Episode 298 - Mike Viola
Sodajerker On Songwriting
Sodajerker
4.8 • 912 Ratings
🗓️ 4 October 2025
⏱️ 61 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In a landmark third appearance, the incomparable Mike Viola joins Simon and Brian in Liverpool for an in-depth conversation and live performance showcasing his distinctive guitar style and melodic craft. The episode explores Mike's songwriting process, the emotional weight of his lyrics, and the role of personal experience in shaping his music.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi there, welcome to Soda Jerker on songwriting. This is Simon, here with Brian, and we've got a rather special episode for you today. |
| 0:26.6 | Joining us on the show for an unprecedented third time is the singular songwriting talent, that is, Mike Viola. |
| 0:33.2 | He's completed the hat trick. Mike now officially holds the soda joker appearance record. |
| 0:37.9 | It may never be beaten, Brian. We'll have to see. Our long-time listeners will be well aware |
| 0:43.2 | of Mr Viola, but any of you who aren't familiar with this brilliant artist's work may want |
| 0:47.6 | to check out episodes 20 and 195 of this podcast before going any further. That's just a suggestion, |
| 0:53.8 | of course, |
| 0:54.3 | maybe non-linear narratives your thing. |
| 0:56.4 | Some of you will remember that Mike was last on the pod in 2020 |
| 0:59.5 | to talk about his album, God Muffin. |
| 1:02.1 | He's since released two more fine solo records |
| 1:04.7 | via low jinx here in the UK, |
| 1:06.7 | 2023's Paul McCarthy and last year's Rock of Boston, |
| 1:10.7 | both recorded at his bare-bone studio in |
| 1:12.9 | L.A. with bassist Jake Sinclair and drummer and Panic at the Disco frontman Brendan Urey. |
| 1:18.7 | He's also donned his producer hat for albums by the likes of Doors, Andrew Bird and the |
| 1:23.3 | aforementioned Panic at the disco. And as this episode reaches you, Mike's currently |
| 1:27.2 | working on a new solo record to be released next year. He's also gaming up for an East Coast aforementioned Panic at the Disco. And as this episode reaches you, Mike's currently working |
| 1:27.5 | on a new solo record to be released next year. He's also gearing up for an East Coast tour in the |
| 1:32.4 | States during October, but the interview you're about to hear was recorded when he was last |
| 1:36.6 | in Liverpool in November. Mike was visiting our hometown to rehearse for a few UK gigs he was |
| 1:41.5 | doing that month, with a band that included another former guest, Sean Payne of the Zootons on drums. So naturally, we did what any self-respecting songwriting podcast were do in that situation, and ambushed Mike at his hotel, where we forced him to answer our questions and sing a few songs for us. He was very obliging, it must be said. He really was. In retrospect, we probably didn't even need the ski masks and baseball bats. |
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