Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Mike Schiavo from Season 10 of The Voice released his debut EP on Friday.

And that includes Mike Schiavo, who released an impressive debut single “Without You” in July, then followed with a video for the song in August.

Now he’s back with a five-track, self-titled EP that will leave you wondering why he didn’t advance past the battle round on The Voice.

The EP includes “Without You,” of course, as well as four other songs written “100 percent” by the singer-songwriter who’s still probably best remembered for his blind audition.

After all, Mike wound up being joined on stage by Adam Levine for an acoustic version of Maroon 5’s “She Will Be Loved.” The video of that blind audition has nearly 7.5 million views on YouTube.

Mike, 21 when he auditioned, has credited The Voice for giving him a major confidence boost.

But one of the songs on the album — “Gold” — was written when he was struggling with his self-confidence, back before he left New Jersey to pursue a music career in Los Angeles.

“There was a year of my life where I was really struggling with music and self confidence and the combination of those two things is not fun,” he told Voice Views. “I was a bit depressed and was uninspired. I had gone through a year-long writer’s block. That’s a long time for a writer to not be able to write.

“One night I was feeling particularly down and I sat down with my guitar expected nothing to happen again, but this song ‘Gold’ just poured out of me. I wrote it in about 20 minutes after not writing a full song for a year. Which in itself explains the song. Things get better as long as you’re strong enough to keep going.”

And as long as you insist on being yourself. That’s the theme of “Outside the Lines,” another top track on the EP. Like “Gold,” it pre-dates The Voice.

“That song is an important one because it really let me release my feelings about the pressures of today’s world and the pressure to be somebody you’re not,” Mike said. “Everyone, including myself, has felt that way at some point.

“When I sit back and thought about it, all I could think is that we need to not be afraid to be different. We need to do what makes us happy and not what makes others happy.”

Mike toured extensively in 2016 and isn’t done yet. He has shows scheduled for later this month in Philly and New Jersey. The Philly show is on Friday when he’ll be opening for The Weekend Riot at The Trocadero Balcony. The Jersey show is at the iPlay America Event Center on Dec. 30.

And Mike said a show is being planned in Los Angeles for next year that will include other contestants from The Voice. Details will be released soon.

You can follow Mike through his website and Facebook page. On Twitter, he’s simply @mikeschiavo.

2016 albums and EPs from former Voice contestants
2016 singles from former Voice contestants
2016 videos from former Voice contestants
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