Ferndale DIY Profile: Jeff Milo, Writer, Champion of Local Music

Jeff Milo is a tireless advocate and connoisseur of local music. His work can be found in numerous places, including Metro Times, Ferndale Patch, and his blog Deep Cutz. You will also likely see Milo at the , where he works, and nearly every live show in the area.

1. Tell us a little about yourself

I've lived in Ferndale for, essentially, my whole life, (if we don't count college years over in Lansing). I go back to the days of Foodland, F&M's and when the Blockbuster used to be an odious knock-off Taco joint. I work at the , part of the circulation staff, ostensibly as a day-job, while I freelance my butt-off as a writer, for , Metro Times, Ann Arbor Current and wherever-else (often covering local music). I'm a vegetarian who romances about living on the edge but often plays it just cool enough to satisfy both his errant demons and his nervous-nelly conscience. I often get overly philosophical about the power of music, but in a good way.

2. What does DIY mean to you?

DIY means, to me, action. Self-starting, up and at 'em-ness - but with much sense. It's not the everyday Joe who looks at something and says, "Oh, I can do that! And probably better!" Those people often wind up in emergency rooms or at least on embarrassing YouTube clips. Nay, the DIY-er is in tune with their spirit, comes to understand what their passion is - seeks out the nuances of whatever that may be, whatever that hobby, expression, or outlet (creative outlet!) may be that gives you the most reward, the most bit of meditative rejuvenation. It's also, on some level, empowerment. The realization that you can find the tools, you can learn or at least find your own way to thread-your-needle, whatever that thread may be. It's also selflessness. DIY-ers aren't egotistic, they're not saying: oh look what I can do... that's not even on their radar (at least most of them, I'd hope). They do it often because they can't help it. The same reason you dance. DIY-ers are responding to their own drumbeats - their output is just what they're dance-moves look like.

3. Tell us about a DIY project (or projects) you have worked on and why it was DIY.

A journalism degree hasn't gotten me much beyond freelancing in Michigan (I just can't leave, though). In any case, as lame as this sounds, I guess I have to offer up my blog Deep Cutz Music as the best example of any DIY project that upon which I can hang my hat. I often wrote more about local music than there was room on the pages of various publications for print - so I started it as a means of blowing off steam, in a way, or rather, getting the word out. That was three years ago and I've posted about 1,000 column-y, essay-y, article-y, interview-y type writings now (and about 200 smaller things on top of that).  

4. Why does the DIY attitude fit Ferndale?

I think there's an openness here that fosters it. We're comfortable with each other, we're cool with each other - we know, somehow, in the back of our heads that if someone were to start their own bicycle gang and rove around the streets for a few hours each week that most people wouldn't mind all that much. That attitude spreads down every side street and avenue and people catch it. There's an openness to ideas and there's heartening support for our neighbors (and our small businesses) and that breeds a certain comfort that then breeds the confidence to just try it...try it yourself, see what happens.

5. Who is your favorite DIY artist/musician/human?

I'd consider 94.9 percent of all the local musicians I've written about to be DIY - no record label, no professional studio equipment, and often no printing-presses for their album art or t-shirts - so I can't name-names there - I just want to give a gargantuan shout-out to all of them. Beyond that? Ed Wood, Greg Ginn, Ian MacKaye, Mac McCaughan, John Sinclair, Daniel Johnston, Nikola Tesla ... the list goes on and on.