It wasn’t until Mike Deni aka Geographer moved from his longtime home of San Francisco for Los Angeles did he find inspiration for his latest album, ‘Down and Out in the Garden of Earthly Delights’. The collection of songs were inspired by the rollercoaster of emotions Deni went through that saw him in the midst of writing the new material while in a new relationship and finishing up the songs as the relationship ended abruptly and painfully. “It was like you have the same situation you feel on top of the world almost like psychotically happy,” Deni stated, “I was so sad it was like an all-time low like i felt like i had no future like no there was nothing out there for me.” While recording the album, engineer Jules de Gasperis showed him an image of the famed, 15th-century triptych painting “The Garden of Earthly Delights,” depicting alternate realities of paradise, hell, and reality. Deni noted, “I hit a ceiling in San Francisco. I was writing a lot more songs with people in LA, so I moved down. I didn’t really have any friends and just spent way too much time alone, making music. I wasn’t thriving, I was surviving. Everything feels possible here. That’s the vibe of LA: You’ve made it to paradise! You should be really happy…and then nobody is. There’s a lot of darkness — you have to sift through everything to find your own path.”
Formed in San Francisco, Geographer is the moniker for now Los Angeles-based artist Mike Deni. He is touring in support of his new album, Down and Out In The Garden Of Earthly Delights, an 18 track voyage of synth pop bliss. The tour will launch in San Francisco on March 8th and includes stops in Chicago, Boston, New York, and more before wrapping on April 16th in Phoenix, AZ. He is also confirmed for Treefort Festival and for Just Like Heaven Festival. Tickets are on-sale now and a full list of dates below.
Part social scientist, part troubadour, if Geographer is an expert at anything, it’s precisely chronicling life’s imperfections. He has headlined many national tours, played Outside Lands, Firefly, and other festivals, released two critically acclaimed albums, and performed with such musical luminaries as K.Flay, The Flaming Lips, Young The Giant, Tycho, Ratatat, Betty Who, and Tokyo Police Club.
