Mike Mills
Mike Mills
Michael Edward "Mike" Millsis an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock band R.E.M. Though known primarily as a bass guitarist, backing vocalist, and pianist, his musical repertoire also includes keyboards, guitar, and percussion instruments. He contributed to a majority of the band's musical compositions...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionGuitarist
Date of Birth17 December 1958
CityOrange County, CA
CountryUnited States of America
As someone who grew up in a house where there wasn't a lot of talking, I'm used to just looking at the world. And in general I often feel like I just don't understand what's happening. That everybody else does, but I don't quite get it.
I don't really believe that documentary is objective reality and fiction is all illusion.
I definitely believe in the energy of the set and the energy of the actor, way more than your written word.
The oldest sibling always knows things that the younger ones don't.
There's great sadness and life doesn't work out like you would want, on a lot of levels, but there's no need to feel all alone. This happens to everybody, so there's no self-pity. This is the ride that humans are on, and all of it is essential for our natural part of it.
I would hate to think I'm promoting sadness as an aesthetic. But I grew up in not just a family but a town and a culture where sadness is something you're taught to feel shame about. You end up chronically desiring what can be a very sentimental idea of love and connection. A lot of my work has been about trying to make a space for sadness.
To me, sadness and humor aren't disrelated and humor is the best tool I've had against the sadness in my life.
No one leaves the edit room thinking, 'Yeah, I nailed that one!' Everyone I know goes into their first premiere or their first screening thinking, 'I screwed up so bad. I'm sorry, I messed up.' It's just a real common feeling.
Film is endlessly just beyond your reach. I think that's what I love so much about it.
Humans are vulnerable, messy little animals and that's normal. And all I want to do is make a space for that in my films.
I am intrigued by inanimate objects. They're a piece of history, someone's statement and ideas of life.
I'm not a craftsman of graphics or art or film. I'm more of an idea generator and manufacturer.
We never did things as we were supposed to do. That was part of our ethic. We did what felt right to us, not what someone told us we should do.
My experience, with both my parents, is that grief has a lot of down, sad things, but I was also really emotionally raw, in the first year after each of them passed. Flowers smelled more intensely, my relationships were hotter, and I was more willing to risk. I was going for it a lot more. I was 'unsober' and I wasn't playing by my rules.