Three Great Things is Talkhouse’s series in which artists tell us about three things they absolutely love. To celebrate the release of their latest record, Wishes to Fulfill — out now on Run For Cover — Michael Doherty and Nick Sebastiano from the Philly band Another Michael tell us about why they love games, walking, and Crocs.
— Annie Fell, Editor-in-chief, Talkhouse Music
1. Games
Nick: I love games, of any kind. Especially love playing them. They might be the quickest and most efficient route to one’s inner child. It’s special to have folks’ inner children hanging out and playing together because, regardless of age, that nurtures some real bonding. You could understand someone in a completely different way when you play a game with them, and you may see sides of people in five minutes that you wouldn’t have seen for years. But besides all that, games are mad fun. It’s a blast. You laugh a lot. You flex dormant brain muscles. I’ve been in so many scenarios where folks will be hanging out and the energy gets low, conversations hit a lull, people get bored etc. Usually someone automatically will default to putting something on the TV etc. But really it’s probably a great time to play a game. IRL engagements are thru the roof. Games are a good thing.
2. Walking
Michael: I’m really inspired by all the ways we get around in this world. Modes of transportation! I love living in a big city for all the options at play. Bus and subway and ride share, yes of course, I do it all. Sometimes I drive our big van, yikes! My favorite, no joke, might be walking, like, seven or eight miles on a day off with my headphones in, podcasts and records and phone calls all day. All the different sights of the city build up and fade out. Sometimes I get tempted by a bakery or bar. It’s something one shouldn’t take for granted! Walking shows up in the music I write a lot ‘cus, not to sound too corny, but sometimes it feels like the most personal thing I’ve got.
3. Crocs
Michael: Back in 2019, I had parked in Center City with, like, 30 minutes on the meter and ran into Nordstrom Rack hoping to leave with a pair of shoes for tour. I didn’t know I’d be leaving with my first pair of Crocs — a shoe that, all trends aside, really does check off so many boxes for me. Quite the phenomenon now! We both grew up with Crocs being controversial shoes right?
Nick: Yeah, I mean, Crocs were always very polarizing for some reason, and I think they maybe still even are in some circles. Crocs are in many ways a middle finger to the conventions of footwear. They like, all look exactly the same and are basically completely made out of this weird homogeneous foam rubber stuff. And I think this simply, to some people, is going to be a huge turn-off. But Crocs are comfy and insanely simple to put on, and take off. Which to me are like the main boxes they check. What are your Croc boxes?
Michael: I go for black Crocs, which go with everything, and then they also work for me as an all-seasons shoe. In the winter, your socks might get a little wet, but we don’t get much snow in Philadelphia anyway and I wear thick socks. When I wear a pair into the ground they become my shoes for taking out the trash or whatever else. The color options do always tempt me though, when it comes time to buy a new pair. I’ve been drawn to yellow as a potential, Mickey Mouse mode. I’m just happy I found a shoe I can buy without thinking too much, but they should find a way to make a subscription where you get like two pairs a year and you can trade old pairs in to get recycled somehow. All that walking gets them pretty worn out for me.
Nick: Personally, I think I may always have to stick with the lavender Crocs. That color is basically the main reason I even tried crocs in the first place. They just have swag. No other way to explain it. Crocs are good.
(Photo Credit: Juliette Boulay)
