People of Vanier: Say Hello To Michael Unger
The following is an interview with the Vanier library clerk Michael Unger.
S: First question. What made you want to work in the library?
M: […] I did a stage, I worked some casual hours here and there. Eventually I was working part-time, then I applied to be permanent full-time.
S: Interesting. The next question is, what kind of literature interests you?
M: Oh, I like the old stuff. Literature from the 19th century, like Charles Dickens, Dostoyevsky, stuff like that. Some of the Russian literature, Gogol, I’ve read a little bit of Pushkin.
[…]
S: A friend of mine told me you like films. What kind of films are you interested in?
M: I like the old movies. I like the Maltese Falcon. I like the old, silent movies from the 40’s. I like Martin Scorsese’s movies. Jack Nicholson’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Stuff like that. Robert De Niro and all that.
[…]
S: Now I see why my friend recommended me to talk to you. What was your youth like?
M: Pretty good. When I was a kid, we lived in St. John. We moved to Montreal when I was 8 years old in 1978. We lived in Saint-Laurent, on Du College street.
[…]
S: This is going to be a good article. What do you enjoy?
M: I enjoy listening to music, I play guitar. I’m in a band, I write most of the songs in the band. We’ve performed twice. Now, I’m actually in two bands. I jam with the second band on Wednesdays and Thursdays. I jam with the original band on Sundays.
S: Whoa. What instrument do you play?
M: I play guitar, electric guitar. Sometimes I play bass. Once in a while I’ll play the harmonica. I use a keyboard to record songs. Lately I’ve been using a keyboard and bass. I’ve been using these virtual plugins.
[…]
Susan, one of the librarians, passes by. “He’s a YouTube star”.
M: Yeah, I have a YouTube channel.
S: No, you’re serious?
M: Yeah, my songs –
S: What’s the YouTube channel?
M: Oh, it’s um, you go to Youtube.com/user/ungfly. Or you can just type in Michael Unger Swim with the Tide.
The YouTube channel has him performing songs solo at the Coffee house but there are also videos of him with his band.
[…]
S: Next thing. What kind of work did you do at university?
M: When, I started university, I was majoring in Philosophy. I switched to History. I spent a lot of time at university, most of the time I was working part time. I was at Concordia from 90 to 96.
[…]
S: Ok, so what do you want your next 10 years to be like?
M: Outside of the library, I’m working on an album. A rock opera. It’s taking a long time to complete. In the next ten years, I want to complete it and put it on Bandcamp. I want to finish it in the next year or so. I’ve got an idea for the next one. It’s about working the music and trying to get more exposure to the music.
[…]
S: That was the last question. These were 16 minutes, very well used, at least in my opinion. Thank you so much for your time.
Written by: Sara Rebeca Palacios
