Brunch With Boris | Episode 1 | Mike Smith

Brunch With Boris:

Episode 1 – Mike Smith

What bands/groups are you associated with?

Mike Smith: For the longest time I’ve been collaborating with my friend, Doey Joey, who is a DJ from Connecticut. We have collaborated together a few times so far and some songs that are already available on Spotify.

VB: Oh yeah! You sent that to me. Super funky!

MS: It’s definitely fun…ky. 

VB: You guys put the “fun” in “funky”.

MS: Thank you! We met at Goosefest 2019, discussed making a band, and started working on material right as quarantine began. Joey then brought in Ryan and Paul from Mushroom Cloud(another funky, jam band). We tried the whole DJ + full band set up like DJ Logic but after a while it was hard to get everyone in the same place at the same time. Joey hit me up and asked if I’d be interested in just doing a duo set. 

VB: That’s groovy.

MS: Thank you! But to get back to your original question…so I play with Joey Doey, Mike Smith Group, and occasionally Pandamonium.

VB: Mike Smith Group is the big show on March 12th, right?

MS: Yes! We will be playing our new album, Big Sound, in full. We will also be playing some additional material.

VB: I might show up in a college football mascot costume.

MS: Nah. Dress like Dr. John in his prime. For me.

VB: For you? Of course. 

MS: Thank you.

Biggest Influence As a Guitarist, a Songwriter, and Carpenter

MS: (under his breath) Jeez

VB: Was it Karen Carpenter? 

MS: Karen Carpenter was a badass drummer, dude!

VB: No argument there. Just wanted to make sure you didn’t want to change your answer to John Carpenter.

MS: I’ll stick with Karen. No offense to John. Just not a horror guy. Karen Carpenter is the reason I became a carpenter.

VB: I know. Haha. You should still listen to his music though!

MS: I can’t say I’ve heard it but I will give it a try! As for songwriting, I was raised on the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers, and The Band. When it comes to guitar, I was trained as a blues guitarist and my biggest influences for guitar would be Jerry Garcia, Duane Allman, Lowell George(of Little Feat), and Frank Zappa. While the other 3 influence my songwriting and guitar playing, Zappa mostly influences my guitar playing. I love his songs but I don’t feel as confident writing compositions like he did.

VB: Understandable. What Zappa was doing was beyond just songwriting. 

MS: Exactly! I should also mention I am a big fan of George Harrison and Jim Croce’s songwriting.

Name an album(or two) you will never tire of:

MS: I will always and forever listen to Frank Zappa’s Sheik Yerbouti front to back because it’s a story album, just like Apostrophe! More recently, Caprice has been showing me a lot of disco so Abba’s Greatest hits would probably be next on that list.

VB: HELL YEAH.

MS: Otherwise, recently I’ve been jumping around from house music to motown to Jean-Luc Ponty and everything in between. I’m just trying to take it all in.

What is your (unnamed taco fast food establishment) sauce of choice?

MS: Diablo. Done and done. The hotness, dude. The speed of..hotness. Quickness with the sickness. 

What is the one item from (unnamed taco fast food establishment) that you can always rely on?

MS: Cheesy Gordita Crunch. Always.

Who is involved with/on the Big Sound?

MS: So far, it’s just my buddy Mike Carthy(of Squire’s Cape) and I on the album. I’m doing all the vocals and guitar while Mike does the bass and drums. Mike will also be adding synth and organ to it as well. For a live band, I will be keeping it to a power trio. Ideally, I would like to find a full time keyboardist. Maybe even a sax player. But that is so far and few between nowadays.

VB: Even if you do find someone who plays the instrument you want in your band, half the time they don’t want to play the style of music that you are playing. 

MS: Exactly!! 

How many songs can we expect on the new album?

MS: As of now, seven songs. 

How much coffee was consumed during the making of this album?

MS: On average, two pots a song. It’s usually what it takes.

How many songs is that a day?

MS: Writing wise? Two or three songs a day. 

When did you stop watching the Simpsons?

MS: Oh God. You’re trying to get me crucified online? Haha. The Right answer is I never stopped watching the Simpsons. It’s still a good show. The writing is trying to keep up with other shows. They did run out of good material at Season 10 but we can argue about that later. 

VB: That statement is what is going to get you attacked!

MS: My favorite seasons are between seasons 5 and 10 but I’ll still watch it now. 

A band you would love to sit in with/be an honorary member of? Doesn’t have to be on guitar.

MS: I would love to be a fill-in for one of those early 2000’s bands coming out of Canada. Like the Trews or Sheep Dogs. Someone from a country band like Margot Price would be really fun as well! I would love to sit in with a country band.

Best show you have seen:

MS: Dopoapod at the Capitol Theater 2019. It was such a good show that they released it as a live album. It was the single cleanest night of music I have ever seen. Very, very good.

VB: Tighter than tight?

MS: It was the comeback show after their hiatus. They were on fire. The solos were great. Everybody sounded great. Another show I want to mention was I saw Dennis Chambers and Victor Wooten at William Paterson. That was a cool fucking show. 

VB: Right on. Well, Mike. Thank you for joining us. Looking forward to seeing you on March 12th!

MS: Thanks for having me!

Be sure to catch Mike Smith Group at the Sherman Showcase in East Stroudsburg, PA. 

Mike Smith Group will be playing their new album, Big Sound, in full PLUS other surprises.

Uncle Stump and Good Stuff will be opening the show.

Doors are at 6:30PM

Show starts at 7PM

Where you can find Mike Smith and Mike Smith Group:

Instagram:

@mikesmithgroup

@mike_the_gear_nerd

@pandomoniumtheband

@doey_joey_the_dj

You can also find them on Facebook under Mike Smith Group

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