Mike Showalter je bubnjar koji je svirao sa mnogim bendovima, a zadnji s kojim svira je Any Given Sin. Razgovarali smo s njim o sadašnjem bendu, ali i o prošlim bendovima i razlogu njihovog prestanka rada.
MJM: Seeing as the list is high, let’s start from the beggining. Tell us something about your first band? How long were you active? Did you had any releases, tours etc.?
Mike: My first band, Havoc out of Washington, DC toured nationally throughout the United States for about 5 years. We had one release called “Father Jones”.
MJM: What was like playing with Havoc, during that time?
Mike: It was a great experience being in my 1st touring band and seeing all of the United States, meeting new people all over and playing in front of a large fan base. Some musicians consider this “Living The Dream”.
MJM: Why Havoc ended?
Mike: Havoc unfortunately came to an end after 5 years when each of us overtime parted ways for personal reasons.
MJM: After Havoc, you ended up playing in a band called ChemiKill. Tell us something about your time with them? Were you more satisfied, then when you were with Havoc?
Mike: It was a blast playing in Chemikill, new experience and once again got to tour the US. We eventually changed our name to CLICK.
MJM: What was the reason for the sudden name change?
Mike: The name changed came requested from our record label at the time. CLICK is actually doing a reunion show at Rams Head in Baltimore, Md. On March 4th, 2016. Can’t wait- It will be a great time!
MJM: You also played for a band called Scrub. How long did you played with them? Did they continued on after you left?
Mike: I played with SCRUB for 3 years. We were featured on MTV and toured Europe & The US for our album release, “Wake Up”- we made it to the TOP 20 charts in Europe.
MJM: Right now you are playing with a band called Any Given Sin. How did Sin came to be? How long are you active?
Mike: I am currently playing with Any Given Sin. Myself and guitar player, Mike Conner were formally in a band called SUISONIC that came to an end in 2005. Him and I then moved on and started Any Given Sin. Our members included myself on drums, Mike Conner-guitar, Rich –bass and Brian Mase-vocals. We had some changeover in between and brought in Erik O’dell on vocals in late 2012. We recorded and released our first EP titled “The Other Side” Any Given Sin played a wide range of places between Va, Dc and Md in support of this CD. In 2014, we went back into the studio to start writing and recording our latest EP “Forbidden”, Then in 2015 we had the opportunity of working with John Moyer of Disturbed who produced and co-wrote on Forbidden. Our EP is available on Itunes, Amazon and all other digital media outlets. This was a fun CD writing and working with John Moyerwho was a huge inspiration to me as far as incorporating me to be more aggressive in writing my drum parts for the album. He is a very cool guy and great to work with. Any Given Sin is currently seeking a vocalist due to unforeseen circumstances and are looking to be back out and at it in the summer of 2016! Current members include: Mike Conner- Guitar Mike Showalter- Drums Henry Lopez- Bass TBD- Vocals.
MJM: It was nice talking with you Mike. Cheers.
Written by Ivan Maršić
(croatian version)
MJM: Sudeći po tome da je lista velika, počet ćemo od početka. Reci nam nešto o svom prvom bendu? Koliko ste bili aktivni? Jeste li imali izdanja, turneje itd?
Mike: Moj prvi bend, Havoc iz Washington, DC je išao na turneju kroz Sjedinjene Države 5 godina. Imali smo jedno izdanje, “Father Jones”.
MJM: Kako je bilo svirati za Havoc?
Mike: Bilo je odlično iskustvo, ići na turneju sa bendom, posjećivati sva ta mjesta i upoznavajući nove ljude, svirajući pred velikim brojem fanova. Neki glazbenici za to kažu “Živjeti san”.
MJM: Zašto se Havoc raspao?
Mike: Nažalost, nakon 5 godina Havoc se raspao radi osobnih razloga.
MJM: Nakon Havoc, počeo si svirat u bendu pod imenom ChemiKill. Reci nam nešto o vremenu provedenom sa njima? Da li je bilo bolje nego kad si bio sa Havoc?
Mike: Bilo je odlično, nešto novo i lijepo je bilo opet ići na turneju. Nakon nekog vremena smo promijenili ime u CLICK.
MJM: Koji je razlog promjeni imena?
Mike: Promjenu imena je zatražila diskografska kuća. CLICK radi reunion show u klubu Rams Head kod Baltimore, Md. 4. ožujka, 2016. Jedva čekam, bit će odlično.
MJM: Također, svirao si u bendu zvan Scrub. Koliko dugo ste svirali za njih? Jesu li nastavili dalje, nakon što si otišao?
Mike: Svirao sam za Scrub 3 godine. Bili smo na MTV-u i bili smo na turneju u SAD-u i Europi, nakon što smo izdali album, “Wake Up”. Završili smo na Top 20 album chart u Europi.
MJM: Trenutno sad, svirate za bend pod imenom Any Given Sin. Kako je nastao bend? Koliko dugo ste aktivni?
Mike: Trenutno sviram za Any Given Sin. Ja i gitarist, Mike Conner smo bili zajedno u bendu, Suisonic, koji se raspao 2005. Ja i on smo nastavljali i formirali Any Given Sin. Ja sam na bubnjevima, Mike je gitarist, Rich je bassist, a Brian Masse je bio vokal. Imali smo promjene dosta i 2012. smo na vokale doveli, Erik O’dell. Snimili smo i izdali naš prvi EP “The Other Side” i svirali smo na raznim mjestima tijekom promocije albuma. 2014. vratili smo se u studio i snimili naš najnoviji EP “Forbidden”.
Onda, u 2015., smo imali priliku raditi sa John Moyerom iz Disturbed, koji je producirao “Forbidden”. EP je dostupan na iTunes, Amazon i svim drugim digitalnim formatima. Bilo je zabavno snimati ovaj CD, a Moyer me inspirrirao da budem aggresivniji u pisanju svojih dionica na albumu. Zabavan je čovjek i bilo je super raditi sa njim. Trenutno sad, Any Given Sin traži novog vokala zbog nepredviđenih okolnosti, za daljnji rad u 2016. godini. Trenutna postava: Mike Conner-gitara, Mike Showalter- bubanj, Henry Lopez-bassist, TBD-vokal.
MJM: Bilo je lijepo pričati s tobom, Mike. Pozdrav.
Bend trenutno traži vokala, pa ako se želite okušati slobodno se javit.
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Razgovarao i preveo: Ivan Maršić
