This article is from an interview and podcast with Mike Krumlauf. It can be viewed on the TikiKiti YouTube channel.
This definition is important when considering the works of Mike Krumlauf.
A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other source.
Mike Krumlauf’s tone poems are all visual. Specifically, they are music videos. Mike has done something few other producers ever attempt — he has documented his life as a music video — or, as a tone poem.
A music video is typically just one movement based on a descriptive or rhapsodic theme. Which brings us to another definition to illustrate what Mike creates.
An effusively enthusiastic or ecstatic expression of feeling: rhapsodies of praise. In music, “a free instrumental composition in one extended movement, typically one that is emotional or exuberant in character....”
When Mike thinks of a music video, it’s the music that comes first. Then he finds just the right imagery from his vast collection of video that he has collected since he was nine years old, living with his parents in a suburb of Chicago. A lifetime of imagery.
This is where we begin when we meet Mike Krumlauf. His videos are emotional, showing his life with friends and family. In the process of illustrating his life, Mike has become a sort of everyman. He has found a way to touch on those parts of modern life that allow us to see our own life reflected. Regardless of what generation you belong to, there is a familiarity in his videos that touches most people and that feels familiar.
Mike is from a middle-class, midwestern family from a suburb of Chicago. His exploration of his family, friends, and location brings us a very American spirit. Watching his videos will show us the bonds of family, the unbounded joy of friends, the wonder of the big city, and the curiosity of exploration.
Mike says that John Hughes, a fellow filmmaker from Chicago, was always an inspiration; however, he never thought to mimic his style. Over the years he has developed his own style, and he has also managed to document Chicago in a way few others have.
This is where the “tone poem” aspect of his music videos shows up. Whether he is with friends or is just a single viewer with a camera, his videos build on a sense of place. The emotion he has for that place comes naturally in his work. He knows just the right shot and the right edit to bring the reasons to the front of his — and his audience’s — viewpoint. When he moved to Denver, he brought the same sense of wonder with him. His music videos explore all aspects of life in this city, and they bring us all along for the ride.
In his video to “Overheated” by Billie Eilish, he shows us a wintry world that comes in and out of focus, making us feel glad we are inside with him. His camera work brings the harsh city winter right up to our window. The details of his camera and editing skills let us see the cold world outside while feeling the warmth inside.
The degree of emotion Mike puts into his videos seems to come naturally. He knows and loves all the places and people he records. Mike has been remastering his older videos to increase the quality, and he has a lifetime of source material.
The road trip is a very American experience. How many teenagers finishing high school want to take that first trip out on their own? It’s all about the wide-open spaces and the seemingly endless miles of highways that crisscross this country. It’s the opportunity to discover new places —and discover things about yourself.
Mike has mastered documenting the great American road trip. Starting with trips around Chicago and his hometown of Naperville. We are engaged with these videos because these adventures are familiar to all of us. Driving around with good friends and exploring our world as we find our place in it. There are the long trips to explore faraway places, such as Los Angeles, as well as those mythical places nearby. Then there are the short trips to understand where you are and where you need to go.
Many of Mike’s music videos were created while he was a passenger in a car. We can see how his life progressed from one car ride to another. From seriously long trips to Los Angeles, to the wedding of friends, to a drive on a “Lazy Sunday,” and an “Existential Drive.”
Many of these videos are centered around the many different cameras he evaluates for his Vlog. And he does know his cameras. He admits to being a gear head. Given the slightest opportunity, he will talk about the advantages of one camera over another.
He definitely has an opinion of when and why celluloid is better or more appropriate than digital. A big question mark popped up over my head when he said this, because I, as with most people, have no idea how to tell one from another. His response was to express his dismay over director Michael Mann shooting Public Enemy, a movie set in the 1920s, in digital versus 35mm. Another example he gives is a rapper’s video that was shot in Denver. “I noticed this thing call halation1,” he says, “where the red channel of the film will bounce back off the film gate in high contrast areas where it’s around a street or a neon sign. There’s an aspect to that that cannot be emulated perfectly.”
He apologizes for being a nerd (although this is the reason why we interviewed him), then says, “I notice it in the skin tones. There’s something that celluloid does with skin that is different from digital. Digital cannot replicate that, no matter how much you try to do it.” At this point he started talking about grain structure in shadows, etc., that to this non-gearhead, flew over me like a jet. (Be sure to watch the podcast for more of Mike’s insights on this subject.)
1 The spreading of light beyond its proper boundaries to form a fog around the edges of a bright image in a photograph or on a television screen.
When we first noticed Mike’s specific music videos (Note: I say specific because all of Mike’s videos are music videos, but some are more music oriented whereas others are more like a documentary), we were drawn to his video to “Down Down Down” by The Presets. Here is a well-produced video with some brilliant editing techniques. There was also a degree of mystery with the masked figures, the costumes, and the cutaways to the strange performers. Watching this compelling video, we realized how well every aspect, every shot and edit, was meticulously planned.
After seeing this video, I researched Mike more closely, and saw that TikiKiti has been commenting on his videos all year long. Of course, this made me more curious, and I dived deeper into his catalog. This revealed a history of quality productions, all expertly edited.
One of the first of these videos (above)goes back to early 2023 and his video to “As It Was” by Harry Styles. As with most of his videos, this has a very personal meaning to him, starting out with the on-screen statement, “To all of us who’ve lost something… a person… a place, a time in your life… This is for you.” Immediately we know this will be a very personal production. Beginning with the automated voice of an elevator warning about the doors closing, the first notes of the song chime in as we see the main performer find his place, and cut to scenes of his friends in what looks to be Chicago. Cutting back to the singer (yes, that’s Mike) of the wistful lyrics, we are treated to scenes of moving, leaving friends, and other melancholy images to accompany this song about change.
This sense of loss if often present in Mike's videos. One such video is his feature length documentary called "A Place To Call His Own." This very emotional film about the death of one of his lifelong friends — here Mike shows us the fragile grip on life we all have. As Mike says, "Matt McMahon was your everyday guy, trying to find his place. When one choice changes the fate of his life, his best friends are left with overwhelming emotions and unanswered questions."
"Life may end, but friendship never dies," it is this statement that is the foundation to all of Mike's works. Here he has created a place for his work that will never die, and his friends will live forever.
Mike titles his videos with uniquely personal titles that show what they mean to him — unlike others producers who are just rather matter-of-fact with the name of the song, etc. Case in point, his video he called “My Life” set to “Crimson” by Pogo. Here he edits together a variety of scenes from most of his earlier work. Others would consider it a showreel. For Mike, it is joyous trip through his recent life with friends and family.
In the video set to “Venus As A Boy” by Bjork, we see Mike in one of his most artistic moods. The video is rated for 18+ viewers, but this is because he blends the contours of a human body with other details such as smoke, the spare walls of a parking garage, and some very enigmatic tattoos. This is art for the sake of art. His video rating was done to satisfy YouTube and any other like-minded criticism; however, there is nothing about this video that approaches the need for that rating. We see a video that beautifully explores an environment that includes elements of the human body, punctuated with waves of smoke and highlighted with mysterious tattoos.
If anything, this video is a showcase of how brilliant Mike is as an editor. This goes back to the beginning, where I spoke of his ability to tug on our emotions. This is his talent. What is most evident in all of his work is that Mike understands the human condition. He knows what makes for a memorable music video. He knows how to find the right scenes to accompany the music he likes.
But for Mike he is at his best when he is able to document how great his life is when he is with his friends. We all know this because this is what growing up is all about. He hasn't forgotten what life was like back then and has his incredible library of music videos to remind all of us about this precious time in our life.
Mike Krumlauf knows how to express himself and how to have others understand what he is saying. This skill is fundamental to successful filmmaking. Mike is so adept at this that his audience barely recognizes it. What they recognize is how familiar his videos seem to them — because they are.
