Metal Mike

He rips his guitar to shreds like Marilyn Manson does to a chicken. Boring pentatonic scales don't mean a thing to him. Standing next to Robbie Halford of Judas Priest, he is a dark angel among Gods of Metal. He is METAL MIKE!!!!

But back in the mid 90's, I knew him just as Mike, the soft spoken and oddly charming Polish guitar instructor at Sweetest Sounds in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. This man who now plays huge stadiums all across the world with the likes of Steve Vai and Ingwie Malmsteen was once teaching an eighth-grader how to play Bush's "Glycerin" on his dad's old Gibson.

It's hard to believe that someone like me, who tends toward a smoother, jazzier sound could have been taught by such a hard rocker. Yes, of course, I am a closet metal head, but when it comes to music production, I tend toward the softer. But that's him, Metal Mike, the man who taught me to play guitar.

Perhaps my best memory of Mike is the fictional band we created. It had some weirdo name like "The Country Batboy Family Band." That's because Mike and I were obsessed with "Batboy" from the "Weekly World News" tabloid, and we used to make songs about him in country style. We also played "The Addams Family" theme song a lot for some reason. Mike always did enjoy the darker side of life.

When I first saw Mike playing with rock legend, Robbie Halford, I couldn't believe it. But thinking back, he was a great guitar player, and a Northeastern European to boot. Now I can only hope one day, when I get my wikipedia page, there will be a little blurb in the trivia section: John learned to play guitar from Metal Mike of Halford.

Here's some vids of Mike:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L1a-F6rhRA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXhIc3rpUUg&feature=related

Mr. Big

On a side note, I saw "Mr. Big" perform in Kanazawa last night. It was awesome. Everyone in Japan says I have a voice like Eric Martin (or Egg Martin, which is what it sounds like when Japanese people say his name). I would be ecstatic if I was in my forties and could still hit the high notes on "To Be With You." Billy Sheehan and Paul Gilbert, the bass and guitar players, had an amazing chemistry, and performed a few really off the hook solo duets. They ended the show by all switching instruments and playing "Smoke on the Water." Awesome harmonies, great and unique solos involving two-necked guitars and multiple musicians playing one guitar at the same time, this show was definitely worth the money. Mr. Big... Who knew?