Michael Medrano reveals the inspiration behind his new single 'Personal Heaven'

17 November 2021, 17:39

Michael Medrano Personal Heaven. Picture: Michael Medrano

By Woodrow Whyte

"I won’t underestimate myself ever again"

Today (Nov 17) pop supremo Michael Medrano dropped his latest single 'Personal Heaven'.

The LA-based songwriter has steadily been building a stack of pop bops thanks to super-addictive tracks like 'Fluid' and 'Sugar'. More recently, Michael teamed up with AJ Mitchell to co-write the lead single from his latest album Skyview.

We caught up with Michael over email to find out the inspiration for his latest bop, why his fave Katy Perry deserves better, and the secret to writing TikTok hits (spoiler: don't try to write a TikTok hit). Read all that and more after the jump.

So Michael, tell us about the lyrical inspiration for ‘Personal Heaven’?

I don’t often write about falling in love (see my previous single: “i don’t wanna talk about love”), but when I do, I fall really hard. Sometimes too hard and that’s kind of the deeper message of this track if you listen closely. On the surface however, I got to really express a softer side of myself and I had a lot of fun doing it!

A TikTok featuring the song has already gone viral. Does TikTok ever factor into your songwriting process?

To be honest no, never. I truly believe any great song can have a viral moment. I’m unsigned and each one of my songs has had a moment on TikTok. I think that stems from having fun and being honest in my work. It can be really frustrating at times though… the app is inconsistent and record labels are hyper-fixated on TikTok numbers, but in the end, I think my music speaks for itself. I mean, I got myself millions of streams before TikTok so…

You’ve spoken about how Katy Perry inspired the production for this single, and I know you’re a big Katy fan in general. What do you love about her music so much?

Katy is such a legend and I think she’s been treated so unfairly since her Witness era for no good reason. She has so much fun in her music and you really hear her personality shine through on everything she does — she’s very much the reason I write the way I do now. In high school, I got free tickets to see her on The California Dreams Tour. I remember sitting all the way in the back and saying to myself, 'This is 100% what I wanna do, this is it' and I’ve never looked back. Justice for Smile by the way, that record is fantastic and I’m glad people are rediscovering it right now.

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You co-wrote the lead single for AJ Mitchell’s latest album. What has that experience of writing for another artist taught you?

Honestly? It’s taught me that I don’t give myself enough credit! AJ and I wrote that song so quickly and effortlessly that I felt like I could’ve maybe done more in the session. Not only did it become his lead single, but it ended up being my first ever charting single for multiple weeks. This was the first time I’d ever written with a signed artist and I did that on ONE try; I won’t underestimate myself ever again. PS. AJ’s a really great guy, maybe the best singer I’ve ever worked with. Stream Skyview if you haven’t already.

Your song ‘Fluids’ has become something of a sleeper hit on streaming services. What has it been like watching one of your songs take on a life of its own years after its initial release?

It’s crazy actually, that song does NOT quit! I always knew the song would change my life, what I didn’t know was that it would propel my growth as an artist YEARS later. I’m starting to understand how Lizzo’s music started blowing up 2 - 3 years after it dropped and it’s actually a very cool aspect of releasing music in the age of streaming & social media — songs don’t age the same way anymore! I feel very ahead of my time with 'Fluids' and I’m so proud of it.

What can you reveal about your “upcoming project” and plans for 2022?

I can tell you that I’ve landed on the title “LoveSexDrugs” and that’ll probably stick unless I write something amazing last minute. I wrote the title track a month after 'Fluids' came out and I’ve been sitting on it for 2 years now. I’ve also been really strategic about the single choices and how we roll the project out; it’s one big story that takes you from the highest high to the lowest low and you learn a lot about my psyche in the process. I think fans will get to know me and have a lot of fun doing it.

And finally, the internet has become obsessed with the yassify meme. Do you have any favourites or hot takes that you’d like to share with us?

I yassified the boys from Scream and Twitter seems to be eating that up. I’m also very happy that yassify bot exists.