Meet Michael McLaughlin

We had the good fortune of connecting with Michael McLaughlin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Michael, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
From the beginning, I was well aware of how much of a risk I was taking, but it really was how I viewed that risk that led to our eventual success. Before I decided to take the risk of going all in on music and focusing on making it my career, I was a department head at Home Depot. I found myself scared at how many hours I was putting in at Home Depot every day, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how I could’ve spent that time doing what I really wanted to do. I was making decent money at my age and I was getting too comfortable, so I decided to leave. Leaving that in of itself was risky, but I’m thankful for every opportunity and the leadership experience that that job provided me with, along with the amazing people I met along the way (shoutout Ariana).

Nonetheless, that decision made me very hungry to succeed in music locally, so I took a job making significantly less money helping run sound with one of the top wedding bands in San Diego. Here, I was able to meet so many amazing musicians and true professionals in their field who were able to guide me towards success. Austin Goodwin (Audio Engineer) in particular taught me so much that has been crucial for the success of Honeytones.

I had been gigging around town for a few months before I decided to form Honeytones, I knew it would take a lot, but thanks to the amazing musicians I have the privilege of working with, I was confident in our eventual success. I decided to take the risk and dump my savings into Honeytones. Any business owner knows this is the scary part. I realized that if this all fails, I’m still only 20 years old, I’m a full time student, and I have time to get back on track. The most important part for me was minimizing my risk, which meant working literally all the time to be sure of our success. I’ve definitely made some mistakes along the way but I can’t wait to learn more and make a few more mistakes.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am the current Bandleader, Saxophonist, and Audio Engineer of Honeytones! We are a 6 piece jazz band that gets pretty funky. What really sets us apart is our versatility. Firstly, all of our musicians including myself are trained as Jazz musicians. However, if you come to a Honeytones show, you’ll very quickly realize we aren’t any ordinary jazz band. We are all very well versed in other genres, and that is very clear in the way that we play. You’ll see us blend genres, and create a completely new vibe unlike anything you’ve ever heard before. Each one of our musicians adds a special touch to our sound. Our pianist, Addison, can harmonize literally everything, and remains perfectly in sync with our Bass Player (Reese Willis) and drummer (Silas Sick). Our trumpet player, Christian, has amazing intonation, and I feel like no words have to be said about our vocalist Eva Baffone. Really, you should just hear it for yourself. You can catch Honeytones live every Wednesday at Little Italy from 6-9 for a free performance outside the food hall.

Our recent success has been amazing, and I am incredibly thankful for everyone who has had a part in teaching me what I needed to learn to make this happen. I’m confident that this is just the beginning for us. This is my second interview, and we have 10x the success we had at the time of the first interview. I’m hoping to have 10x the success we have now by the time we have a third interview.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Monday – Beach Day!

Tuesday – Belmont Park, Aquarius Bar and Grille for LIVE Music every day.

Wednesday – LITTLE ITALY FOOD HALL to catch the Honeytones show at 6PM!!!!!

Thursday – San Diego Zoo day, followed by a delicious dinner at Choi’s.

Friday – Padres Game!

Saturday – Check out Old Town

Sunday – Another beach day, followed by a late night Coffee hang at Lestat’s

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d love to shoutout my old teacher Chaz Cabrera as well as the professors at the Grossmont College Music department (Randall Tweed, Manny Cepeda, Melonie Grinnell and Derek Cannon).

Website: www.honeytones.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/honeytonesband/?api=1

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561072466557

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Honeytones-j1s 

Image Credits
Bao Ho