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The first sounds of Micheal Fordays
were played through a Fender amplifier
in a garage in Southern California.
Micheal's stepfather owned a big hollow
body Gibson jazz guitar and would sit
in the kitchen and play jazz standards
through a throaty Fender amp. The
sight of fingers freely pulling strings
of notes out into the open air was
magic to a child. It wasn't long
before Micheal realized his first "C
chord" and composed his first song
through the speakers of his father's
amp.
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Micheal took weekly lessons from a
working rock musician that introduced
him to the nuts and bolts of rock
guitar and gave him a peak at the
lifestyle of a touring guitarist. His
teacher pointed him in the direction of
The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Jimi
Hendrix and other artists while pushing
him to create his own interpretations
and variations. It was under this
influence that he sought out new
players to study and began to write
songs.
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He formed a band that performed for all
the neighborhood kids and experimented
with recording on a two-track reel to
reel tape machine. Micheal learned
from every person that played an
instrument and would trade information
on playing as well as tips and tricks
on the latest equipment. A quick ear
for melodies and solos bought him the
spot of lead guitarist for a popular
local band.
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Now shoulder to shoulder with older
players, with a fake ID and quick
knowledge of rock guitar, Micheal had
his ticket to a new adventure.
Backyard parties,
school
- concerts,
small clubs and underground late night
sessions were the venues to work out
the strums and jabs of his solid body
electric guitar. A chance session at
a 24-track studio sealed his focus.
Rock and roll came
calling.
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In order to feed the ravenous quest for
new chords and scales, Micheal went
through a succession of teachers both
formal and otherwise. He would pick up
information from other guitarists, amp
repairmen, soundmen, and really any
- person
that worked in and around rock and
roll.
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It was a ponytailed jazz guitar teacher
that turned Micheal onto the Sex
Pistols and Miles Davis. Drawn to the
sophistication of horn players, (Miles
Davis, John Coltrane Eric
Dolphy….) and the free spirit
"anyone can do it" idealism of punk
music, Micheal found himself at the
dawn of his own musical identity.
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Micheal graduated high school and began
to look ahead to the future. He
entered college through the jazz music
program learning music theory and jazz
improvisation but left for a more
focused curriculum at a music
conservatory
- called
the 'Musicians Institute" in Hollywood
CA.
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He formed a band with like minded
players and began performing around the
Los Angeles club scene as "Mind Over
Four". The name was chosen to reflect
the inclusion of all styles and
opinions that existed within each
individual artist. The four-piece band
with four separate inputs would be
harmonized as the "Mind". The idea was
to defer any ego from an individual
artist to the more important final
- resulting
music.
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Micheal pressed the band to record and
document their musical sojourns. "Mind
Over" Four released five
internationally distributed albums.
The first record was recorded in a
private garage studio on an eight-track
tape machine.
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Micheal worked part time at a recording
studio that boasted four vinyl
stampers. (A hydraulic machine that
pressed hot melted vinyl over metal
"stampers" producing a 12" vinyl disk
called an LP record.) Micheal traded
his labor on these machines to press up
several hundred "Mind Over Four" LP's.
The first record was called "Desperate
Expression". It had ten tracks of
original songs and its instrumentation
was drums, bass, guitar and vocals.
The cover was silk-screened over
promotional record jackets that Micheal
and his band mates retrieved from the
dumpster behind his day job at a local
record store. The effect of
silk-screening each cover over existing
art made each cover unique. What ever
would show through from the previous
design would color the simple lettering
under the otherwise gray or black
background. Although never backed by a
corporate sponsor, this album has made
its way to the famous New York, Bowery
record shop "Bleecker Bob's" on Bleeker
Street and has commanded a $50. price
tag for its unique and obscure nature.
The first record also received airplay
on the underground Los Angeles radio
station "KROQ" on the "Rodney on the
ROQ" show.
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"Mind over Four" recorded five
additional records for TripleX Records,
the Virgin subsidiary Caroline Records,
Destiny Records (West Germany),
Restless Records and the MCA subsidiary
Fierce Records. In support of these
records Micheal and his band played
clubs and theaters throughout the
United States, Canada and Europe.
Micheal and his band would pack
themselves into a van with all of their
gear and drive from state to state,
usually hitting 30 to 40 cities in as
many days. In every town the band
would hit the nearest college radio
station and the local record store to
market the record they were promoting.
On the first European tour the band
lived in squats or slept in their van
to defer the cost of hotels. The band
played every show they could get from
CBGB's in Manhattan to a castle in
Austria. After several tours and
60,000 records sold the group disbanded
and Micheal moved on.
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One of "Mind Over Four's" sound
technicians who had become successful
in his own right told his new clients,
the German industrial band "KMFDM" that
they needed to hire Micheal for their
upcoming tour. The Germans had decided
to expand their sound to include
another guitarist and Micheal was the
perfect fit.
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The choice live performing guitarist
for the next four U.S. tours and next
two European tours Micheal can be
spotted in the promotional video for
"Juke Joint Jezebel" and is the lean
stage right guitarist in the tour
documentary "Beat by
Beat".
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After leaving "KMFDM" Micheal began to
focus on his own style of writing and
began to appear as a solo artist. He
moved to Austin, Texas in search of a
muse where he worked in such clubs as
the famous blues club "Antones". He
recorded one record with a Texas
industrial band called "Bamboo
Crisis".
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A year later Micheal returned to the
palm trees of California, and met Pop
crooner "Joan Jones". Joan's previous
band "Sun60" had released three albums
on "Epic" and she was just venturing
out as a solo artist. Joan's amazing
vocal ability and her original haunting
melodies and lyrics had an impact on
Micheal. He auditioned for her band
and soon joined her on several U.S.
promotional tours for her new record as
well as touring with "Seal","Ziggy
Marley","Cheap Trick" and "Lillith
Fair's". The meeting of such a
like-minded artist proved fruitful for
both musicians.
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Joan and Micheal collaborated on
several songs and continue to write
together. They wrote and recorded the
soundtrack for an Internet cartoon
called "The Prom
- Queens"
and are currently involved in scoring
an educational film for a group of
young Los Angeles film makers.
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Micheal recorded his first solo record
by refining what he had learned from
all his previous studio recordings. He
took extra care to trim each song into
a new soulful and edgy style of
songwriting. He wrote songs about
living and loving, traveling and
reunion, and colored them in shimmering
angular textures. Each song reflects a
real experience that has transpired on
his journeys. Micheal joined by
members of Seal's band performed eight
tracks which comprise the self titled
CD.
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While living in Hollywood, Micheal
ventured out with his new band and
began playing in and around the live
music scene that the city had to offer.
Again pulling from past experience and
looking for a new and better way,
Micheal experimented with promoting his
own night of original music. He took
some of the artists he met on the
stages and in the audiences and began a
series of Los Angeles songwriter
showcases called "MusicFordays". The
formula was successful and soon
"MusicFordays" was the place to see the
newest fresh music in an honest,
- original,
artist driven setting.
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Micheal is currently working on a new
CD.
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