of recording another four tracks to create an EP around it. Two of the tracks didn’t make it.
As far as the title track goes, the concept is as the song explains – I tried my hand at stock market trading and came away losing more money than I put in. I came up with the chorus riff first. I knew I had to put something earthy, relatable to it, and the words started to come out.
For ‘Baby Baby,’ this came from jamming in the studio with my friends. I started fooling around, and my drummer came up with the initial hi-hat sizzle.
I would say ‘Who’ll Be My Friend’ was conceived from late-night solo playing – just easing into a slow blues chord progression and then thinking this would make a good, simple song.
AH: What do you want people to take away from the EP?
SM: I want them to feel energized by the groove, the rock music magic – and also happy to have discovered something new in their life.
AH: How did you get started in music? What’s the back story there?
SM: I was a typical Asian kid ‘conditioned’ to learn classical piano and guitar, when most of the time I was playing my air guitar to Def Leppard! I dropped the classical stuff as soon as my parents allowed me to, but I never forgot the feel and satisfaction of playing the guitar, holding the neck and picking the strings – even the classical songs had one or two phrases that a teenager found satisfying.
Then I started playing rock and blues guitar on my own and didn’t stop.
AH: What can you share about your writing process?
SM: The riffs come first, mainly from idle practice or noodling around. If it sounds good and I’m feeling it, then I sort of ‘encourage’ my subconscious to come up with some words to match – this is usually the chorus, and that decides what the song will be about.
AH: What kind of guitar do you play? Which amps and pedals are you using?
SM: I play Les Pauls exclusively – I have four ’59 reissues and unfortunately, I don’t think I will stop!
I don’t use any pedals. As far as amps, it’s only Marshalls for now (‘Wall Street Blues’ was recorded with a JCM 800), but I don’t mind looking at other stuff. I’m very impressed by the Blackstar JJN series.
AH: What is your definition of tone and has your tone changed over time?
SM: I like big, thick chords with not too much gain. It hasn’t really changed, and the standard JCM 800 sounds optimized for blues is pretty much what I will always like.
AH: What’s been the highlight of your career so far? Maybe touring or who you’ve played with, something that’s really stood out.
SM: Playing at the Barbershop – an upmarket blues club and restaurant that doesn’t exist anymore. You had to be of a very good standard to hold your own against the resident band. I remember the acoustics of the place were fantastic, and in particular, there was once this saxophonist who really stood out – I regret not having the opportunity to play with him.
You always think there’s a next time, but then Covid came along and, like most capital cities throughout the world, an era ended.
AH: Which do you enjoy the most: writing, recording, practicing, or playing live?
SM: Definitely both writing and playing live.
AH: What’s next for you?
SM: More local gigs, and I plan to release another 3-track EP very soon, hopefully around this coming winter.
Listen to Wall Street Blues here.