Pipe Dreams

‘How does he do it?’ you ask. ‘It’s magic,’ he might answer. That 1 Guy has taken the one-man-band to a new level, using one-of-a-kind instruments, pieced together from the cold shelves of Home Depot, to create his unique, funkafied sound. His set-up is quite a sight: “The main instrument is the magic pipe and that is really the center of what That 1 Guy is about right now. Then there’s the magic saw, the magic boot and this one-stringed instrument that kinda came before the pipe, sorta pre-pipe,” explains Mike Silverman, the only member of T.1.G. Pardon me, but did he say something about a “magic boot?”
“It’s a cowboy boot that I figured out how to plug into my rig. Everything that I plug into the whole matrix - that is my rig - I dub magic-something.” Prying and sly trickery won’t do any good, Silverman simply won’t reveal the secrets behind his peculiar-looking instruments.
In case you’re wondering, Silverman’s pad isn’t crammed with Brookstone-inspired inventions and weird doodads for his daily life. “That’s the funny thing. I put all my gadgetry into the pipes. I’m pretty much, like, rudimentary and simple,” he laughs.
Ten years ago, this musical gadget-happy sensation left his band, The Hedgehogs, to pursue a personal challenge. The goal was to see how far he could make it on his own. Although he may miss the perks that come with a band, like collaboration and energy inspiration, Silverman is as content as “Weasel Potpie.”
“There are so many plusses. I mean, the best part is you can really take the music anywhere you want at any given time, you don’t really have to be on the same wavelength as everybody else in a band. There are definitely no limitations.” On the down-low, Silverman still has opportunities to play with bands, and famous ones at that. Sometimes an artist will hire him to play bass, in lieu of an existing band member, since studio recording has to be absolutely perfect. The words “perfect musician” and “Mike Silverman” have been known to show up in the same sentence.
On the phone, That 1 Guy’s voice teeters on nasality, but when used in song he releases strong, enunciated barks and purrs that captivate and compliment his sound effects, grinding pipes and swinging, funky beats. Lyrics are kooky and offbeat, but seem to follow some sort of pattern. “Sometimes I think, like on Songs in the Key of Beotch, they sort of collected themselves into a theme, but it definitely wasn’t pre-thought, they just kinda came out the way they did. It’s really strange. It’s kind of a cosmic thing, I don’t know how it happens,” he finishes with a giggle.
Maybe the magic boot made him do it. Have a look-see, won’t you? “Of all the trees that we hugged / I think I like the ones that died / Of all the butts that we grabbed / I remember only the wide ones.” Then there’s the song, “It’s Raining Meat:” “No stars up high / In the midnight sky / Just falling flesh / Meaty sheets / ‘Cause the rat’s fart / Stinks like wheat.”
“I think of the words as another part of the instrument; rhythmically and sonically I always like the way the words sound along with what I’m doing with the pipes. When I try to think about it too much, I can’t ever stand the way my lyrics sound.”
A self-proclaimed Rush fanatic, Silverman has found himself melting between various genres of music. There’s a recent tale involving a Bay Area battle between That 1 Guy, the magic saw, and DJ Badrock. Who won you ask? Let’s just say there was only one guy still standing.
Silverman ends up carrying quite a heavy load, and not just metaphorically. Playing an entire band’s worth of instruments yourself has to take its toll. “Yeah, it’s totally exhausting. I try to put everything I got into a show and I’m definitely ready to go to bed after I play.” This Northern California transplant, sometimes seen wearing an Amish looking ensemble, probably won’t be taking a nap any time soon. He’s traveling across America promoting his second album, Songs in the Key of Beotch.

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