Ingrid Michaelson interview

iProng Magazine talks with Ingrid Michaelson about her new album Be OK and more in this interview from our December 16th, 2008 issue…

interview by Natalie Gelman

We caught up with Ingrid while she was touring as part of the Hotel Café tour earlier this Fall. “BE OK,” her new EP, had just been released and she was preparing to go on the road with her band for her first ‘real’ full band tour – complete with a tour bus – as she called it.

Ingrid has come into her own since she self-released “Boys and Girls” in January 2007, gaining exposure through licensing the single “The Way I Am” to Old Navy for a commercial and through key song placements. Lynn Grossman, who owns a music licensing company specializing in independent music, discovered Ingrid on Myspace and got Ingrid’s music placed on Grey’s Anatomy and One Tree Hill. Since then Lynn became Ingrid’s manager and they chose to keep Ingrid an independent artist and build her fan base as organically as possible.

It’s really important to Ingrid to be accessible to her fans. She posts candidly and regularly on her Myspace blog and Twitters with her fans. “I think it’s really important to connect with people because they are what keeps me afloat, …it’s a whole other element outside of the music to make that personal connection and draw them in.” And who can blame her, today fans are bombarded with so much free music the only thing that cuts through that clutter is the personal connection.

It is just that need to be personal that lead Ingrid to the photo shoot for the album cover. The cover is a close up of Ingrid with “BE OK” written across her face, “I was interested in the idea of not wearing glasses, having it be a very vulnerable looking picture – wearing your sadness or problems right on you, not hiding it but embracing it.” The song, Be OK, is an anthem for anyone going through a tough time and 50% of the proceeds from the single go to the Stand Up to Cancer charity.

The music video for Be OK shows how we all are better off when we are supported by and connected to one another, Ingrid plays her ukulele barefoot on a couch while people slowly gather outside her window and sit down, she gets up and goes outside where they all stand up and pick her up above them slowly passing her along carrying Ingrid and letting her down easily at the very end of the song. On her website there is a video of the song posted that features her fans photos of “Be OK” written on their faces.

Ingrid said she usually doesn’t re-write her songs, “the first time it comes out, that’s it.” She doesn’t have a record label to answer to and has grown to feel even more free to do what she wants to do with her music. You can really hear her looser, delicate phrasing on the live solo voice/ukulele or voice/piano tracks on the CD. My personal favorite is Ingrid’s cover of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Originally performed as an encore when she opened for Dave Matthews Band at Madison Square Garden earlier this year, Dave was moved by the performance because that was one of the first songs he heard LeRoi Moore perform. LeRoi was in the hospital at that time and Ingrid didn’t ever get to meet him, but she included it on the EP as a tribute.

The vulnerability Ingrid exhibits on the album is one of its most defining and meaningful qualities. “I like the idea of being fearless, to a degree, lyrically and melodically.” That enables the songs to be specific in a way that captivates listeners. It’s like listening to your best friend or sister tell you her fears and let you know how to get through it yourself.

Ingrid was really excited to go out on tour with her band when we spoke. She has been playing with most of the people in her band since before she broke with The Way I Am.


I also asked her what she would be doing if she hadn’t gotten an email from Lynn Grossman two years ago: “I don’t know if I would have gotten picked up by a label or probably still working with children’s theater – its always an option for me if it all falls through.” I doubt it will fall through for Ingrid.

Her next album is set to be released in the Fall of 2009. Definitely pick up a copy of the EP, if it isn’t on your holiday wish list it should be – the breezy music will clear your head of all the holiday music you’re already tired of and help you kick off 2009! If you are looking for new holiday songs, Ingrid and Sara Bareilles wrote “Winter Song” for the Hotel Café Winter Songs CD and Ingrid released “Snowfall” as part of the Barnes and Noble “Sunday Music 5: Holiday” collection.

Learn more at IngridMichaelson.com.