Rock on! Dance on!
- (Vox Humanarama and Guitarifying)
DIDJYA KNOW… That the first time Mike ever sang in front of people, he was really nervous – seriously nervous. But then he got over it. Turns out, it’s not really that big a deal. He lives on a tiny island off the coast of America called Manhattan, with a cat named Lenny Valentino, who you would LOVE. He writes all of his songs on a guitar named Rosebud, which was given to him by his best friend Ryan. He can play guitar, bass, harmonica, a little bit of piano and an FM radio.
Like the song says, when Mike was just a little boy, he discovered the power of noise, so he formed a band – with his brother Ron – and started writing songs… all of this when he was eight years old. The band was called the STAR BROTHERS, and their recordings are rare and difficult to find. His sister is an artist, one of his brothers is a magician, and another is a producer of television and documentary films.
Mike was once a guest star on Sesame Street, playing guitar with Big Bird, and it was the best feeling in the world. He’s a photographer and has had his photos printed in the New York Times, The New York Post, Variety, and Time Out NY. He learned music from his friends, and went to Carnegie Mellon University, and got himself a BFA in drama. He also studied at the British American Drama Academy in Oxford, England. (If you can, visit other countries, it’s maybe the best thing you can do) Mike has had a really fun life travelling around the world, performing and making people feel good in Switzerand, Germany, Holland, Luxembourg, Panama, Mexico, Lebanon, and all over the United States. He had the honor of singing alongside the late great Billy Preston, and was blessed to have been a part of theater legend Tom O’Horgan’s creative world.
He painted the guitar in the “I Feel Trageriffic” video by himself, by hand. The teddy bear that you see in the videos and in pictures is Mike’s teddy bear (he’s from Holland and his name is George, but nobody ever calls him that). Today, Mike is at home in New York City, but has also lived in Los Angeles, Amsterdam, Black Rock City and Pittsburgh but originally comes from Rockland, NY, where all the ROCK comes from. Mike thinks that you should always feel free to express yourself.
