Originally published in the My SF series on Huffington Post SF

Mike Deni is the soaring voice and creative force behind Geographer, San Francisco's increasingly word-conquering blissed-out indie-rock sensation that anchored a stellar line-up of local bands at this year's Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival.

Years in SF: Seven.

Current 'hood: Noe Valley.

Favorite spot in the city: "The area between my apartment and Twin Peaks. I really like walking around and stumbling onto a park you've never been to before even though you've lived in the neighborhood forever."

Favorite place to eat: "Zaab, it's a Thai place on Clement Street. I have a friend who spent a lot of time in Thailand and so I've had a lot of Thai food. This is, by far, the most accurate recreation of what the food is really like there. Also, they have a dulcimer at the restaurant and when they heard I was a musician they let me play it."

What made you come to San Francisco? "Well, I was living in my mom's basement in New Jersey...[laughs]. I was thinking about moving to Brooklyn, but all my friends who were living there were moving away and starting out in New York on your own was kind of scary to me as a staving musician without a job or a place to live. But I had a couple friends who lived out here, so I decided to give it a shot."

Did you move to Noe Valley straight away? "No, I lived in a whole lot of neighborhoods before coming to Noe Valley. When I first moved here, I was crashing on my friend's couch way up on a hill in the Upper Haight. My friend had a room with these huge Bay windows and I could see the fog rolling in on three sides.

Click here for more questions with Mike Deni, and a video!

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