ILLUMINATING DRINK: Mark Mikel update october 2009

Friday, 30 October 2009

Mark Mikel update october 2009

Mark Mikel "So what's been going on you may ask?

I've purchased a brand new Mellotron from Sweden and it's taking forever to get it. I ordered it in May. I've been basically obsessed with the excitement of its arrival. But it keeps getting delayed for various reasons. Markus Resch (the only man in the world I know of who still builds these things) has had me first in line in his latest production run of 20 machines. Behind me is the Smashing Pumpkins and Wilco among others.We're planning on using it heavily on the Tabner album and the songs I've been writing and recording with Scott Hunt. Both of those projects are coming along nicely. ST's got about 10 tracks in production right now. I think his album is going to be amazingly cool. Still lots of work to do, so I wouldn't expect to see a release of this until late 2010.The Hunter and I have 21 and we're shooting for 30 before we release anything. We intend to release a CD with 10-12 tracks in early 2010 and we are determined to have a huge lot to choose from. Scott Hunt (for those who may not know already) writes, sings and plays many instruments. All of our songs are written together and between us we overdub most of the parts pretty equally. Like Pillbugs tracks, the songs vary in sound and mood. Some very psychedelic songs along with straight-up pop, rock, r&b and experimental schtuff. Other musicians who have contributed so far include Tabner (guitar), Chalmers (drums), Jerry Glesmer (Flute/Sax), Chris Shutters (guitar/flute) and Ev Harris (drums).But that's mainly what I've been involved with. Thank you all!"

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: Great to hear that there is plenty of new stuff to hear soon! Thanks for the update!!; 4 November 2009 at 05:36

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Welcome to the multicoloured world of The Pillbugs

Official Bio. The origin of The Pillbugs can be traced back to January of 1991. That's when Mark Kelley first called Mark Mikel up and asked him to form a new band. Kelley brought in drummer Dan Chalmers and Mikel brought in vocalist Dave Murnen and a guitarist who would eventually be replaced 4 times until they found the perfect fit with Scott Tabner (a mutual friend of Kelley and Mikel's).
They became The Mark Mikel Hallucination and started performing shows around Toledo. In 1996 after a respectable amount of local recognition and radio airplay, Mikel wanted to create a new identity for the group. "They deserved to be seen as equals and not just my backing band," Mikel said, "I came up with the idea of The Pillbugs and that we'd go WAY deeper into psychedelia. We released our first album on CD in 1998 on our own label (Omniphonic). I believe it was the first debut release to contain a double CD's worth of new and never-before-released music. Until someone proves me wrong - that's what I believe. The point is we wanted to make something people had to notice." This first release took off very slowly but eventually (with the help of the internet) became a somewhat sought after CD.
The second Pillbugs CD "The 3-Dimensional In-Popcycle Dream" (originally another double set) was completed in early 2001. With no real money to put behind it, it sat on the shelf until 2003 until later when they signed with indie label (Proverus). "Proverus had us strip down the album to 1 CD (a brilliant move actually) and then we inserted a 3D Viewmaster reel to make it really crazy," Mikel reveals.
That album was released during the summer of 2003. Proverus helped the group get a lot of notoriety (especially on the web) and also helped to book and manage gigs. 3D sold out of the first run in a matter of 2 months (most of them going to Japan). That was successful enough for Proverus to want a follow-up. The next summer they released their 3rd CD "Happy Birthday" though dark times were looming.
Mark Kelley had been diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer in 1999. By the time "Happy Birthday" was released in August of 2004, Kelley had lost his voice completely and could hardly stand on his own two legs.
Knowing their wasn't much time left, the 5 friends took to recording one last album together. "Buzz for Aldrin" sessions began in Sept. 2004, just as Mark Kelley took another down turn and was admitted to the hospital. Recording continued with The Pillbugs not knowing if Kelley would ever return.
He eventually did return and was able to contribute the bass guitar to most of the album from his wheelchair- with a permanent breathing machine surgically attached to his throat. Then the studio recording equipment broke down and it was in repair for over seven months. "By the time the guy got around to fixing it," adds Mikel, "Mark Kelley was past the point of being able to record with us. It took me a long time to get back into the groove and finish the album."
"But we eventually finished it though the recording sessions seemed jinxed from start to finish."
To provide the right grandeur for the release, The Pillbugs employed renowned California artist Mark Roland* to supply the CD art.
The new Pillbugs double disc set "Buzz for Aldrin" was released by Proverus on June 19, 2007.
The Pillbugs signed with Rainbow Quartz and their first CD with RQ, "Monclovia" was released on Oct. 30, 2007.
Everybody Wants A Way Out their second rainbow Quartz album was released Nov. 10th, 2008.
In March 2011 Mark formed two new combos, The Mark Mikel Band and Dark Ocean Colors with Scott Hunt, with two albums by the latter coming soon on Rainbow Quartz

*Mark Roland is indeed a very talented artist look here for a few more examples of his art
http://www.orycon.org/orycon26/markroland.html

update...and his new website is here
The Art Of Mark Roland
http://www.rolandscapes.com/

Friday, 30 October 2009

Mark Mikel update october 2009

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Welcome to the multicoloured world of The Pillbugs

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