Mike was born on February 11, 1977 in Agoura CA.

Mike practiced playing piano for 10 years and currently plays guitar and decks. He was inspired to become a musician after his first concert experience which was Anthrax and Public Enemy. In high school he began rapping along to the beats of Run DMC, Eric B and Rakim, Grandmaster Flash, and LL Cool J. He soon began writing his own lyrics to perform in front of his friends at school. Mike & middle school friend/bandmate Brad Delson formed the band Xero in 1996.

After high school Mike attended the Pasadena Art College of Design where he majored in Illustration but also studied graphic design. (Mike had to finish his finals the same weeks the band had 6 showcases for 6 different record labels! Ouch.) Upon graduating college Mike had landed a job as a graphic designer. He designed artwork for Styles of Beyond's 2000 fold CD as well as the famous LP street soldier logo and the Hybrid Theory CD cover.

Mike's greatest influences were The Roots, Nine Inch Nails and the Deftones. Mike has also started his own record label, which he has signed SoCal band Simplistic to.

Specialty: MC and Rapping

Instrument:
Vocals, Beats + Samples, Keyboards, Guitar

Gear:
(on stage)
Audio Technica Wireless Mic
Ibanez guitars
Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier heads
Mesa Boogie cabinets

(studio)
Digidesign Protools software & hardware
Anteres software
Waves software
Emagic hardware
Korg Triton keyboards
Roland keyboard modules
Baldwin pianos

Quote:
“Writing songs and sharing them with people is a very rewarding experience. Many thanks to all our fans who support our albums and concerts.”

Random info

*Birthday:Febuary 11, 1977

*Mike likes Tool

*Mike from Agoura, Ca lives in La now

*Mike is half Japanese

*Mike went to Agoura high school

*mike graduated from the pasadena Art College of design

*Mike met Brad in 7th Grade

*Mike has a wife named anna they were married in May 2003

*Mike's a big fan of Dido. He also likes a ton of female groups from Kittie to Madonna to SneakerPimps

* Mike wears contacts.

* Mike says the hardest part of being in the studio for 2 months was being with Brad because he didn't shower much then, although he showers less now,

* Mike goes crazy when he speaks in the third person.

* Mikes says dark blue is his natural hair colour, the light blue was just a phase

* Mike says Gizmo the Mogwai and Spike the Gremlin are the cartoon characters that represent him best because every time he's not on stage he's Gizmo, he's a silly little shit, than he gets on stage and he's not anymore

Mike says the hardest part of being in the studio for 2 months was being with Brad because he didn't shower much then, although he showers less now,

* Mike took classical piano lessons for 10 years. He got sick of playing classical music though and moved into jazz then hip hop