Michael Poulopoulos – An Xperience Interview

Michael Poulopoulos – An Xperience Interview – by Sketchy Hubris.

What do you know about music, you're not a lawyer?” – John Lurie

Michael Poulopoulos is known around the Capital Region as M.R. Poulopoulos, with the band Mannequin Ed, and in a duo with Matt Durfee. He is currently working on his law degree at Albany Law and is a father and husband.

I recommend checking out the song “Just a Shadow,” from the 2011 M.R. Poulopoulos album “Greenhorn” on Spotify.

RRX: When did you start playing anything?

MP: The first time I started playing guitar, seriously exploring, was in undergrad college at Providence College. I hooked into a circle of creative-type folk who wanted to play music.

RRX: On to the Capital Region, how did that begin?

MP: I was at Savannah’s during an open mic and two guys asked me to join a band called Mannequin Ed. It was an original and rock-influenced band. We started playing at Artie’s River Street stage in Troy, and we ended up playing on the roof of that place following a Troy street festival. During that time frame, I met Matt Durfee, an extraordinary songwriter and guitar player. I peeled off from Mannequin Ed and started playing with Durfee in a duo called Poulatypus. It kind of took off for a bit. Then I went solo, and played Caffe Lena a couple times. The shows sold out.

So when you asked me to do this I started to think about similarities between music and where I’m at now. I didn’t come up with too many similarities between the two (music and law), except music is pretty logical. And in terms of being able to stretch the boundaries, whether it be jazz or early 20 th -century classical modernism, some of these current Supreme Court decisions are kind of like that. They’re logical and they fit together but they go out and come back in. Another thing I would like to highlight is the skill of listening in a cooperative environment. By playing music with other people, and not just to play my part but to play with the band, has been an awesome experience to translate into the legal environment during a group conversation or discussion, or in trying to solve a problem.

RRX: Do you think being a parent is a bonus to you being a lawyer?

MP: I think that’s more of a symbiotic relationship. Perhaps what I am studying is making me a better parent in the sense I am learning to convey information in a simpler way, in a more direct way, and I’m hoping that being a parent brings a different perspective to my law education.

RRX: In the course of this hiatus from music, do you still have a lot of pieces of songs that you plan to do things with?

MP: Yeah, I got a lot of fragments on my phone, just a lot of snippets of choruses, chord progressions that I am interested in sniffing out, a lot of humming melodies.  I need to redirect that energy into other things right now – reading and studying.

RRX: So I was hanging a disco ball with the drummer from the band Otobo and thought about disco balls as the ultimate gift. Your thoughts?

MP: Sure, a disco ball is a fine gift.  A disco ball gift demands creativity of the recipient.  It’s up to the recipient to accept or pass on that challenge.

RRX: I am usually trying to promote the interviewee’s next gig. What is yours?

MP: It’s at the Schaffer Law Library in about an hour. Unfortunately, you need a card to get in.

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