Daily Inspiration: Meet Chase Michael

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chase Michael.

Hi Chase, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was born in and grew up near Dover, New Hampshire. Fun fact- that’s actually where the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were first created. From a very young age I knew I had a love for music. And not just any ordinary love- I knew in the back of my head that it was in my blood. There aren’t many musicians in my family that I know of other than two of my uncles on my mother’s side of the family. However my mother and many relatives on her side of the family have/had a special love for music. My late (maternal) grandfather was deeply invested in the “hippie” counterculture and artistic revolution of the 1960s and 70s. My (maternal) great grandfather loved Jazz, and that’s one of the first family figures in my life that influenced my love for music, alongside my mother and uncles. My (paternal) grandfather was a painter, and though I was never able to meet him, I still consider him to be an important influence in my love for music as well as visual art. TV was also one of the earliest contributors to my love and passion for music. I essentially grew up on PBS- with shows such as Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, Arthur, etc. The Peanuts cartoons (written by Charles Schulz) were also an early influence of mine- as I have always been captivated by the incredible compositions of Vince Guaraldi that would play throughout many scenes. In fact, I am proud to say that I currently own a vinyl copy of Vince Guaraldi’s “A Charlie Brown Christmas” soundtrack. I don’t consider myself very fond of most holiday music, but my goodness is that soundtrack amazing. While I have always had a deep love and passion for music, it didn’t occur to me until around some time in middle school that I wanted to pursue this as a career. For a short period I wanted to be a rapper. That sounds crazy given where I am today, but hey, around that age you are trying to find your identity and are constantly finding different avenues of self expression. But in the end what I really wanted to do is to produce and compose music. I learned how to play piano and keyboard on my own, with the help of good ol’ YouTube of course. I started experimenting with the live loops on GarageBand and learning how to structure tracks and all that good stuff. My early high school years are when I started to actually take this music thing serious. During my freshman year my mother gifted me FL Studio, a pair of speakers and a couple other pieces of studio equipment (Mom, if you’re reading this: I cannot thank you enough. This may be one of the greatest investments you’ve ever made.) In fact, I still use most of that equipment to this day. Around that same time I started collecting vinyl records. My father has a neighbor (a couple neighbors, actually) that are musicians. I remember going over to one of their houses one time and listening to some of the records in their collection as well as having some deep conversations about music. It was a great night to say the least. From then on, I was inspired to start a collection of my own. And it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Now I have almost 150 albums in my collection. During this time I was expanding my music taste a lot and discovering many artists that I now consider some of my biggest influences. I consider artists such as Miles Davis, Prince, Stevie Wonder, Roy Ayers, Herbie Hancock and Joni Mitchell, to name a few as some artists that have had a significant impact on me as an artist and human being. The list goes on. In April of 2025 I released my very first album, “Sketches of My Mind”. Around that time I had started to build a following for my music through social media. That’s how I met my friend and fellow collaborator Joshua Morata. I had posted an ad for my track, “It’s All Good”, and it so happened to fly under his radar. Since then we’ve become great friends and we’ve made a ton of music together. We started off by collaborating on a track called “Days Go By”, which appeared on the album. Then him and I put together a collaborative project called “Midnite Connection”, which released in July of 2025. Then earlier this year I released my second solo project, “Abstractions”. And now I’m currently working on my third solo project as well as some collaborations with others. I am turning 20 in January and I’m excited to see what the future will hold for my life and career.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Just like life, it’s had its ups and downs. There had been times in the earlier stages of my career that I consider to be damn near rock bottom- falling into a deep pit of depression, not making much music and being confused on who I am as an artist and what next steps I should take. Though I’d rather forget about those times, I also believe that those struggles allowed me to take the time to explore different avenues, ideas and other moves I should make to grow in my career. There are plenty of times where I’ve compared myself to other musicians and felt as if I was falling behind or not doing enough. Social media is such an interesting place, am I right? My musical upbringing may not have been the most “traditional”- I definitely wasn’t a child prodigy and hadn’t actually picked up an instrument until my early teens. Of course now I can sort of laugh at that, as now I know that it’s truly never too late to try something new and that I was still very young when I started- just not AS young as a lot of musicians may start. In fact, there are many artists that started their journey in their 20s and beyond, so I got nothing to worry about, haha. No one needs to worry.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a producer, multi-instrumentalist and audio engineer. I consider my production to be very forward-thinking, combining elements of Acid Jazz, Deep House/Electronica, Funk Soul, Hip Hop, or whatever I can get my hands on. I have a very open-minded approach to music and I love to experiment and explore new sounds as much as possible. Every time I produce music I try to create a sound and atmosphere that best represents who I am as a person, as I believe that my art is an extension of myself. I want people to be like, “OMG that is SO Chase Michael.” when they hear a track of mine. Where can my music be found you may ask? My music is available on Bandcamp for digital download and on ElasticStage for Vinyl and CD copies. A few months ago I joined the platform, Subvert, as an artist and co-owner. So my music is available there too. My music is also on streaming, though going forward I plan to take a more “direct-to-consumer” approach with my music as I have become increasingly frustrated and disillusioned with streaming platforms and how little they pay and compensate artists. Though money is by no means a main reason why I chose to pursue music, I believe that artists should receive proper compensation for their work and to have full ownership over it. Hence why I believe that direct album sales (digital and physical) are the way to go as an artist in this day and age. I am questioning if I want to continue to upload music to streaming platforms or not. Most likely not. I would say that I am extremely proud and grateful for where I am now and I am always eager to see what will come next. I’m grateful for the support my parents and close friends and family have given me throughout my life. I truly cannot thank you all enough and I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for y’all. I’d like to give a special thanks to my friend Sage, who has painted & designed two of my album covers and has shown nothing but love and support for my work. Thank you.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I have always been a rather skeptical and timid person. I’ve never learned how to ride a bike mainly based on fear of getting hurt. Diving boards also terrify me. And I think it’s safe to say that I have developed many trust issues over the years. My view on risk is a bit complex- there are times when risk is necessary to move forward in something. Taking risks and trying new things can be very beneficial, especially in the creative space. However there are also times when it’s best to just play it safe- take gambling or jumping off a cliff into a lake as an example. It’s best to assess the risk and its potential outcomes firsthand. So by all means, taking risks is important and beneficial but always do it with caution and with purpose.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://yo.ink/chaseemichael
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chaseemichael/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@chaseemichael
• Other: https://chasmichael.bandcamp.com/