Mike Michalkow Biography
Mike Michalkow is a popular drummer and has been enthralling the music lovers for the past 19 years. He has been continuously recording and performing. Mike Michalkow has rubbed shoulders with the well-known artists in the music industry. Mike Michalkow is from Winnipeg, MB Canada. Mike took up playing drums at the age of 17 under the guidance of Mitch Dorge. Mike was a quick learner and experienced success much earlier than his counterparts.
Mike initially played rock, punk, blues and pop music. However, he learnt quite a lot when he heard great drummers like Steve Gadd, Alex Acuna, Bill Bruford, Terry Bozzio, Dave Weckl and Neil Peart. He improved his techniques and realized his own potentials. Mike took drumming seriously only after his first album Jack Dejohnette. Later he was granted admission in the MacEwan College in Edmonton, Alberta. He mastered in Latin and Jazz and stood first in his class.
In the summer of 1993, Mike spent most of his time in New York City and engaged himself in private lessons on the conga and the drum set at the “Drummers Collective”. He spent most of his evenings at the local jazz outlets, listening to his favorite artists play. Some of his favorite artists included Marvin “Smitty”, Tony Williams, Max Roach, Smith and others.
Mike graduated in the year 1994 and went back to Vancouver, Canada to start a career in music. For few years he played with different cover and original bands, until he decided to change. In the year 1997, he became a member of a popular cruise line and played as an orchestra drummer. After his first performance with the cruise line he was more geared up to improve and do better as a drummer. He soon started taking lessons from Jim Chapin, Peter Magadini, Virgil Donati, John Fisher and Dom Famularo. It was after this that he realized that music was not only his source of money, but also his way of life. He was completely engrossed in music and developed a great passion for drumming.
Mike Michalkow’s love for drums and his amazing performances earned him a name in the industry and he succeeded in having a huge fan following. Since the year 2000, Mike has been conducting “National Guitar Workshop” every summer. Mike is not only a good performer but also an excellent teacher. He has come up with numerous instructional DVDs and also conducts private classes. He spends most of his time recording in the studios with the scriptwriters and bands. He has been recording for various styles of music like jazz, Latin, Rock, Folk, Pop, Blues, Country, Metal and R&B.
When he is back in his hometown, he mostly spends time recording and performing with Symphony in Demeanor. He has worked as a freelancer with The Wholly Cats, The Town Pants, Tambura Rasa and R30-Rush Tribute. The first album of Symphony in Demeanor was realized in the fall of 2005. This album won the Best Album Award, with more than 15000 fans voting for the IOMA online music award.
On the invitation from Yamaha Drums, he played at the Vancouver International Drum Festival in October 2001 and has been performing every year. He has shared the stage with great artists like Kirk Covington, Robby Ameen, Dom Famularo, Chad Smith, Virgil Donati, John “JR” Robinson, Cindy Blackman, Matt Frenette and Mitch Dorge.
He has been playing and endorsing Yamaha Drums, LP Percussion, Vic Firth drum sticks, Sabian cymbals and Hansenfutz practice pedals. He also works as a clinician for Yamaha Drums on the Full Acoustic and Electronic Line. Mike has also released his solo album named ‘To The Extreme”.
In the month of June 2006 Mike came up with his first instructional CD along with Jared Falk named "Moeller Method Secrets” which was released worldwide by Railroad Media Inc. - Jared Falk’s company. He later came up with two other training packs which included Books, DVDs and a Play along CD. With the help of Railroad Media Inc., Mike came up with “The Jazz Drumming System” and “The Latin Drumming System”. The CD featured master guitarist Jody Fisher, Tilden Webb the pianist and Baba Elefante on the bass. He had also come up with a book called “Building A Foundation For The Modern Drummer’.
Time and again Mike Michalkow has proved his efficiency in performing and as always been an active teacher. He has motivated number of people to take up drumming. Mike’s passion for music and drums makes him very popular and adored by thousands of fans.