The Americana Rock band As Ladders is fronted by Mike Berginc, who originally was drawn to songwriting when he was in high school.

“[I] just kind of developed my musings or my poetic tendencies into lyrics; I started with having a guitar around. [I had] a good appreciation for literature and mostly poetry starting out. [I] kind of developed that into a skill and started to write songs.”

“Poetic tendencies” is not often something aligned with your average teen, but Berginc developed his interest while taking a poetry class.

“That pushed me in the direction of, at least, having to appreciate it. Then in retrospect, a lot of the wisdom that’s in short verse poems, [my] appreciation [got] greater over time.”

Berginc credits his mom for sparking his drive to play music at an early age.

“My mom still plays music. Within my immediate family we have an upright player piano that doesn’t stay in tune, but it’s always been around which is kind of curious. But no one plays it. My mom being active within the community of music was a definite starter.”

As Ladders’ debut album Alt Fiction is out May 11. More on the band is at their Facebook page. Listen to the full conversation with Mike on The Local 913 Podcast.