Mikael Jorgensen is best known as the keyboard player in Wilco, a position he's held for 20+ years. But before that, Mikael and I were both staff engineers at Soma Electronic Music Studios in Chicago. Mikael shares stories about his dad, who was also a recording engineer, touring & releasing records with his first bands, how he got started at Soma and how he moved from recording Wilco to being part of the band. Plus Mikael shares a ton of really useful information on how he manages the up & down income of a musician. If you’re self-employed and looking for actionable ways to improve your financial health, I think you’ll find some really useful takeaways from this conversation.

Mikael's question for Tim: what is your strategy for dealing with the erratic and sporadic income streams for musicians? 

Key takeaways:

1. Mikael's professional journey began in earnest after moving to Chicago, where he worked as an audio engineer at Soma Electronic Music Studios and built relationships in the local music scene.
2. After engineering Down With Wilco by The Minus 5, Mikael was hired to engineer what became Wilco's album A Ghost Is Born. Through the process of making that record, he moved from working behind the glass as an engineer to playing with the band and eventually becoming a full member of Wilco.
3. He discusses the unpredictable nature of income in music, noting how touring, sync licensing, and how your income gets taxed all contribute variably to financial stability.
4. Mikael talks about living modestly and his techniques for managing cashflow with an up & down income.
5. He also shares how he got started investing and how, even with a relatively conservative investment mix, he has managed to grow his money in meaningful way after years of sticking with it.

Links
Send me a question to be answered on a future episode.
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Mikael's website
Mikael's Patreon
Mikael's documentary on Bob James
Wilco's website
John McEntire's website
Isotope 217 "Who Stole The I Walkman?"
The Minus 5 "Down With Wilco"
Michael Azerrad's "The Amplified Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana"