whatever mike to headline Utah Trans Pride

In 2015, whatever mike signed to S-Curve/BMG Records as Michael Blume and released their debut single, “Manufactured Love,” which rose to #6 on the Spotify Viral chart. Between 2015 and 2020, they gained over 20 million streams, toured nationally, and released several projects with the label.

Mike spent the pandemic writing “Word to the Trees” in the Yucca Valley desert. During this time, they became a dedicated meditator and had a series of spiritual awakenings that led them to come out as a trans person and write “Word to the Trees,” their first release as an independent artist.

whatever mike says “Word to the Trees” is a celebration of being and a meditation on oneness — a wake-up call to live now. To be whatever we are – all the things we are – and we are everything – now. “Word to the Trees” laments humanity’s devastation of the planet while holding space for the possibility of new beauty and healing. “Don’t fuck with my hope.” With sonic and lyrical textures reminiscent of Frank Ocean, Francis and the Lights, and Sam Smith, “Word to the Trees” blends pop musicality and soulful vocals with queer spirituality and vulnerability.

whatever mike is headlining Utah Trans Pride in August and we were able to get some of their thoughts.

How did you succeed in attracting a major label when you first made a splash with your music?

I like to think it’s cuz I made honest music that resonated with folks! The labels don’t really know anything; they just follow what people are liking, so when they saw that my music was gaining some traction, they reached out. 

What did you see as your future during that time?

I’ve been working in music for ten years and have had some amazing experiences traveling the world and sharing music in so many spaces with all kinds of folks. I think ten years ago I was more attached to certain outcomes.  As I’ve embraced my spirituality and my queerness and my transness, I’ve become much more attuned to the perfection of the present. To the fact that right now, I have everything I need, and I am exactly where I need to be. The work for me is remembering that truth! 

Then Covid happened, and you went into quarantine. Tell us what that looked like, where you were, and how you filled your days.

The pandemic gave me a chance to start exploring the question of “who am I” in new ways. I left my record label, left NYC, moved to the desert, developed a meditation practice, and started exploring my spirituality with new intention. I started seeing that I don’t have to be who or what the world (and subsequently I myself) told me to be. I started waking up to the magic that I could be whatever I wanted to be. I can literally be whatever mike. I can change all the time, every day, every second. I believe that’s what it is to be alive. To transform. We are magic! I am an artist, musician, performer, human, and divine being. 

You’ve just come out of a three-year hiatus with a new EP after a major revelation in your life. Tell us about the process of coming out trans, and what that means to you.

To me, to be trans is to be honest. Honest about the fact that the gender binary is simply a delusional tool of white supremacy used to subjugate femmes, trans people, women, non-binary people – and really femininity itself.  I have always been gender non-conforming, but my own internalized misogyny and transphobia blocked me from seeing and understanding my own transness.  As I become closer with trans folks in the last 10 years and became part of a community of trans artists, healers, and activists, I started to understand my own transness as a thing that had always been there, though I wasn’t ready to see it.  For me, transness has to do with my gender and my presentation, and it also has to do with my spiritual identity.  We are literally magical beings on a rock in space.  We are 70% water.  We flow. We transform.  White supremacy wants us to be statues and “define” ourselves, but the reality is that to be human is to “trans-form” at every single moment. 

How has coming out trans changed your life and your music?

It’s allowed me to be so much more honest about my humanity!  I think for a long time (and I am still working to unlearn this), I felt pressure to be legible, define-able, and recognizable. Even as a trans person, I sometimes catch myself feeling like, “ok, well, how do I be trans the ‘right way’?” And, of course, that is in and of itself my own transphobia. There is no right way to be trans. My transness is a testament to the fact that we can change every day, every second.  We owe nothing to anyone. We get to be what we are – we get to define ourselves.  We get to be part of this ever-evolving, ever-changing Earth.  And trans people, particularly black and brown trans activists, have always been at the forefront of this movement toward liberation. This movement that sense let’s dare not to make sense. We don’t need to make sense.  Make sense to whom? I am so grateful to be part of such an honest community. 

What does being part of Utah Trans Pride mean to you?

I stand with queer and trans people everywhere in saying that we have ALWAYS been here, and we are going nowhere.  Pride festivals are now more important than ever as our community has become the target of so much hatred. I believe that the TRUTH is the GRACE, and when we show up in our truth as queer and trans people, we are doing god’s work. I also want to add that we must lead with compassion. We cannot do what the fascists do. The politics of “us” vs. “them” keeps us stuck in the illusion of separateness. I am interested in exploring ways to FIGHT for freedom while also refusing to reproduce the division and dehumanization that has led to the current hell we are in. 

What would you tell other people evaluating their expression and their gender?

There is nothing to get right or wrong!!  There is no arrival point.  There is no, “and now I am this.”  Or maybe there is for you!  Everyone’s journey is perfectly their journey.  There are ultimately as many genders as there are people!  Your journey, your gender, your queerness, your transness.  You owe no one anything.  You owe no one consistency.  You only owe yourself YOUR TRUTH. 

Anything else you want to tell QSaltLake readers?

I’m excited to be playing a bunch of new music from my EP, “Word to the Trees,” as well as some of my older music.  Audiences can expect Queer Church vibes! Haha. Grateful, present, soulful, community energy. Can we be honest about the pain we all are living through? Let’s heal together!