Local Minneapolis rockers The Bill Mike Band are releasing their new album, Truce (Drawfire Records) on November 14th with a CD Release Party at Cedar Cultural Center with Hummingbird, Ill Chemistry, Gary Wayrans (Jelloslave) and The Family Unit Juggling Troop.
Here’s a track off the new album:
The Bill Mike Band : “Make Peace” (mp3)
This week we had the opportunity to chat with group leader Bill Mike about the album, working on your inner Wolf Blitzer and Friday’s CD Release show…
Who is the Bill Mike Band?
William Michel (guitars,vocals,guitar pedals)
Chris Morrissey (bass)
Steve Goold (drums)
What do you guys get out of this group compared to your session gigs?
We get a chance to play in a high energy exploratory hard rock band that dabbles in improvisation. We also get a chance to play for a lot of cool teenagers. Our fans are younger and we’ve cultivated an audience through music education and music curation. I host a periodic teen music series called “Rock For A Cause.”
There are no musical rules in BMB other than to push ourselves to our musical limit every show and every recording. I know that sounds dramatic but it’s true. We’re fucking exhausted after one of our shows but we get off on that. Personally it’s my church and workout room at the same time.Chris and Steve have a musical history together since high school so it’s fun for them to reconnect and create a bad ass rhythm section.
I read your band is made up of both liberal and conservative viewpoints. Is that the reason your new sophomore album is called “Truce”?
Partially. I’m originally from Ohio and grew up in a highly Christian/Republican part of the world.Through my living experiences in Los Angeles and Minneapolis, I’ve refined my political and spiritual belief/value systems and they swing to the blue states. I wrote the lyrics to Truce as a way to help folks navigate through the pain,anger, and frustration of living in a divided nation no matter what belief system you may have. It’s an idealistic manifesto in a way to help people cross the divide and actually learn about the people they think they disagree with. I spent the last 3 years talking,writing,and listening to Americans who have more conservative views of the world. This process/ life class is still really challenging, but that’s the point.It’s going to be. We Americans have the freedom to side and hide with people we agree with politically and spiritually. It’s very easy for me to watch ” The Daily Show” and feel good about my politics, but in order for real progress and a less venomous America, we have to have civil conversation with our adversaries. I’m not saying it’s always going to work, but the effort has to be put in. The harder route will yield a deeper understanding and deeper growth. So in my immediate life I have a band and a family composed of conservative evangelical christians and die hard liberals. That’s where I started this new journey and that’s where I’m still working. I was just tired of being enraged all the time when it came to politics.I was exhausted and I knew music was the great vehicle to channel my thoughts and emotions in a constructive way.
Now that Obama was elected President, will you have to quit the group?
HAHA. No it’s cool. After rehearsals we usually hit The Muddy Pig in Saint Paul and talk politics and music. Everyone in this band is working on their inner Wolf Blitzer. We disagree with each other at times about life issues, but our music ideals are very similar and that’s the glue. Each person in BMB is a good guy so there’s tons of respect. We try to be open communicators even when it’s rough. Obama will proove he’s a reasonable approachable man who’s very methodical. He’s stable and a seasoned soul.
Truce! Tell me about the new album.
Well I know you don’t know me Greg but I’m a humble dude, but I think Truce is one of the most progressive rock records ever made in Minnesota. It’s tough,grooving,raw,fragile,experimental,thoughtful, multicultural, and memorable. It took three long years, went through 5-8 remixes per song, 2 additional songs were recorded mixed then axed. We had the pleasure of receiving a recording grant through Fur Seal Records and The Jonathan Grove Foundation. Joe Johnson our engineer helped us get the recording grant and we lucked out and got it. That was a blessing. We went over our grant budget in the end but all three of us wanted this record to be an A-squad recording so we kept on recording and mixing until the mission was complete. It was worth all of the extra work, sacrifice,and money.
Tell me about the track “Make Peace,” which you can download right here.
I’m really into banjo style finger picking and always wanted to write a hard rock riff based on bluegrass music.I dabble in a lot of old guitar pedals and sounds but I write all my tunes on an old classical guitar that my sister played in 1976. Outside of the experimental rock scene and improv scene I love playing American Roots music. The original melody inspired a rock song compiled of many layers, twists and turns.It grooves n growls and has many musical movements. Chris and Steve added amazing parts to complete it and make sound very orchestral. The lyrics are multi- tiered. Thanks again Greg for letting me talk about this stuff. I really appreciate these questions. There have been many peace songs in our rock n roll history and i was hesitant to write a literal tune about this subject. But man all of us have felt heavy in the last few years so I wanted to give it a shot in an honest way. I got to this point of acceptance in 2007 that war and man go together. We’ve always had war and may always will. These thoughts were making me sick and sad for a prolonged period of time. I had to write a song to deal with the strange realization that just a handful of male sociopaths have ruined millions of innocent lives through their individual fueds with other sociopaths.That fact just floors me and confuses my brain to know end.But, here I am in America, relatively wealthy compared to the rest of the world. I’m a working class musician but I still have the luxury and freedom to escape the world’s ills at any given moment. Not only do I have the luxury not to participate in politics or religion if I don’t want to, but through modern technology I can actually escape global reality at any given moment.Very few people in America have witnessed true life threatening violence and if they did they would probably want to reconsider their pro war pro retaliation statements. We’re a huge land mass with many modern amenities and in turn,Americans can create little bubble or microcosms of synthetic reality.Isolation is totally possible. I feel that i was doing that in my life and wanted to shed that part of me. I wanted to be connected to my progressive Minneapolis community that was directly around me and contribute to it. I wanted to get rid of my intrusive thoughts about man and war and step out of my comfort zone.
MAKE PEACE
make peace make peace
two words we’re advised
make peace make peace
but massive wills collide
make peace make peace
conditions are to follow
make peace make peace
reverse this passive powermake peace make peace
when godly laws lose power
make peace make peace
when human error transpires
make peace make peace
history shows our trauma
make peace make peace
the risk is always higherMake peace and watch the blood dissolve
Tell me about your upcoming CD Release gig.
It’s going to be like an old school Lollapolluza show. I’m going to have a juggling troop perform (Family Unit Juggling Troop), and a Indian tabla player (Gary Waryan) will be performing for people in the lobby of the Cedar,Hummingbird will be performing. They are a great acoustic instrumental trio.These guys play in other bands like Tapes n Tapes, Last of The Dinosaurs, and Lucy Michelle. Desdamona and MC Carnage will be doing a medley with BMB. I will also have my senior guitar students on stage with us on a tune called ” Secure.” That will be a wall of guitars, basses, and umph. Our little youth rock orchestra.The Draw Fire records crew will be there in full force as well!
Anything else?
Thanks for letting me talk. It’s an honor and privilege to be able to talk about ones art in this way. Very cool. I’d give BMB a shot live. I’m proud of this band. We’ve been nestled in the rock underground but have cultivated a great diverse group of fans who are amazing talented people as well. I think we’re one of the few bands in Minnesota that can play for any music audience imaginable and come out alive, unscathed. and appreciated. We’re not a hyped band and by choice we try to continually take risks to evolve and grow as musicians and as a band.We’re about the listener,community, and the power of music to transform lives. We value entertainment and aren’t total stiffs but the songs and where they can take us matters most to us right now.
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