"It all started with a 4 track and bad radio..." At least that is what Mikeal will say when asked why he started making music. The truth is, his interest in playing music started as a child where his curiosity got the best of him. You see, his parents had a box under their bed. This box contained an array of simple percussion instruments. Mikeal would go to this box periodically, pull it out... and play. Throughout his life, this curiosity would not be quelled. When he took piano lessons as a child (by the way, piano is the ONLY instrument he has any technical training on), his sister was taking guitar. Not completely satisfied by his piano lessons, he found himself going into his sister's room to play her guitar. Mikeal only took piano lessons for about six months. All of his learning is not based on sight or reading the score of a song, but simply by memory... by what he hears. When asked what inspires his writing, Mikeal says, "My life... I mean how else can you put that as an artist. What other bullshit answer can I give you as an artist. To me, the way that I write... it's as though I'm listening to a radio that doesn't exist and I'm doing my best to take dictation. I pride myself in my ability, but I can't take credit for anything that I have done."

As far as what instruments he plays, he will play whatever it is he NEEDS to get out whatever is in his head. Much the way a mechanic uses his tools, Mikeal uses instruments. It is whatever tool/instrument is needed to get the job done. The guitar in which he composes with or performs with is what one might call "Frankenstein's" guitar. He has modified this guitar to work more functionally for him. As he put it, "This guitar was made for breakin." And that's just what he did... For instance, the pickup on "the monster" was taken from the guitar his sister had that was purchased at a Toys 'R' Us. Whatever works... right? There is no volume knob, it is an on/off switch. Apparently the switch is just easier, so says Mikeal. Let's see... the faceplate has been removed completely because it had been put on, taken off and messed with so much. The faceplate now rests in a bag. Other than that, "the monster" has been hair sprayed and set on fire and colored with a Sharpie marker. Whew, it's been through a lot, just like its Master.

Prophet 7;13 at one point had a performing band. It formed at a time where Mikeal says he lost his mind and left his body after having True Love ripped from him like a very important limb. That landed him in Arizona where he found a job at a used bookstore by the name of Bookman's. At that time he was promoting his first CD "REvolution." He found "interesting people who were interested in learning to play instruments for a performing band." The band members were: Seth - Guitar, Aaron - First guitarist (didn't move to CA), Kevin - Keyboards, Wheelz - provided connections and stories to tell, Felix - Drummer (lived in CA, but far away from the band), Brenda - Bass (for only the last few shows), and last but certainly not least, Mikeal - the Singer. Their first show was at the Christmas party for Bookman's where Mikeal wore a dress and got punched in the face by Kevin. The performing band fell apart after moving to Palmdale, CA. There they all (except the drummer) lived in a shitty one bedroom apartment. None of them were motivated enough to book shows and the one that may have been motivated enough didn't even live with them. According to Mikeal, the drummer was just never part of the band. One by one it seemed everyone wanted to get back to their lives instead of trying to do their part, including Mikeal. Some of Mikeal's thoughts on the performing band situation... "When people don't want to screw each other over to get on top, they don't do much FOR each other either. I still consider most of the people from the performing band like family and some of my best friends." I asked him how he would do it differently with a future Prophet 7;13 performing band and his answer was as follows, "There's no possible way I could repeat that situation, nor would I want to... so differently is how it will be... a band is like any relationship, and there is no way to know it'll work. I'll just keep trying to better myself and hopefully it'll just fall into place, I suppose. Maybe I'll find a bunch of shady jerks that want to screw me over next time."

While in Palmdale with his performing band, Mikeal started feeling fatigued all the time and only wrote a couple of songs. One was "Business" and the other was a song for a collaboration with his friend Ben. The song is called "Once a Fire" and the project is called The Deep Water Rebellion (once referred to as Meridian). Ben wrote all of the lyrics and Mikeal did the music. (I'll go into that in more detail later.) This fatigue Mikeal speaks of is something that lasted a few years and is reoccurring to this day. He says, "Music lives in my experience... There never is a break from that. It seems the sicker I am, the better the music I write or vice versa or whatever that means." In difficult times, music helps Mikeal push through it all. "When I am in a dark place, I don't write dark music. Most of the time I end up writing songs like 'Program v.3' which I wrote in less than a day from beginning to end." Mikeal said that song came at a time when he was informed, from a state away, that his girlfriend at the time, Crazy Sara, decided he was no longer going to be her boyfriend. Mikeal tells me, "That's a story for another time."

As far as The Deep Water Rebellion is concerned, "Once a Fire" was the first thing Mikeal wrote in Palmdale at the beginning of his fatigue. He wrote the music in one night. Not only was he having fatigue, but insomnia was plaguing him as well. He was living with Brenda at the time and would stay up playing the violin. The rest of the music for The Deep Water Rebellion was written at the height of Mikeal's fatigue. It was done in a rush because Ben thought he was going to be moving to Tucson, AZ. So, Mikeal wrote and recorded two songs a week until it was finished. "Not an easy task when in total pain and waking up is hard to do," he recalls. It gave him a sense of pride during a time that he felt he was withering away.

There are many sides to Mikeal as an artist. And I quote, "If I want to get poetic... I'm always writing and I'm always performing. There is nothing that I do that isn't of or for my art." When he was performing with his band, he said he planned to make an ass of himself in order to prepare for going on stage. He said it's always an amazing experience and it typically turned out better than he thought it would, especially for him. His feelings on performing... "I Love it! It is the complete other side of who I am when I record. Maybe I'm letting the light out instead of the dark... not that anyone watching would see it that way though." In all of the processes that go along with creating his music, Mikeal says his favorite part is "The feeling of being completely alone enough to open up the cage of bodily intent and let free the demon who has become my friend. There is a special relationship I have with all these little parts that make me up. But the little dark shoulder monkey that tells me what to do is certainly one that helps me feel that I'm actually accomplishing something with my life. But, as a life philosophy in terms of self restraint and control, I know when to put my little friend away because I am aware of the repercussions of living outside of my cave with a demon on my shoulder. (Am I serious?) Yes. I'm a fucking artist."

Mikeal's musical influences are Loreena McKennitt, Faith No More, NIN, KoRn, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Beethoven and Mozart - to name a few. " I love good music! I love people that have the ability to influence a lot of people. I listen to anything that the people I like enjoy. I like very good music and I like very bad music... If it is somewhere in between, I usually don't like it." As far as trying to classify his style of music he describes it as "an experiment in pop"... then he adds, "I don't know... what do you think?"

Written/loosely interpreted by: Shawna Cushway
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