"This project started as a recurring dream for me," explains Michael. "Countless times I'd wake up in the middle of the night with these ambient sounds and melodies going through my head. It didn't sound like any of the bands I was working with at the time, nor did it sound like my own band, Sixx:AM. I knew it was some kind of sign, I just didn't know what it meant. Until fans started asking me when I was going to do another solo project. That's when it hit me... My fans crave musical diversity just like I do."

Michael recorded the song at his own Red Level Three Studios in Nashville, TN; he squeezed tracking the music and recording his vocals in between producing and/or writing sessions for Kelly Clarkson, Motley Crue, Papa Roach, Halestorm, Hinder, Sixx:AM, James Durbin and a few new projects he has in development. According to Michael, "my decision to release "Learn To Hate You" now was based on how intensely creative the last couple of years have been for me. I've been in the studio non-stop producing one record after another with very little time to stop and deal with "life stuff" of my own."

The video for "Learn to Hate You," currently streaming on YouTube, was also shot in Nashville by renowned director PR Brown who has worked with many artists including John Mayer, Alicia Keys, Carrie Underwood, Prince, Audio Slave, Motley Crue and Sixx:AM. "PR Brown has an incredible cinematic eye which is evident in everything he does," observes Michael, "including his very dark and beautiful still photography. His films and videos have a way of ripping an artist out of real life and placing them right in the center of a world he has created." "From working together on Sixx:AM," Michael adds, "Brown understands the intense emotional conflict that exists in me and my songs and he captures it in a perfectly narrative way."