out in the studio? MM: Yeah! I’ ve written a song with Wes( Schultz), the lead singer of The Lumineers, and he’ s become a real friend and mentor of mine, and he’ s an amazing dude. The whole band is awesome— they’ re honestly really, really great, and they’ ve treated me amazingly. So I got to play shows with them, I got to do a headline tour in
Europe, which was amazing. I got to see all these new cities that, again, I never thought that I’ d even get to go on vacation to, let alone play a show in. So that was really fun to see. But it honestly was just a shock for me— I went so long not seeing a single person in the audience to like see people sing along with the songs and connect with them. That one is still hard for me to believe that it’ s true. But yeah— people have started singing along with the songs, and again, it’ s one of those things, so every night, it’ s a pinch-me moment, where it’ s hard to believe that something that you wrote in your bedroom and were depressed and wanting to give up music, and now people are singing along to that song. So it’ s ironic and crazy and hard to believe.
IE:“ Don’ t Include Me” sounds like a crucial track. MM: Yeah. That was the first song I wrote for the new album, and that’ s kind of how I wanted the new album to sound, kind of like the ethos for the whole new album. So yeah, it was one of my favorite songs that I’ ve written, and growing up
in the Midwest, too, I think I saw a lot of my friends get married young, and I got to the age where I saw some of their relationships fall apart pretty quickly. So it was about that kind of theme, about the pressures of some of the relationship things that happened in the Midwest, where I’ m from.
IE: Can you name a couple of times when your
Midwest morals affected a showbiz decision? MM: I think so. And for me, I think the music industry was just off the bat an intimidating place. I had only been to L. A. once in my life before I signed with Warner, and they’ re located out there. So I just felt like it was a little bit of an intimidating place. But for me, growing up, just the advice I was given was only work with people that you really, really trust, people who you think have your best interests at heart. So I think that’ s what I’ ve just tried to do – work with people who have a passion for music, and a passion for making great art, and also people who just care about people. I want people that I’ m working with to care just as much about how I’ m doing as a person, as opposed to how the music’ s doing. And I’ ve always tried to make decisions based on that. And when I was looking to sign with a label, Warner really felt like a family, felt like home. It just felt like a good place, and I’ ve been superhappy. So I’ m just trying to find people who are in it for the right reasons, I guess.
Tom Lanham newreleases June 5
Death Cab for Cutie I Built You A Tower Deer Tick Coin-O-Matic Lizzo Bitch Modest Mouse An Eraser And A Maze Niall Horan Dinner Party Of Montreal aethermead Poppy Ackroyd Liminal Roger Sanchez Spectrum Rosa Walton Tell Me It’ s A Dream Vince Staples Cry Baby
June 12
Bebe Rexha Dirty Blonde Fruit Bats The Landfill Horse Lords Demand To Be Taken To Heaven Alive! Jessie Reyez A Little Vengeance Jon Spencer Songs Of Personal Loss And Protest Kelsey Lu So Help Me God Olivia Rodrigo You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl... Sublime Until The Sun Explodes The Bobby Lees New Self
June 19
Graham Coxon Castle Park
June 26
Beth Orton The Ground Above Muse The WOW! Signal Temples BLISS The Pretty Reckless Dear God The Strokes Reality Awaits
Fruit Bats
Graham Coxson
10 illinoisentertainer. com june 2026