MICHAEL T ROBERTS
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News/Blog

A few more days to show you like flowers

6/30/2025

 
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Time's almost up to support the 'I Like Flowers' video campaign! Despite a pretty amazing response from this list (thank you!) and elsewhere—42 backers so far—we are still short of our $10,700 goal, and we've extended the campaign to end this Thursday, July 3. So if you were on the fence before, now would be a great time to step up and make a donation! 
Support the 'Flowers' Campaign!
So what does it mean for the campaign if we fall short of our goal? We will very likely still be able to make the video. But we might have to cut corners with props, art, locations, etc. And we probably won't be able to pay our interns. Fortunately we advertised this as an unpaid opportunity, not knowing how much money we would be able to raise. Nonetheless, the team is working hard and sacrificing other opportunities to make this video. They deserve a little jingle in their pockets. 
​
And their work has been awesome so far. We have nine interns from Berkeley High School, aged 15-18, and they are fully in the driver's seat on this project, filling the roles of Director, Producer, Cinematographer, Art Direction, Lighting, and more. Watching their creativity flow has been inspiring. They've thought of some pretty amazing ideas that would never, ever have occurred to me!

Thank you for considering supporting them, along with the mission of this video to spread the joy of flowers, native plants, and pollinators. 
​
https://www.igg.me/at/i-like-flowers

A Summer Solstice song

6/20/2025

 
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Summer Solstice dawn today on Hilton Head Island, SC
Listen to 'Sing Before Night'
Happy Solstice!

Here is a short song for the occasion, a setting of Sara Teasdale's beautiful poem "Dusk in June." (Yes, I changed the title for the song, though I didn't change or omit a word of the poem.) I wrote this last summer after our annual June trip to Hilton Head, SC, recorded it in the fall, and held tight until I could share it with you today, this longest day of the year. 

​To listen to "Sing Before Night" with the words and a little more personal background, go here. 

I hope today you can connect with the magic of nature in your part of the world, wherever you are! 

The 'I Like Flowers' campaign is rolling

5/29/2025

 
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That's a California poppy (or as close as I could get). I don't know who that guy is.
We’re eleven days into the I Like Flowers crowdfunding campaign, and I’m please to report that so far we’ve raised $3,682 from 30 backers! 

If you’ve donated already, thank you so much. If you haven’t yet, please check out our fun campaign page and consider giving what you can to help us reach our (pretty ambitious) goal of $10,700. You’ll be supporting our Berkeley High student interns who will be filming the video, plus our four local non-profit partners working hard to support native plants and wildlife. You'll also be supporting our delightful artistic endeavors, of course. We've begun interviewing our intern candidates, and they are amazing! 
Yes, I like all those things and would like to support them financially

​I’d like to highlight one of the perks we’re offering our donors: the official ‘I Like Flowers’ T-shirt! Totally original and available exclusively to donors of $200 or more, it’s my first T-shirt design, so if you don’t like it, please pretend that you do. See all available colors here. (By the way, you can donate $200—or any amount—without opting for one of our fine perks.) 

It would mean a lot if you would share the campaign with any flower-loving friends and family. Thank you! 

https://www.igg.me/at/i-like-flowers
​

P.S. PRO TIP: Our campaign platform, IndieGoGo, will auto-populate your donation with a "tip" for them. Before you give anything, you should know they already take a not-insignificant cut of every donation. I've heard from donors who gave without realizing IGG had slipped a tip into their cart, so make sure you set the tip where you really want it to be. 
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FLOWERS. They're pretty great.

Campaign is live! Help us make the 'I Like Flowers' music video

5/19/2025

 
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It's here! 

The I Like Flowers music video crowdfunding campaign is now live on IndieGoGo! Please head to our campaign page to watch our pitch video, learn all about the project, and donate to what you will learn is a most worthy cause.
Take me to that campaign!
In addition to the video—which we actually put some real time into, so it'll be worth your while—you'll find:
  • The story of 'I Like Flowers' 
  • How this project will benefit climate action, conservation, and education in the Bay Area 
  • Our budget and timeline
  • Some neat-o perks you can get with your donations, including an official thank you in the video, discounts and benefits with our partner organizations, and even a nifty 'I Like Flowers' T-shirt

Our campaign will be live until June 18. I would be so honored if you, my loyal newsletter readers, would be among our early benefactors. We've got a great project ready to roll—now we need you to put the fuel in our tank. 

We're counting on you to help us make this happen--thank you so much for checking out the campaign and considering a donation! 
No really, take me to that campaign
Questions or suggestions? E-mail me: [email protected]

Coming Soon! "I Like Flowers" music video crowdfunding campaign

5/2/2025

 
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I Like Flowers: not just a statement of fact. It’s also a song—and with your help, soon to be a music video. 

Eco Soul Entertainment—i.e. my collaborator Will Hammond, Jr and I—will shortly be launching our very first crowdfunding campaign, and we would love for you to join us! Here’s what to do:

1) Listen to the song. The audio's not quite finished, but pretty close. 
2) Stay tuned for the crowdfunding campaign, launching (hopefully) next week! 

So what’s the deal with “I Like Flowers”? Since I first shared a sketch of this tune a couple years ago, it’s taken on a new life and a new mission: to do for native plants and pollinators what (I’m Your) Heat Pump did for heat pumps, and (Our Love Is) Geothermal did for geothermal energy: namely, make them fun. Make them catchy. Make people say, “Hey! I’d like to know more about that.” 

And just like Heat Pump and Geothermal, I Like Flowers will provide a nifty new messaging tool for organizations who support native plants and wildlife, starting locally with the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour here in the East Bay. Their executive director, Kathy Kramer, was an enthusiastic early supporter of Heat Pump, even before it was a video. (And hey Bay Area people, this year's tour is this weekend!) 

Why is this message needed? Most people know that flower-loving pollinators like birds, bees, and butterflies are super important for ecosystems and agriculture. Lesser known, perhaps, is how crucial native plants are for supporting those pollinators and other wildlife. Studies have shown that native plants do way, waaaay more for wildlife than their non-native cousins. Supporting them in our gardens and in the wild is a great way to help heal Mother Earth. 

We need new ways to get the word out and engage the public on this issue. I think a funk anthem is just the thing, don’t you? 

For more on the importance of native plants, check out this great slideshow by ecologist Jennifer Dirking, or the Homegrown National Park website. 

And just a little reminder that everything is more fun with a music video...

Eco Soul Spring Fling on Saturday, March 22

3/5/2025

 
Bay Area friends! 

Please join me and Will Hammond, Jr of Eco Soul Entertainment—that's the snazzy new name for our eco-music collaboration—for a free afternoon of live music and climate action in Berkeley!

We'll perform our eco-tunes (I’m Your) Heat Pump and (Our Love Is) Geothermal with The Radioactives—first time ever with a full, live band—along with a bevy of funky soul favorites. My boy DJ Hank Roberts will be spinning as well! 

While you're there, learn how you can take action for the planet with representatives from Rising Sun Center for Opportunity, The Switch Is On, Citizens’ Climate Lobby, and an induction cooking demonstration with Copper. We’ll have snacks, drinks, and nature-themed activities. Drop by and have some fun with us!  

Saturday, March 22, 12:00-4:00pm2727 California St, Berkeley, CA
https://www.2727.today

FREE
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Bringing Joy to Climate Action with Mike, Will, and a Drag Queen named Pattie Gonia

2/10/2025

 
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Podcast listeners! My "Heat Pump"/"Geothermal" partner Will Hammond, Jr and I are featured on the most recent episode of Climate One, from the Commonwealth Club. 

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Link to episode home page

They talk about us in the intro, then our interview begins at 30:27. We talk climate action, music, and one of my favorite things, the Climate Venn Diagram. 

In between is a great interview with—indeed—environmentalist / drag queen Pattie Gonia. I highly recommend listening to it. Pattie has a lot of astute insights into climate action (my favorite: "Joy is strategic") and, as you might imagine, a fascinating backstory. 
I checked out their website but I'll admit I couldn't stay long, as I was too intimidated by their amazing talents and accomplishments. I realized quickly why they are the sole headliner on the episode! I'll have you know, however, that the podcast producers told us our songs gave them the idea for the episode. So we've got that going for us (even if Yo-Yo Ma didn't play on our songs). 
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Mike and Will: also on the episode

A Christmas song for you

12/23/2024

 
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Kirkwood Meadow, CA: View from a snow-hike nearly one year ago
Happy Season, everyone! 

Quick story: back in the 90's my Heat Pump / Geothermal partner Will Hammond, Jr. wrote a song for singer Tara Kemp ("Hold You Tight") that went to #3 on the Billboard charts. This year Will and Tara teamed up to record some Christmas tunes, and their cover of the Donny Hathaway classic "This Christmas" features yours truly on guitar (starting about a minute in).

It's a great version of a great (and underappreciated) Christmas song. I hope it will help make your Christmas a very special Christmas!

This Christmas on YouTube
This Christmas on Spotify
This Christmas on Apple Music
​
P.S. If your tastes run a little more traditional, there's always this little blast from the not-too-distant past. Twelve years old and still makes merry! Joyous Yuletide, my friends. 

(Our Love Is) Geothermal

9/27/2024

 
So this came together pretty quickly.

In my last post I mentioned that KQED’s story on (I’m Your) Heat Pump had recently aired on NPR. Turns out that story was heard by one Jamie Beard, Founder and Executive Director of Project InnerSpace, a non-profit dedicated to advancing geothermal energy (a 24/7 renewable that often flies under the radar but deserves to be in the power conversation alongside solar and wind). In July she sent me an e-mail with the generous subject header, “The heat pump song is amazing,” and an admirably concise body text: 

Can I get you to do a geothermal gig as a follow on. Would love to discuss. Debut at NY climate week.

Jamie
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Labor Day, September 9: tracking vocals chez MTR. Laying track before the speeding train.
So we have a call the following week, July 25. Turns out NY Climate Week is only two months away. Jamie ideally wants a song and a Heat Pump-like music video by September 24. And I’m about to go on a two-week family vacation.  

“That feels a little tight,” I say, tamping down panic, “but I can put you in touch with Polytechnic Marketing, who produced the Heat Pump video”—thinking they will of course tell her that’s way too little time. “Great!” she says, “please do that.”

​“Great!” Polytechnic tells her. “We should be able to swing that—assuming Mike can write the song fast enough.” OK then! Two intense months later (including a two-week vacation with lots of time thinking about geothermal), we not only have a song and music video once again featuring the inimitable Will Hammond Jr., but Will and I even debuted the song live at NY Climate Week this past Tuesday, at Project InnerSpace’s Geothermal House event in downtown Manhattan. I am a little tired. 
There’s so much more to tell you about—not just the whirlwind trip to New York, but also our trip to LA to shoot the video two weeks ago. We were fortunate to be able to reassemble the entire creative and production team from the Heat Pump video, including directors Ed Ng and Keoni Mars, and the crack team at Polytechnic led by Joel Boardman and creative director Tanya Spanier. Though it produced some stressful days along the way, I feel so lucky to be have been able to do this again so soon after the launch of (I’m Your) Heat Pump.
​
So I’ll tell you more in an upcoming post, but for now, please enjoy the song and the video! Once again, be forewarned: it shamelessly leans into the many double entendres provided (this time) by geothermal technology. It’s what Jamie wanted, I swear.
One More Link to the Video: Press This
P.S. As you'll see, Ed and Keoni had me dance (on camera!) this time (those FOOLS!). Here's Will and I learning some moves from our outstanding choreographer, multi-hyphenate talent Monroe Cline:
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September 13, video shoot at Orbital Studios in LA. Lava guitar. Coolest object in the universe. They did not let me keep it. Photo courtesy of Tanya Spanier.
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September 24, Geothermal House: Hall des Lumieres in New York City. Courtesy Project InnerSpace

"Heat Pump" World Tour

7/19/2024

 
“(I’m Your) Heat Pump” has been doing some world traveling since the video dropped on Earth Day this spring. 

NPR
Pumpin’ USA! “Heat Pump” went nationwide when the KQED radio story by Laura Klivans aired twice on NPR: first on Here and Now in May, then just this past week on All Things Considered. Juana Summers knows who I am! 

Weather.com 
Our YouTube views tripled in just a couple days, and I was surprised to receive an interview request from Weather.com, The Weather Channel website! (Weather and climate: not the same, but related!) Here’s the lovely article (and some video interview clips, live from the deck) by staff writer Jan Childs.
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https://weather.com/news/climate/news/2024-07-18-heat-pump-global-warming-electrification
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https://x.com/drvolts/status/1786098998773964853?s=46&t=uEPnIaHadrMMvjb-rVlZCg
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Dave Roberts (no relation) of the Volts podcast, well known in climate circles for his great show on climate tech (I am an avid listener), gave the video a sweet shout-out on Twitter. ​​

Down Under
A nice fellow named Brent Clark, from an Australian company called Wattblock, asked me if he could use the song for a video he’d put together: Beautiful Heat Pump Installs for Sydney Apartment Blocks (Wattblock promotes building electrification in Sydney). Why not? They really are beautiful. 
What’s Next
As the Weather.com article noted (breaking news alert!), I have been playing with ideas for a song about induction cooktops. And it’s true, the ideas have not exactly sprung forth the way the Heat Pump tune seemed to, but that is to be expected and all part of the creative fun. Sequels are hard. I have one idea that’s good but maybe sounds a little too much like an ad, and one pretty weird idea that could either be great or terrible—not sure which just yet. A singing heat pump was pretty weird too, so I might be on the right track.  

Meanwhile, and not too unrelatedly, I have been working on setting ritual texts to music for The Ancient Order of Druids in America. Also collecting text ideas and starting to write music for a Wheel of the Year songbook—like a set of Christmas carols but for the Solstices, Equinoxes, and cross-quarter days. Recently I set the Sara Teasdale poem, Dusk in June (for the Summer Solstice, of course). I'll share that music down the road! 

Keep on pumpin', everyone. 
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