By: David Rachac
William Michel (Bill Mike) has been a fixture in the Minneapolis indie scene, fronting the hybrid-rock trio the Bill Mike Band and collaborating with a wide range of artists from Haley Bonar to Electropolis. In this interview, Mike talks about the experiences that led him to Minnesota, his vision for the Bill Mike Band and Rock For A Cause, an organization he created for young artists to celebrate the diversity of their music community.
William Michel, aka Bill Mike - Photo by Amy Fastenau
The next Rock For A Cause show is this Friday, March 9th at the Acadia Theater. The shows are always all ages (admission is $5) and start at 5 p.m. Joining Bill Mike will be Chris Koza, and the teen bands will be Mild Mannered C (Watershed School), Milk Automat (Barton School, Southwest High) and Medeski (Perpich School).
HowWasTheShow: You've made a circuitous route to Minneapolis from Cincinnati via Los Angeles. How did you get started and what brought you here?
William Michel: It was the ‘90s in Cincinnati and men with long hair and earrings didn't really have a place there at the time. I had a really cool musical experiences as a high schooler and part time college kid in Cincinnati, but I felt the urge to leave my hometown and explore. I moved to Los Angeles and knew a few folks in that area. By accident and fate, I stumbled into a tech/engineer/roadie job for 3rd Encore Music. I was still doing sessions as a guitar player and playing in a band with [current Bad Plus and Halloween, Alaska drummer] David King, but a cool experience landed my way, so I took it. My bosses Bear and Bob were road managers/live engineers for Led Zeppelin and Paul McCartney, so they were well-connected. My first day on the job, I met Cher, which was interesting. Later that month, I teched for Jimmy Page and got to play his famous doubleneck Gibson and watch the NASA channel with him.
HWTS: That had to be kind of mind-blowing, stepping into a situation like that.
Michel: I'm very fortunate for that job and experience, but I got a little antsy after a while, because at my core, I'm a musician, not an engineer. I really wanted to start a diverse rock band and felt that LA wasn't the place to organically cultivate a sound and following. Plus fires, riots, floods and earthquakes had something to do with my move as well. Los Angeles had some momentous occasions, but is a city built off of entertainment, thus provides a more synthetic environment for living everyday life. Certain personalities thrive in that environment, but I didn't. That era had lots of humorous and surreal moments for me, but most importantly, it hid deeper life lessons. I learned about the vanity and excesses of commercial music, drug abuse from afar, and the false sense of self of importance we place on pop culture in America. After a while, the buzz about hanging out with rock stars like Scott Weiland and watching them come down off of lethal highs became sad and really messed with me. That Los Angeles experience taught me what not to be and ultimately took me back to the Midwest to do some hard internal rewiring of the soul.
HWTS: What was it about Minnesota that helped you get refocused?
Minnesota can be a challenging place for an outsider at times. You really sit with yourself in Minnesota during the winter months. I'm not a winter sports guy, so adapting to the six months of semi-isolation came as a shock. The benefit of the hardship is the vast amount of creativity that can pour out after the process. Everybody is creative up here—everybody. We're isolated up here, so we have to stick together, help each other, and remind the world Minneapolis is a progressive music town that is just as valid as a New York or Chicago and vibrant all year round.
HWTS: Overall, how would you rate your experience here in the Twin Cities?
Michel: I've been fortunate to play with the best musicians. They've all pushed me in the right direction and made me lose my barriers and helped me emote to the fullest extent on my instrument. I played with artists like Love Cars, IFFY, Redstart, Anthony Cox and Robert Skoro. My first solo project for my songs was Tugboat, featuring Happy Apple as my band. That was rad. Meeting Chris Morrissey (bass) and Steve Goold (drums) and finally having the power trio that I've always dreamed about has been stupendous as well. So to answer your question, I would rate my music experience as a 10, my friend experience as a 10, my teaching experience as a 10, my winter sports aptitude a 1, my ability to polka a 1, and my Minnesota Vikings experience a 5.
HWTS: You have got a very unique guitar sound and style. Who would you say have been your major influences?
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Bill Mike Band at Lee's Liquor Lounge - Photo by David Rachac
Michel: Drummers, bass players, live music concerts of any sort, and indie film scoring. Sounds pompous, but it's true. I've been influenced more so by other instrumentalists and other art forms than guitar players. Rhythm to me is just as important as melody, and a good film score makes me want to write music.
HWTS: But there had to have been some guitarists who have had an impact on you.
Michel: In my high school years, Adrian Belew was important. He was a Cincinnati native and was super creative back in the day. Today, I like guitar orchestrators like Hendrix, Page, Andy Summers, Bill Frisell and Stevie Ray Vaughan. My whole goal since I was in 8th grade was to sound like some other instrument. I'm still working on it.
Michel: Currently, I front the Bill Mike Band and collaborate with Haley Bonar, MC Carnage, DJ ESP, a new improv quartet named Tampered Seals and Thud, an ambient groove collective. I'm also playing Bill Mike songs half-acoustically with a tabla player named Gary Waryan from Jelloslave.
Michel: I'm very happy with the Bill Mike Band sound these days. It's tougher, groovier and feels stylistically boundary-less. We received a grant at Fur Seal Studios to record a follow up to our debut, Better News, which is a breath of fresh air. We're working with Joe Johnson who is the engineer there. Basically, we need to make our Led Zeppelin II, our Are You Experienced? record. We finally have the luxury and blessing of taking our time and getting the right tones and the right performances. Steve, Chris and I are really challenging ourselves to supersede ourselves in a way. It's been so cleansing for me to really isolate myself in the studio and experiment with my vocals, guitar sounds and whatever organic noises I can come up with. I really enjoy taking that Tom Waits approach to recording which is utilizing everything in the studio including the kitchen sink. Find those natural organic sounds from everyday appliances. Be resourceful and maximize the minimum.
HWTS: What message do you want people to take away from your next record?
Michel: I want this next record to really hit people from all walks of life and all ages. The lyric content and tones so far have been very universal thus far. I've been moving that way naturally in the last two years. Times are really strange and dysfunctional in America these days, and I believe music has a big role in uniting, healing and motivating all people. All I want to do is give people a lift after a hard week so they have the strength do good work as well and pursue their individual dreams. Circular inspiration—we all need each other.
HWTS: What vision do you have for the Bill Mike Band’s future?
Michel: I can see the Bill Mike Band releasing a new record in the fall and branching out of the Midwest by the end of the year. I see this band in Europe big time, but that is a feat unto itself. I'll be doing some solo touring as well to build the Bill Mike experience outside Minnesota borders. I also want to continue being a curator for my "Rock For A Cause" series, and include more bands from suburban and rural areas of the Twin Cities. I love working with teens. It gives me confidence in humanity when I see their talent and diversity. I also never want to neglect my guitar session/sideman work. I've worked with a lot of hip-hop and folk artists in 2006, which has satisfied another part of me musically.
HWTS: Tell me a little bit more about the idea behind Rock For A Cause.
Michel: The concept is to combine young high school music groups of any genre with more established music groups that I feel are making a difference in our community. All groups play original music. I use the marketing umbrella of "Rock," which I think is a comfortable invitation for young adults, but all styles of music are welcomed and encouraged. In turn, I provide a forum where every artist can talk about why they play music, why they compose music, and what causes in everyday life inspire their lyrics, poems or compositions. I feel that a traditional popular music environment, like clubs, do NOT provide the artist with a proper platform for discussion about their music on a deeper level. I want to help young adults maintain purity with their instruments and never lose sight of the original inspirations that led them to play music. The focus is on the internal, not the external. The "Rock For A Cause" series has not only been a diverse and fulfilling musical experience for many, but it's also been a safe place for young adults of all races, religions and classes to come together and express themselves.
HWTS: Your next Rock For A Cause show is March 9th at the Acadia Theatre. How helpful has the Acadia been in making Rock For A Cause a reality?
Michel: Acadia has been great. A super DIY, put-on-the-show-yourself kind of place. When I was in high school, we used to rent out big halls, dance studios, churches and VFW's to put on our own rock shows. There is something super punk rock about that approach and Acadia is right in there. Ted is the owner/booking agent who lets me do all of this. We are completely free at Acadia and that's the way a good music show has to be!
Michel: I noticed America has an issue that's never addressed too much. I think the way most artists in America are perceived has always been a bit warped. If you’re a super rock star, you’re embraced by most. If you are in a symphony, you have immediate respect. If you are a music professor, no one questions your credentials. But, if you are anything in between, you're perceived as possibly penniless, out there and a bit of a slacker. I think every artist in America has the responsibility to educate the general public on what we really do. There are millions of artists in America who create great works and make a good living at it. These are the people we should know more about. The amount of hard work that an artist puts in to his or her craft behind the scenes is astronomical. I guess balancing out the fanaticism we have with commercial pop culture with something of depth is what we should strive for. Listen, I love a dose of Hollywood candy sometime like anybody, but I don't want that to be the barometer of what great art is.
Artist Info: Bill Mike
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