Sitting down with Mike Michel from the Bill Mike Band, I knew I was interviewing a blessing to worlds both musical and otherwise. In fact, it isn’t difficult to know Mike after seeing Bill Mike Band shows. The band’s recent Truce CD release show at the Cedar beautifully testifies to why. The energy with which Mike (guitar, gizmos), Chris (bass), and Steve (drums) played their unusual musical creations, clearly improvising some of the individual particulars according to each musician’s spontaneous emotional whim, forced hapless listeners into a prison of musical engagement for a few hours. Listeners couldn’t complain: although they knew they’d lost any semblance of free will for the show’s duration, the contagious positive energy was so intoxicating and the band’s music so unique that the sacrifice was utterly worthwhile. The guys’ personal quirks were displayed through the performance.

Those who wanted to learn more about these guys had the opportunity. The band hangs out after shows, casually conversing with their audience. I met Mike in this way, albeit many shows ago. Chatting with him at Espresso Royale in Dinkytown affirms what struck me when I first met him: the thoughtful altruism and wisdom that guides both his life and the band’s music. He makes porous the boundaries between activism and art. Indeed, the band’s arduous effort creating Truce leaves listeners with a product that epitomizes this concept:

Hint: The Interview’s Just Below These Photos by Meredith Hart

The Wake: Let’s just start with a brief history lesson: your experiences as a musician, culminating with the Bill Mike Band.

Mike: Oh okay. I’ll try to keep it brief. I was out of high school and my first job was to tour with a Motown band. And that was a great experience for helping me to develop feel, rhythm.

W: Absolutely. That’s really important because I notice a lot of guitarists don’t tend to develop that right away…

M: You’re absolutely right.

W: That’s a difficult thing, especially as a drummer. You end up being relied on to hold things very steady. It limits what you can do when guitarists don’t have that ability.

M: Yeah man. And then I was a session cat in Cincinnati. Then I cruised to Los Angeles, wanted to do the band thing. I ended up being a roadie by accident. So I did that for three years and met a lot of big, commercial bands. Then I met Dave King (Happy Apple; Halloween, Alaska).

W: He was out there too?

M: Yep. And he auditioned for my band (laughs). So we did a few rock bands together. But a lot of people from out here don’t like it out there…It’s not conducive to creating original art. So we came to Minnesota in ’95…or ’96. We did avant-garde rock. And he sort of split into where he is now, into a more jazz idiom. Then I was a guitar player for people up until 2000. And eventually I decided I had something to say. So I taught myself to sing at twenty-seven. But I’m not the type to be a solo songwriter. I wondered, “How do you merge the singer-songwriter thing with the band concept?” So Steve and Chris were recommended to me by Dave. And I went out and saw them at a show at Mound High School when they were nineteen or twenty. And they were brilliant. But I just felt like it wasn’t time yet. Later on, Chris was going to the U and saw a flyer for a show Bill Mike was playing at the Dinkytowner. He said, “You need a bass player.” So he joined. Chris said “I know a drummer who would be perfect for this”—Steve. So we auditioned the song “Wearing Out Love” with him and two bars in I said, “this is the guy.” It was always great. But I think now we’ve really found our roles in the band.

W: So what influenced you, musically or otherwise, while you were writing “Truce?”

M: What influences my writing a lot is subject matter. I was lacking that before. So that was the experiment [with Truce]. And I had all these people in my life that were different from the normal arty musician type. I wanted to get to know other worlds. I felt like I was kind of boxing myself. I tried to get in touch with people who had different opinions from mine. It was a lifestyle change. So Truce grew out of that. With the state of the world, I saw both people like and different from me kind of not feel great about the world. I traveled to London. I saw a play called “We Hate George Bush”: a spoof on the Nazis, a comedy. That’s when I realized things really aren’t great. So the next step was to write a smart, simple approach to negotiation. So the goal, without trying to sound pretentious, which is hard to do—

W: Don’t worry about it.

M: Okay. —was to write more global messages. It wasn’t about, you know, “my life…my mad, tortured art life.” That shit’s over.

W: Kind of about having your personality disappear into your music.

M: Absolutely. And I think we found the formula for the band, which is afro-cuban rhythms, harder melodies, and global messages…

*****

(Mike is wonderfully conversational. Somehow, we digressed into this…)

M: …And punk rock was a backlash to more corporate rock. Foreigner, Boston. Feel good music. It was party music. And again, nothing wrong with that. But I think there needs to be a balance. That stuff’s Friday night music. But human beings need that European attitude of having art in your life to transform you and to forever grow.

W: Versus the American view of having art for entertainment primarily.

M: Absolutely.

*****
W: So Truce held up next to “Better News”: How does this album compare to the last for you guys?

M: With “Truce,” we were afforded the opportunity to be perfectionists to a certain degree. We did as many takes as we wanted. We were also more able to do what makes us individuals on the new CD. There was more room for Steve to be weird, for Chris to use his jazz chops, for me to go back to my Motown days. And also, we’re with a different record label now: Drawfire Records. Why it’s cool: It’s more of an artist co-op collection: each band has roles and we all share information. It also has a non-profit subsidiary called “Future Eating.” Eco-friendly local companies sponsor the groups’ tours. While on tour, “Future Eating” draws from local community resources that are willing to help in order to advertise the Minnesota companies that sponsor the groups.

W: Creative. Do you guys all argue or confront your worldview differences [since Steve is conservative while the others are more liberal]?

M: We converse. It’s been really cool. We send each other political emails. Steve and I talk a lot, whether in person or email. Chris and Steve talk even more. We talk about political stuff, religious or spiritual stuff.

W: What does a normal Bill Mike Band rehearsal look or sound like?

M: We try to be efficient because we can’t do it a lot. So either we run songs we feel are weak, or I’ll come in with my acoustic version of a [new] song. Chris and Steve have free will. If I did have a specific thing [for them], I just let it go. I don’t tell ‘em. Because what they will come up with will be four million times better. I want this to be their outlet where they can do all the stuff they’ve always wanted to do outside their other projects.

W: That seems like an appreciably unpretentious approach to being a songwriter. What do you know now that would have been really helpful had you known it when you were twenty?

M: I think as Americans and with technology, we have to try harder to create our own identity as individuals. That’s encouraged mostly through love and support. I think it would have helped if I would have trusted more people to help me. Trusting other people who are better than you, dropping your ego, and just being open to learning from other people is really important.

W: Last question: How many Puma jumpsuits do you have?

M: That’s a great question. See I’m a young child of the seventies, okay? And although I don’t have great memories of the seventies, this is what I wore then. I have not changed since I was six. I played tennis in the seventies…Jumpsuits and Pumas, pre-Run DMC shit (laughs). But how many do I own? Tons! But ah you know, but I don’t think they’re a great company in terms of ethics. So I’m kinda shooting myself in the foot…But yes. The jumpsuit you saw at the Cedar CD release was a donation from a former U of M student. So yeah, I accept any donations (laughs).

W: Awesome.

Tags: Dinkytown, Interview