Put the Phone Face Down First: A Listening Guide to Mike Sain't Louis for Anyone Who Checks Their Stats at 3 A.M.

Madrid, October 25, 2026

You know the move. It's late, the house is dark, and instead of going to sleep you open the analytics app. You're not expecting anything. You open it the way you open the fridge when you're not hungry: just in case.

Mike Sain't Louis, an indie alternative artist based in Madrid who calls himself “the first AI singer-songwriter,” has written about exactly that ritual on his blog. He doesn't share his numbers, and he says they don't matter: double them or halve them and the scene would be the same. What matters is what happens inside when a number starts running your mood.

So here's an experiment. This is a listening guide built around one rule: no metrics allowed. Two songs, two moods, and a few practical steps to hear them the way they deserve.

Step zero: who you're listening to

Mike Sain't Louis writes every one of his lyrics. He's also the composer, music producer, art director and CEO of his own independent label, MIKE SAIN'T LOUIS, with no record company and no middlemen. The music and the vocal performance are generated with artificial intelligence, which he uses as a production and arrangement tool. He doesn't sing; the voice is AI-generated. The words, the concept and the creative direction are his.

Over roughly two years he's released 273 singles and more than 280 music videos under the banner of PLANETA GAYFOLK, plus a trilogy of albums designed as one journey: a trip to a planet where everyone can live exactly as they are. A lot of people found him in 2024, when “Tan Cateto” went viral on TikTok.

Step one: put the phone face down

Seriously. Before you press play, close every app that shows a counter. Mike has his own version of this rule. “I used to think checking my stats at odd hours was a character flaw,” he says. “Then I read about intermittent reinforcement and understood the apps are built to make us look. That didn't let me off the hook, but it took away the shame. Now I decide when I look, and why.”

The concept comes from B. F. Skinner's mid-twentieth-century research: rewards that arrive unpredictably are the ones that hook us hardest. A follower count that almost never moves, and then suddenly jumps, is a slot machine in your pocket. For the next few minutes, you're not pulling the lever.

Step two: “En un musical gay” — play it loud, preferably with friends

When: a Friday night, getting ready to go out, or any moment when you need permission to be a little too much. How: speakers, volume up, lyrics open on mikesaintlouis.com if you want to follow the Spanish. What you're hearing: the song lays down the rules for surviving a gay musical. Rule one: you have to be a bit of a pig, just like the narrator's ex from El Médano, a man who introduced himself to everyone as half Italian and passed for a sweetheart, and who turned out to be a disaster. Rule two: you can't get scared, or you won't enjoy the show. Rule three, the best one, is a self-portrait that piles up adjectives like sequins:

bastante ordinaria, estrafalaria

Tacky, outlandish, visionary, revolutionary, extraordinary, and, of course, very necessary. That's the narrator describing herself, using the feminine with full camp intent.

Listening tip: notice how the ex gets smaller each time he comes back in the lyric, until he's just a nobody. It's a revenge song that works by shrinking the villain, not by shouting at him.

Mike puts it this way: “Nobody ever measured a punchline in likes. Either the room laughs or it doesn't. I'd rather write for the room.”

Step three: “Lai” — lights low, headphones on

When: after the party, or instead of the 3 a.m. scroll. How: headphones, eyes closed, nothing else open. What you're hearing: almost no words at all. The lyric is a handful of soft English fragments: serene, veil, dream, shine, mist, hush, glimmer, fade. Around them, a refrain made of pure syllables:

Lara-li, loora-li, Lai...

It repeats and repeats, like a lullaby that doesn't need to explain itself. There's no story to follow, no ex to roast, nothing to score.

Listening tip: don't try to decode it. Let the repetition do what repetition does, which is slow your breathing down. If “En un musical gay” is the outfit, “Lai” is taking it off at the end of the night.

Why these two belong together

One song is all edges and attitude; the other is all softness. Together they make an argument Mike has been making on his blog: a song's value doesn't go up because more people stream it. “A finished lyric tells me more about myself than any chart,” he says.

That idea matters beyond music. Mike has spoken publicly about turning years of relationships with narcissistic partners into songs, with professional support, to make psychological abuse and its effect on mental health visible, and to help people who've lived through it feel seen and believed. When your self-esteem has been worn down, a number on a screen can weigh far more than it should.

Why American listeners might care

The US invented much of the attention economy that keeps us checking our phones at 3 a.m. It's also home to a huge audience for queer pop, camp, and bilingual music. Mike Sain't Louis offers a little of all three, plus something rarer: a fully transparent account of how AI fits into the work, and how it doesn't.

Where to listen and download

Every song streams and downloads for free at https://mikesaintlouis.com, each with its full lyrics. Nothing is for sale. His music is also on Spotify, Deezer and the major platforms. Instagram: @planetagayfolk.

About Mike Sain't Louis

Mike Sain't Louis is a Madrid-based indie alternative artist who calls himself “the first AI singer-songwriter.” He writes all his lyrics and runs his independent label, MIKE SAIN'T LOUIS, directing the AI tools that generate his music and vocals. His PLANETA GAYFOLK catalog moves from electropop to Spanish copla, from alt-pop to ballads, in Spanish, English, French and Portuguese, covering love, heartbreak, exes, nosy neighbors, queer life, liberation and mental health.

Press contact: info@mikesaintlouis.com Website: https://mikesaintlouis.com Instagram: @planetagayfolk