Interview from Songs and Sonics by Jeff Boller in 2008

If the present day were the golden age of Looney Tunes cartoons, Mike Langlie could easily fill the shoes of an electronic Carl Stalling. Mike's recording project, Twink, is toy piano-fueled electronica. It's delightfully bonkers, and a perfect soundtrack for stories involving... bunnies. In fact, bunnies figure prominently in Twink's CD packaging, web site artwork, and song titles.

Bunnies? No, not Bugs. And not Playboy. This is kid-friendly music with an avant-garde edge, equally enjoyable for adults and children. Mike began experimenting with toy pianos after becoming disillusioned with the rock band scene: "The more I played with toy pianos, the more fun I had — something I was missing in making music," he says. And toy pianos seem to naturally lead down the path to... bunnies.

However, there's another level to Twink's playful sound — something slightly sinister seems to be lurking underneath instrumental songs about rainbows, blindfold bird races, and toadstool tea. The hints of darkness are fleeting; they won't scare off the kids, but they're enough to keep adults off-balance and intrigued.

Twink's just-released album, A Very Fine Adventure, is aptly-named. From the clever packaging and gorgeous illustrations (Mike is a skilled visual artist) down to the music itself, Twink serves up twisted orchestral toy piano goodness which surprises, delights, and sometimes amazes. In fact, I can't remember the last CD I've heard that made me smile so consistently throughout.

Mike's already got some insightful interviews on his web site, and, true to Songs and Sonics fashion, we won't be rehashing the subjects covered in those articles here. Instead, we'll talk about A Very Fine Adventure and Twink's previous remix collaboration release, Ice Cream Headache, along with some previously unreleased sound clips from that project.

Jeff: Could you describe your design and illustration background?

Mike: As a kid, I'd keep myself busy making my own cereal boxes and cardboard cities. I didn't know what a designer was, or about art-related careers. It wasn't until college that I actually considered pursuing that path. But even before then, I'd done my share of freelance work for posters and things. I do web and print design for a living, and in my down time I'm usually juggling several projects for myself or friends. I'm glad I got to be a part of the 'zine years. I miss that tactile-ness since the web took over. Nice packaging wins me over every time, which explains my haphazard CD collection. I've done a lot of album covers — it's one of my favorite things. Honestly, at least half the reason I make music is to create the packaging and related goodies. Mp3s are quickly killing that market, but I continue to put out discs anyway.

Where did you get the packaging for A Very Fine Adventure made?

The covers were printed by a company called Vitagraphics. I always lose sleep anytime I get a job printed, especially when it's something complicated. They were very patient and helpful.

This was one of those projects that required lots of manual assembly at home, which I enjoy. It adds more personality than just a pre-packaged product.

How do you generally record your toy pianos (and toys)? You've said there's "a lot of clean-up involved" — what's some typical audio surgery that you do?

I come from the school of "whatever works." I'm no purist in recording, and love using the studio as a creative tool. Toy pianos can be pretty noisy, not to mention hard on the ear at certain pitches, so I tweak the heck out of a signal to smooth things out. I'm a pretty mediocre player, and am rarely satisfied with my own performance. It's not uncommon to stitch a tune together from lots of takes or chopped up parts. Sometimes songs are written from pasting random bits in a different order. I've got a background in electronic music and audio collage, so it's a natural way for me to work. These days, most of my tracks are made with the program Reason. It's not meant for live audio like Pro Tools, so I treat all my recorded parts like a remix. It's kind of a backwards way to do things, but I like the process.

I must admit you're the reason why I have a Jaymar toy piano and a pling plong. But... despite being fun instruments to mess around with, I've never found a musical use for them in my own recordings. Do you have instruments and toys that you just can't find a place for in your music, no matter how hard you try?

Most of my toy pianos look a lot nicer than they play. There are a few that I rely on the most, and the rest make little cameos here and there. I try to use every one at least once, even just a couple notes, shaking it, or used as percussion.

Most often, it's a particular instrument that determines the direction a song will take right from the beginning. Some are tuned strangely or are missing keys, or have a few notes that sound so weird that I just have to use them. Songs like "Flytrap" and "Lost in the Mysterious Mist" were done with really wonky pianos and couldn't have been written any other way. I try to dig out all of their personalities and embrace the quirks.

In "I Heart Rainbows", at one point, do I detect the sound of Pac-Man for the Atari 2600?

You got it! For such a bad game it's got some great sounds. I've always loved the sound of Atari 2600 and am in heaven now that the Chiptune movement is in full swing.

Are there any other aural "Easter eggs" hidden in the album?

This disc doesn't have so many nuggets like The Broken Record but I did manage to include bits and pieces from whatever electronic toys and old children's records were at arm's length. "What the Dickens" is built on a loop from a cracked 78 with no label. A bunch of tracks are sprinkled with circuit-bent or malfunctioning toy keyboard rhythm sections.

Do I detect a Caribbean influence in "Peculiar Fruit" and in other tracks on "A Very Fine Adventure"?

I guess this is my World album, appropriately enough. I'm always looking for different directions to take the toy piano. And working with electronic music tools, I try to add elements that aren't the typical techno-ish sound, though I like that too. Friends that I've collaborated with have turned me on to things like Caribbean and reggae. I like mixing different elements together to keep things interesting, especially to me.

What are some of the most extreme things you've done to get a certain sound for a Twink song?

There have been at least a couple of tunes where the main piano chosen didn't have the range needed to hit all the notes. I'd record one note from two or three other pianos to fill in. It's a maddening exercise of layering tons of tracks to complete a seemingly simple part. I've also gone back and forth with a few collaborators, each of us re-recording our parts several times because we just couldn't get our instruments in tune. The worst is living in a busy neighborhood and having a good take blown by someone's karaoke party or motorcycle. That's another reason I tend to work in chunks.

Speaking of collaboration, the Ice Cream Truckin' album was where you sent simple toy piano tracks to collaborators to work on. To what degree did you influence everyone's contribution?

It really ran the spectrum. Some people kept the parts as-is and embellished with arrangements. Some tracks came back totally unrecognizable. Some were more typical collaborations that built up gradually over turns.

Which track on that album contains the biggest difference between what you sent to your collaborator and what you got back?

The ones that changed the most are "Peanut Butter Crunch" (with Ergo Phizmiz), "Plastic Spoon" (with Evan Morris), "Strawberry Swirl" (with nonnon), and "Dreamsicle" (with Bardacid). Everybody did a good job extracting the true essence of each track. Many were real surprises at first, but then seemed like they were meant to be.

You've spent a lot of time listening to and researching old children's music, especially for your album The Broken Record. What's your favorite children's music?

Tom Glazer is great. He was prolific in a wide variety of styles. His albums ranged from circus to science themes, and even his silliest songs never spoke down to kids. They Might Be Giants even cover his tunes.

What's the worst?

I wouldn't call it the worst, but Little Marcy (the religious singing puppet) never ceases to astound me. Simultaneously fascinating and abrasive. I recommend her to everyone, and am usually not thanked kindly.

When it comes to enjoying other people's music, what qualities do you look for?

I appreciate hearing familiar things done in unexpected ways. Another thing that appeals to me is the ability to conjure other worlds. The first album I bought as a kid was Kilroy Was Here by Styx. The whole theme fascinated me, a story developing through the songs and the band members as characters. But it's not limited to concept albums. Certain pop songs can transport me somewhere magical.

Do you give a lot of thought to making your albums feel like a miniature world?

Absolutely, right from the start. I always have at least a vague idea of the kinds of places I want an album to explore. Along the way, some songs seem to write themselves and take things in unplanned directions. A lot of thought goes into the track order. It can add a whole new context to the songs, changing the overall mood of a sonic landscape. You can play with the song-to-song dynamics to set up different suggested scenarios of conflict, resolution, punch lines, etc.

The first Twink album was a fun experiment in telling an instrumental story. The picture book that comes with it doesn't follow the music exactly, but they share a similar journey from beginning to end. I try to do something similar with each disc, even if the world is just in my own head.

Do you ever see yourself running out of ways to use the toy piano?

After almost every piece I wonder if I've reached that point, but fortunately I still find new things to try. If I really think I've hit the limit, I can always record them being broken as a grand swan song. Maybe they know that and learn new tricks to keep me from going to that extreme!