Music
Since he was 15, Michael has been creating music. From making 'daft tapes' for his schoolmates, featuring popular hits of the day repurposed into skits about his teachers, he has graduated to writing, recording and producing music professionally. Today he records in his own studio running Logic Pro with Waves plug-ins on a Mac Studio M2 with Focusrite soundboard. However, Michael's recording facilities were not always of such an industry standard. He has recorded in countless bedsits, scout huts, and even a garden shed, though the latter was a very well-equipped shed.
At present Michael is involved in 2 projects which are covered on the Upcoming page. Following the Indie chart-topping success of the Vivian Stanshall albums, which Michael produced with Andy Frizell, he also continues to work on the ongoing Vivian Stanshall/Bonzos projects for Madfish Music. Here is a selection of music Michael has recorded and produced videos for.
A Musical History
Magic Faction (1991)
An 18 year-old Michael and guitarist Tony Riley work on that 'difficult' first song.
Ferris Wheel (1993)
The Indie boom of the 90s certainly hit Michael hard. The band lasted about 18 months and was his first experience of touring and recording in a professional studio.
ÜRM (1995)
When Michael got himself an ex-Gas board van it was straight to the open road. ÛRM was very much a product of those Free Festival/Rave days. ÜRM's music was very heavily dance-orientated. As there were no vocals, Michael took care of keyboards, tape loops, sequencing and programming. The name was arrived at by the response from band members, Pe and Lee, whenever they were asked what the band was called...
Rodney Slater's Parrots (2017)
After a break from 'being in bands' to follow other projects, Michael accepted 'Lord Rodney's invitation' to form a band. RSP did a small tour of the country and recorded one album before Covid put the project on ice.
Saluting Magpies (2024)
The latest project with Andy Frizell, an artist Michael has long admired from his 'Wizards of Twiddly' heyday and The Muffin Men drummer extraordinaire Tilo Pirnbaum. The aim is to produce 'solid' pop songs.