Review Fix Exclusive: Michelle Lewis Talks ‘All That’s Left’ And More

Review Fix chats with singer/songwriter Michelle Lewis, who gives us all the details on her goals, creative process and new album, All That’s Left.

Pre-Order the album here.

Review Fix: How did you get involved in music?

Michelle Lewis: I started playing piano at age 8, and moved to guitar around 14. I sang in the chorus at school and the choir at church. When I was 16 or 17 I realized music was all I wanted to do after high school, so I went to Berklee College of Music in Boston. After graduating I started touring and making my first record. I’ve been singing and songwriting ever since.

Review Fix: What artists have influenced you the most?

Lewis: Some of my favorite artists are Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, and Patty Griffin. When I was younger I’d listen to my dad’s record collection of James Taylor, Bob Dylan, and Jim Croce. When I was a teenager I couldn’t get enough of female singer/songwriters like Tori Amos, Jewel, Ani DiFranco, or Fiona Apple. I think all of these artists have influenced me at different times of my life.

Review Fix: Was music always your first choice in career?

Lewis: Yup. I never really considered doing anything else.  

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Lewis: I tend to start by finding a chord progression or finger pattern I like on the guitar. A melody usually forms pretty easily, and I’ll start experimenting with different vowel sounds and usually a single lyric will form that I end up basing the whole song around. From there the rest of the lyrics can either happen very quickly or sometimes take months for me to finish. Lyrically I usually write about something that’s troubling me or on my mind. I don’t typically set out to write about a certain topic, I let my emotions guide me.

Review Fix: Why is this a special time in your career?

Lewis: Releasing a new album is always really exciting. I’ve been working on these songs for a while now and it’s great to finally be able to share them. 

Review Fix: What have been the biggest lessons you’ve learned? 

Lewis: You don’t get what you don’t ask for. And trust your gut, it’s never wrong.

Review Fix: What’s your five-year plan?

Lewis: I find making a five-year plan in an industry that is constantly changing isn’t all that helpful. But in the next year I plan on touring the new album in the US, UK, and Europe. I plan to do more cowrites with friends in LA and Nashville. I’d also like to do more collaborations in the studio. 

Review Fix: How does this project help get you there?

Lewis: I think putting out new music is a good way to reconnect with fans or peers. It always seems to open up doors to new venues, cities, writing sessions, and collaborators. 

Review Fix: Bottom line, why must someone listen to All That’s Left?

Lewis: I try to make music that is honest and relatable. I think sometimes that catches people off guard and they end up really connecting to a song in a way they never expected. 

Review Fix: What’s next?

Lewis: I just got back from a month-long CD release tour in the UK and Europe, so time for a few Mai Tais on the beach in Hawaii. I’ll be back on the road late October and November for CD release shows in the US.

 

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13821 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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