Mike Wojniak

While reviewing music for our site, we don’t simply just listen to the music and write down what we hear. We immerse ourselves in it, put ourselves into the shoes of the musician and try to understand how and why they create. For recently featured Mike Wojniak, it seems as though the easiest way to explain his career is that he was simply born to create music. It was the one thing that made sense; what he couldn’t put into words verbally he expresses beautifully through music.

Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio and now living in San Diego, California, Wojniak recently signed with independent label Golden Wave Records where he will be releasing his latest EP, Anima Mundi. Though only four songs long, the EP is more like a continuation of his previous works (Libero which was released in 2012, and Memento Vivere released in 2010). Anima Mundi is built around the mutuality of nature and humankind, resulting in breath-taking compositions with lyrics so poetic they could stand alone without the music.
Each track represents a specific relationship or moment and how it is related to nature. Stylistically, the music is melodic, enchanting. Fans of Bon Iver, City and Colour or Sigur Ros are highly encouraged to take note. “Stone and The Sea” is the EP’s opening track (which was featured as a Daily Krapht ), followed by the electro-ballad “Tidal Wave”. “Lion At The Well” is a powerful, passionate track with a fantastic message.

“Elephant tusks mount the walls only to draw awe,
Swallow your pride, push your filthy greed aside you who will misguide
The lives of those who confide in your lies, in your lies. “

Musically, “Lion at the Well” packs quite a punch, building and layering with each chorus while Wojniak’s vocals remain serene and will be ringing in your ears long after the song is over.

When you find an EP with such a strong, coherent theme wrapped up and presented in such a beautiful manner, you can’t help but get excited and inspired. What Wojniak has produced in just four songs, others can’t seem to get with a full album. We will never tire of hearing honest, music that comes straight from the heart, and Anima Mundi is just that.

Anima Mundi will be released July 22nd, on Golden Wave Records. Libero and Memento Vivere are available now, check links at the bottom for where to grab them. Wojniak has a few shows lined up in California for the month of July so if you have to chance to stop by and see him, don’t miss out.



WORDKRAPHT Rating: 5 Stars! - Word Krapht

The name of Mike Wojniak may not be too familiar to you yet, but after today, hopefully you’ll be a fan. Mike Wojniak is a singer/songwriter who today is back with a solid new project for our listening enjoyment.

The project is called Anima Mundi and finds the talented artists giving us his talents over the course of four tracks. What the *EP lacks in tracks it makes up for in infectious sounds and Mike gives us one hell of a collection. Check out the project in stream form below and speak on it after the jump. Grab yours copy of the project right here! - StupidDOPE

Hi Mike, welcome to VENTS! How have you been?

I have been great! Super busy with a lot of music stuff going on but excited about 2014!


How did you fall in love with music?

I fell in love with music at an early age. Any avid music lover out there knows the feeling when you discover a song that just pulls you in and evokes so much emotion inside of you, time and time again, listen after listen. For me, it was rewinding that cassette tape to hear a song that I just taped off of the local radio station, whether it was Radiohead’s “The Tourist,” Pearl Jam’s “Immortality” or “Dissident”, or Andres Segovia performing Bach’s Suite for Cello, laying in my bed, utterly amazed by how beautiful, vastly different, and powerful music could be. When you come to the realization that you also have the ability to create music yourself, and that you can write songs that might somehow affect others, it is an, exciting, wonderful, empowering, yet humbling feeling.

What are your musical influences?

I really enjoy listening to bands like Radiohead, Bon Iver, Coldplay, City and Colour, Fleet Foxes, Horse Feathers, Sleeping at Last, ect. but I also enjoy other genres as well from electronic music, to classical music, folk music, and pop.

So lets talk about your latest EP, first of all how was the recording and writing process?

I wrote a lot of the parts to the songs while recording them, which is what I have done on previous albums. I like to have a rough idea of how I want the song to go, and then experiment with different instruments and sounds to see which direction I want the song to take. This record was different in the way that it is the first album I’ve released since moving to California and my first release since working with my local record label, Golden Wave Records. I also had other musicians collaborate on the album who recorded their parts in other states (Ohio, North Carolina) which was a new experience for me.

How did you come up with the title?

Anima Mundi is Latin phrase that means the “world’s soul.” It essentially means that all living things on the planet are intrinsically connected. I came across this phrase recently while reading the writings of Swiss Psychologist, Carl Jung. My last two records, Libero and Memento Vivere, both have Latin titles as well and I wanted to stay within this theme. The names of each of these three albums not only represents a Latin phrase that encompasses the record’s overall concept, but it also reflects a specific period of my life in which that concept was highly evident and therefore emphasized.

Where did you find the inspiration for the songs and lyrics?

My love for nature plays an influential role in my music. I also draw inspiration from the people I have met throughout my life and the places that I have visited. Experiencing other cultures has a way of broadening our perspectives and allows us to see things from another angle. Traveling, like music, cultivates personal growth, it teaches patience and flexibility, it has the ability to change lives.

I love to incorporate occurrences in nature and relate them to human experience and the way that our minds work. Each of the songs on Anima Mundi take something in nature, (a stone, a tidal wave, a lion, and an oak tree) and use it as a metaphor for an interaction (relationship) with a person or societal value.

I used the sea as a general theme because like the concept of Anima Mundi, the oceans, by connecting each mass of land with one another, unite the entire planet. 3 out of the 4 songs on the EP have lyrical references to the ocean and this theme is also evident on the artwork and disc imprint image.

What´s the approach you were looking to get with your music and you think you managed to accomplish this?

For me, music has been one of the most consistent and influential factors in my life. It has brought me intense feelings of love, gratitude, beauty, joy, sadness, hope, and positivity. It has always played a vital role in my life. I want my music to affect people, to make them think introspectively, to be able to motivate them in a positive manner, to bring love, comfort, and to allow the listener to connect to the music in a deeply personal way.

When creating music, I like to allow it to happen in an organic and natural way, usually starting on an acoustic guitar or piano, and then deciding which type of instrumentation to use for that particular song. When recording songs, I really enjoy layering different sounds from various instruments to add specific textures and elements. I have always been a fan of atmospheric sounds so these are often incorporated into my songs to help create a certain mood or feeling.

I understand you are on the road right now, are you having fun? Any highlights? Can you give us more details?

I’m leaving June 4th for a tour and will be traveling through the West and Pacific Northwest and then coming back to San Diego for a couple shows before going back to my hometown of Columbus, Ohio for a couple shows which I’m excited about. It will be great playing with some of my old bandmates again! After that, I will come back to California for more shows here and then additional shows in Las Vegas and Arizona among other stops.

After this tour, will you settle down or continue?

I plan to tour June, July and into August, but will probably slow down for a little while to release new music.

What else is happening next in Mike Wojniak´s world?

I plan to release a couple more singles and/or EPs in 2014. I am also working on finishing up a promotional video that we filmed with my good friends in Los Angeles and am working on another music video for a song off of Anima Mundi.

In other news, I am taking on the role of Vice President of the San Diego Songwriters Guild. I am excited to work with this organization and am already planning events and showcases for the guild including an interactive learning session at the San Diego Music Thing and a showcase for the guild members this month.

Where can we find more about your music?

You can sign up for my email list, check out tour dates, listen to music and watch video at my website, www.mikewojniak.com. You can also check out my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/mikewojniakmusic, follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/mikewojniak, or see my pictures at www.instagram.com/mikewojniak - Vents Magazine