{"id":2077460,"date":"2025-10-08T16:28:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T16:28:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2077460"},"modified":"2025-10-08T16:28:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T16:28:16","slug":"michael-riley-journeys-back-to-music-creativity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/michael-riley-journeys-back-to-music-creativity\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Riley journeys back to music creativity"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n
<\/p>\n

This is the Movie: Michael Riley\u2019s new indie-rock project has produced an ethereal EP with powerful lyrics. (Photo\/Tess Kirgan\/Studio Obscura)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

SCROLL DOWN TO LISTEN TO A TRACK FROM THE NEW EP<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Support our coverage of
West Michigan’s music scene<\/small><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

It\u2019s a hot summer day on the fringes of Heritage Hill and the neighborhood is boisterous underneath a midday sun that feels like a furnace.<\/p>\n

Rush hour traffic flows past with little room between bumpers. Construction on the corner keeps a sort of cacophonous tempo of hammers and droning power drills. A group of children lob a football to each other in a grassy median.<\/p>\n

At the top of the steps of a nearby duplex apartment, Michael Riley<\/a> emerges onto the front porch in a patchwork button down, grey jeans and black wingtip boots.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A Mission to Grow Grand Rapids\u2019 Music Scene: Riley (Photo\/Tess Kirgan\/Studio Obscura)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

With the sunlight splashing over his face, an otherwise crimson beard reveals a few shimmering greys. At 42, those greys are well-earned. Riley has navigated the often unpredictable landscape of the music industry as a musician and as a songwriter for most of his life.<\/p>\n

He pulls a seat out at a cafe table that wobbles on the concrete and speaks with a gentle, calming demeanor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just feel so grateful that I was able to get out of the hole that I was in and get back to a place where music was a possibility. That I felt this creativity again and this desire to actuate it into the world,\u201d Riley says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI took a break for a lot of different reasons that happened to be personal. I was finding out a lot about myself and my mental health. It took a long time to figure that out. I went on a journey of trying to regulate my body in a way that was sustainable and working for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

After taking a step back from performing publicly for over eight years, Riley began appearing at local open mics, and has been known to silence a room with little more than his powerfully raw voice and an acoustic guitar.<\/p>\n

Now, he\u2019s helming a new musical project under the moniker This is the Movie with a close cast of musicians and an EP titled \u201cThe Wheel Turns Itself,\u201d released on Bandcamp in August.<\/p>\n

LISTEN: \u201cHere for a Moment\u201d by This is the Movie<\/strong>