Michael Sackler-Berner’s music has been lauded as “uplifting” by The Huffington Post and as “haunting, intense” by Guitar World’s Acoustic Nation. His latest album, “Short Stories,” was released earlier this year to critical acclaim with Indie Voice Blog declaring it a “masterpiece in indie music.
The New York-based singer/songwriter/guitarist has had music featured in such hit television shows as “Chicago Fire,” “Sons Of Anarchy,” “Nurse Jackie” and Netflix’s “Bloodline.” Sackler-Berner is also the frontman and rhythm guitarist for the popular, not-so-side project The Slim Kings, which features Liberty DeVitto (long-time Billy Joel drummer). Sackler-Berner has played and recorded with such musical greats as Jim Keltner (George Harrison, John Lennon, Traveling Wilburys), Reggie McBride (Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Rod Stewart), David Kahne (Paul McCartney, Regina Spektor) and Val McCallum (Jackson Browne, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt).
“Death To The Uptight” – as exclusively embedded below – is the latest music video from Sackler-Berner. About the song, he explained: “The song started as a slice of life, Americana thing about a corrupt, broken country with people living like hamsters in a wheel. Sound familiar?”
Continued Sackler-Berner: “Wouldn’t it be great if just for a moment everything was alright’ was something Tom Petty said between songs at a concert I saw around the time I was writing the lyrics. His comment was a perfectly-vague and optimistic counterpoint or solution to the dark view of the world I had painted in the verses. So, I tweaked it a bit, and used it for the chorus… After all, even if it is just a moment, wouldn’t it be great?”
Per the music video for “Death To The Uptight,” Sackler-Berner is very proud of it: “The video ended up being an identity trip. Sometimes I don’t really know who I am, or how I am being perceived, and I feel disjointed. I can feel like an uptight cop, an artsy fartsy photographer, a glutinous businessman, or an overheated road worker. At best, I am a combination of lots of things that results in the more grounded, composed version of myself that sits in the driver’s seat and sings the songs I write.” Concluded Sackler-Berner: “In the end, all those versions of ourselves are subject to interpretation, like an ink blot test, and eventually fly off the cliff at the same time, in the same car.”
Listen to the interview here.
More on Michael Sackler-Berner can be found online at www.msbrecords.com.
