Michael Angelakos

Michael John Angelakos (born May 19, 1987) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman of the indietronica band Passion Pit.

Career

Passion Pit (2008–present) The first Passion Pit songs, which would later become the Chunk of Change EP, were written by Angelakos at Emerson College as a belated Valentine's Day gift to his then-girlfriend. At first, he wrote and performed all his material alone using a laptop. After one of his solo shows in the Boston area, Ian Hultquist, who was attending Berklee at the time, approached Angelakos and expressed interest in creating and playing music collaboratively. They formed a group that consisted of Angelakos, Hultquist, Ayad Al Adhamy, Thom Plasse (bass), and Adam Lavinsky (drums). The band spent a considerable amount of time trying to flesh out a collaborative format and structure that would work best for them. Jeff Apruzzese and Nate Donmoyer joined the band shortly after they signed to Frenchkiss in 2008, replacing Plasse and Lavinsky, respectively. In 2012, Adhamy was replaced by Xander Singh.

2007–09: Chunk of Change The band's debut EP, Chunk of Change, was released on September 16, 2008. The first four tracks were those that Angelakos had written as a gift for his girlfriend Christine, which had already become popular throughout the Emerson College campus, where Angelakos was attending classes at the time, and had been passing out his own, self-produced copies.

The first and only single to be released from the EP, "Sleepyhead", received a good deal of exposure through its use in numerous media campaigns and advertisements, while the video for the song, directed by The Wilderness, was included on Pitchfork's Top 40 Music Videos of 2008 list. The song contains samples of "Óró Mo Bháidín" by Irish singer and harpist Mary O'Hara.

He later described the material as highly critical of the relationship and of his own behavior, rather than straightforward love songs. He also credited her brother Greg with helping to manage Passion Pit and “kickstarting the whole thing” before firing him.

Online accounts have variously attributed “Sleepyhead” to a lullaby sung to Angelakos by his mother or interpreted it as a song about grief, however, Angelakos explicitly identifies the Chunk of Change songs as being inspired by his relationship with Christine, writing that he had responded to her at one point “probably like an asshole” and that she “taught me early on how to be civil and friendly and have manners in relationships.”

Other songs from the EP received some exposure as well. "Cuddle Fuddle" was featured in E4's second series of The Inbetweeners and "I've Got Your Number" was used in an advertisement for the cash card from O2, Money in the UK.

2009–11: Manners The band's first full-length studio album, Manners, was released on May 18, 2009, in the UK and May 19, 2009, in the United States and Canada. In celebration, the band played their record release party on the 18th in New York City on a Rocks Off boat cruise.

To obtain a specific background vocal accompaniment the band was looking for on Manners, Passion Pit enlisted the help of the PS22 chorus, who recorded vocals in-studio for three of the album's songs: "The Reeling", "Little Secrets", and "Let Your Love Grow Tall." "The Reeling" was the first single to be released from the album and found success on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart in the fall of 2009, where it peaked at number 34 in October and "Little Secrets" was the third single to be released and had success on the chart as well, topping out at number 39. "Let Your Love Grow Tall" was never released as a single but had some exposure being used in the sixteenth episode of the fourth season of the TV series Ugly Betty.

The album's second single, "To Kingdom Come", was used in the Rhapsody commercial for its iPhone application.

"Sleepyhead" was the only track from Chunk of Change to be included on the album and was made available from iTunes for free as a discovery download in 2009. The song continued to receive additional exposure through its appearances in advertisements. It was used in a season 3 episode of the teen-drama, Skins and most recently in the debut trailer for LittleBigPlanet 2, and LittleBigPlanet 3 which led to the band's increased popularity among fans and players of the game, who eventually created an in-game instrumental version of the song to listen to in the first game. When the sequel was released, it came with the song's actual instrumental version used in the trailer.

The song "Moth's Wings" was used in the fourth episode of the third season of the CW teen drama Gossip Girl and in the closing credits of episode 36 of HBO's Big Love. It appeared in the FIFA 10 video game and was featured in the film Life as We Know It, starring Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel. Additionally, the track has been used as a background theme for Sky Sports' coverage of the UEFA Champions League and as the music for a dance routine in Episode 5, Season 8, of the US television show So You Think You Can Dance, which received a standing ovation from the show's judges. It was also featured in MTV's show Awkward.

In June 2009, the band performed at the Glastonbury Festival 2009 in Pilton, Somerset, England, where they dedicated the final song of their set to festival headliner Jarvis Cocker, who was to perform on the same stage later that same day. Afterwards, NME, while favorably reviewing Passion Pit's performance, incorrectly reported the band as having dedicated their entire set to Cocker.

On April 13, 2010, the band reissued Manners in a deluxe edition format which contained new artwork and three additional tracks: stripped-down versions of "Sleepyhead" and "Moth's Wings" and a cover of The Cranberries' song "Dreams". The deluxe release coincided with the extension of their North American headlining tour.

The band released another cover in June 2010, this time offering up their take on The Smashing Pumpkins hit song "Tonight, Tonight" as part of a promotion with Levi's called "Pioneer Sessions".

In September 2010, Passion Pit toured as the opening act for the English band Muse for eight shows during their fall tour through parts of the U.S. Following those supporting shows, the band headlined the Campus Consciousness Tour, produced by Pretty Polly Productions in collaboration with Guster guitarist Adam Gardner's non-profit organization Reverb. The two-week tour featured stops at twelve college campuses and, in addition to the music, focused on promoting eco-friendly lifestyles. Opening acts for the tour included Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears and K. Flay.

In November 2010, Angelakos collaborated with producer Diplo in Los Angeles on songs for other artists. Diplo wrote online that he and Angelakos had “cooked up some meth + some hits”; a publicist said the pair had spent three days writing songs and drinking Pedialyte.

2011–14: Gossamer In an August 2010 interview with NME, Angelakos stated that work had already begun on the follow-up to Manners and that the band intended to release the album in the spring of 2011. He then said that it will be released early in 2012, and finally that the release date was July 24.

On April 24, 2012, Angelakos announced the title of the album, Gossamer, and that it would be released on July 24, 2012.

On May 7, the first track from Gossamer was released, called "Take a Walk".

On June 12, the second track from Gossamer was released, called "I'll Be Alright". The track leaked early on June 11 and was released as an NME premiere on June 8.

On July 9, a third track from Gossamer, called "Constant Conversations", was reviewed and featured as "best new track" by Pitchfork. It was released with the review as streamed content. Gossamer was officially released on July 20, 2012.

On October 13, they performed on Saturday Night Live. They played "Take a Walk" and "Carried Away."

Angelakos, Kill The Noise and Fatman Scoop appeared on "Recess", the second single and title track from American record producer Skrillex's debut album Recess. The single was released on July 7, 2014.

2015–16: Kindred and Merry Christmas, Mr. Fields On January 29, it was revealed that a new album, Kindred, was in the making. The album was released on April 21.

On February 16, the official track listing was released.

From the start of 2015, to the album's release on April 21, the official Passion Pit blog released clues to the new song's lyrics and melodies in the form of Morse-encoded lyrics with the track number and time code the lyrics appeared at, and 4 – 10 seconds of melody for a select few songs.

On December 12, 2016, Angelakos announced the release of a Christmas video album, called "Merry Christmas, Mr. Fields", and its soundtrack, which was later released on December 16.

2017-2019: Tremendous Sea of Love On March 24, 2017 the album Tremendous Sea of Love was self-released. This came one month after the album had been available for free in exchange for retweets of a tweet describing the importance of science and research. Angelakos pledged the royalties from Tremendous Sea of Love to the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

The official release of the album was announced on July 11 to be on July 28, 2017.

In 2019, Passion Pit collaborated with Galantis on the single "I Found U."

2020-2024: Soundcloud releases In December 2020, Angelakos uploaded nearly 40 previously unreleased songs, demos, alternate versions, live recordings, remixes, and other rarities to SoundCloud, including “It’s Not You, It’s Six AM,” “Mother of a Whole New World,” and an a cappella version of “Sleepyhead.”

In 2023, Passion Pit performed at the OUTLOUD Music Festival during WeHo Pride in West Hollywood. According to Blurred Culture, Angelakos told the audience that the performance was Angelakos's first sober performance. The performance received positive reviews, with Blurred Culture calling the band's return “triumphant” and praising its energy, while Music Connection described the set as a “full-on rock show.”

The band also reissued "American Blood", originally released as a bonus track on Gossamer. In May 2024, Angelakos remixed Casper Caan's single “Hearts Are Opening Up,” producing a synth-driven remix of the song.

In 2024, Passion Pit embarked on a series of performances across the United States, including shows in San Francisco, Chicago, New York City, and Brooklyn, as well as an appearance at the Just Like Heaven festival in Pasadena. At the 2024 Just Like Heaven festival, Angelakos received positive reviews for his performance with Passion Pit. KCSB praised his “fire voice” and strong vocal delivery, noting that the audience sang, hugged, jumped, and danced throughout the set. Music Connection described his stage energy as “never-ending,” while Rock Cellar Magazine praised his energetic performance and the enthusiastic audience response. On May 28, 2024, at Irving Plaza in New York City, Angelakos announced that Passion Pit was releasing a new album.

In June 2024, Angelakos said he fired his managers, explaining that they “just didn’t work well together.”

2025-present: Nine Times Your Torch Song In 2025, Angelakos publicly discussed his return to illicit drug use on social media, acknowledging that he had taken a "massive dose" of psilocybin mushrooms, saying he had not made mushroom tea in some time and that he usually used other "ROA's" (routes of administration) with "exact measurements." He described psychedelics as "remarkable."

Beginning in 2025, Angelakos used social media to publicly air grievances concerning the music industry and former professional collaborators. He criticized his former managers and described “9/10ths of the professionals on my payroll” as people who did not respect or trust him. He also discussed former business partners negatively and publicly contrasted current coworkers whom he had retained with those he had dismissed.

In April 2025, Angelakos criticized the music industry, describing it as “a hegemonic complex that is the very definition of human rights abuse on every level and in every way.” Later that month, Angelakos began a residency at Deluxx Fluxx in New York City and performed additional shows in Boston and elsewhere. The performances featured both earlier Passion Pit material and new songs from Nine Times Your Torch Song.

On July 2, 2025, Angelakos released Nine Times Your Torch Song on Samply, his first album of new material since Tremendous Sea of Love (2017). The album collects previously unreleased recordings spanning several years, including “You Live for This” (2019), “The Way We Will Win” (2023), “Once Upon Your Balcony,” (2024) "Head in Your Hands" (2011), and “No Moon Improv” (2024).

At the 2025 Austin City Limits Music Festival, Angelakos received mixed reviews. The Austin American-Statesman described him as appearing nervous during the performance, noting that he restarted one song and apologized to the audience, although the review ultimately described the performance as “fine.”

In 2026, Passion Pit embarked on a North American summer tour, with performances at several festivals and venues. Angelakos has described the period as a reworking of Passion Pit as a more flexible touring project. Paste reported that Angelakos's voice gave out halfway through "The Reeling" during Passion Pit's July 2026 performance at the Truman in Kansas City.

In March 2026, Passion Pit announced the forthcoming seven-song EP Pretty Penny, which Angelakos described as a companion to the band's 2008 debut EP Chunk of Change. On May 21, 2026, Angelakos released “To Mend Two Broken Vessels With a Single Cherry Tree,” the first song released from the forthcoming Pretty Penny EP. Angelakos said he intended to release the EP “ASAP” while seeking a suitable release partner.

Personal life During the recording of Gossamer, producer Chris Zane said that Angelakos arrived at the studio so intoxicated that he could barely stand. Zane and engineer Alex Aldi confronted him about his drinking and told him they could not continue working together unless he stopped. Angelakos stated that: “I thrive under a chaotic environment, but I also create it.” Zane later threatened to quit the album twice, and described the recording process as having left him unable to function for months afterward.

Angelakos said that he sometimes felt “sociopathic” and entered what he described as a “weird, manipulative mode,” during which he said hurtful things, went on “crazy outings,” disappeared for several days, and returned as though nothing had happened. He said that he sometimes did not remember his actions or what he had said. He also described himself as having been “very narcissistic.”

During this same period, Angelakos became romantically involved with Madeleine Dubus, daughter of Andre Dubus while he was engaged to Kristy Mucci. In a 2012 Pitchfork profile, Dubus was referred to pseudonymously as “Sylvia,” the subject of “Cry Like a Ghost.” Angelakos said that during the period he was “really terrible” to Mucci and that he scared her, while also describing drinking "over a liter and a half of gin a day," abusing Xanax, and engaging in erratic behavior. Angelakos wrote that his “punching the walls in grief and frustration” was interpreted as an attempt to hit his partner. In a 2025 account, Angelakos identified “Sylvia” as Dubus. He described eventually ending his relationship with Dubus abruptly and cruelly, after which he blamed her for being "complicit in his problematic behavior." He later acknowledged that he had written “Cry Like a Ghost” to “demonize” Dubus.

In 2013, Angelakos received the “Erase the Stigma” Award from Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services for his advocacy and efforts to raise awareness of mental health issues.

Angelakos married Kristina Mucci in 2013. On August 27, 2015, Angelakos announced that they were divorcing. In November 2015, Angelakos publicly came out as gay. Out reported that his sexuality was one reason for his divorce, quoting him as saying that he had “wanted so badly to be straight” because he loved his wife. In January 2018 Angelakos came out as bisexual.

On August 4, 2018, it was reported that Angelakos was sued by the law firm that represented him in his 2015 divorce from Kristina Mucci over approximately $70,000 in unpaid legal fees. According to court documents obtained by The Blast, the firm alleged that Angelakos had stopped paying a $5,536 balance in 2016 despite continuing to receive legal representation, with the outstanding amount subsequently increasing to $69,768.69 plus interest.

At Passion Pit's 2023 performance at the OUTLOUD Festival, Angelakos said that it was his “first sober performance,” an admission that he said initially filled him with terror.

In 2025, Angelakos said he took a “massive dose” of psilocybin mushrooms and unexpectedly wrote an email to Dubus which he subsequently forwarded to his family and members of the music industry, prompting a wellness check by state troopers and social workers. In August 2025, he married Dubus. Dubus also serves as Angelakos's manager. In February 2026, Angelakos acknowledged that he had thrown a computer during an incident frightening Dubus and their dog.

In 2025, Angelakos published a song he said was autobiographical, stating that “not one word” of its lyrics was a lie; the song described him walking through Central Park after dark following “a bit of cocaine.”

In a 2025 series of essays, Angelakos described difficulties with organization and domestic responsibilities, writing that his partners had at times felt he expected them to “clean up after” him. He said that his behavior had caused significant turmoil for people in his life and had affected his business, describing the consequences as “a really big deal.” He also acknowledged substance use, including saying that he had been at one point “snorting a billion grams of ketamine.”

Angelakos has expressed support for psychedelic-related approaches to mental health, and recommended The Psychedelic Blog, a publication focused on psychedelics and altered states, describing its author as “the best” and encouraging readers to “open your mind up to the future of mental health and recovery."

Mental health On July 16, 2012, Angelakos posted on the Passion Pit website that the band had canceled the remaining July 2012 tour dates and suspended the tour for Angelakos to seek ongoing treatment for bipolar disorder. A Rolling Stone interview stated that Angelakos was diagnosed at 17, and had been receiving therapy, hospital care, and medication ever since. Two days later, Pitchfork ran a cover story explaining the nature of Angelakos' health issues and its ties to Passion Pit's second album. It was revealed he was on suicide watch. On March 4, 2013, The Huffington Post reported about Angelakos' evident recovery as Passion Pit performed a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden on February 8, 2013. The article cited Angelakos as being "in one of the best places he's ever been".

Wishart Group In February 2017, In 2017, Angelakos founded the Wishart Group, an artist-support organization described as an “Artist Research and Protection Service,” with plans to provide musicians with legal, educational, healthcare, and mental-health services. Contemporary reports stated that the company had raised $250 million in funding, although the initial reports did not identify the investors or provide details about the financing. Angelakos initially declined to comment on the company's formation.

Angelakos subsequently acknowledged that the organization had been conceived during a period in which he was manic. In a 2018 interview with The Independent, he said that when Wishart was launched he had done “next to no real preparatory work”, attributing this to being manic and saying that he expected the logistical work to follow. He described Wishart as a “financial and power apparatus” and said he had attempted to appeal to people in the music industry, venture capital, and Silicon Valley before deciding to construct the organization's infrastructure more independently.

The organization's stated structure also varied between descriptions. In the same 2018 interview, Angelakos described Wishart as “part nonprofit and part for-profit,” saying that a nonprofit was being developed to provide mental-health programs and services while a for-profit component would address the economic costs of mental-health problems. Other contemporary accounts, however, described Wishart simply as a nonprofit organization.

Publicly available records provide little evidence of subsequent fundraising or of the large-scale programs described at the organization's launch. A related entity, Wishart Media Inc., appears in nonprofit databases as a Massachusetts charitable and educational organization associated with Angelakos, but available listings report $0 in revenue and $0 in assets, and do not establish that it was the same entity as the Wishart Group or that it received the reported $250 million.