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As a kid growing up in Northern New Jersey, Mike Tichy began writing and
recording songs so he could have listening material in the car, while
traveling to work and school. Imitating the chord progressions of Elton John
and The Beatles, his daily routine gave way to a new song every morning,
invented and recorded on the 4-track the night before. Hundreds of songs and
many years later, Mike began unintentionally recording his first release
"Popcore" in his bedroom around the spring of 2000. Later that year he began
to perform solo/acoustic. Not wanting to take breaks, Mike would fill up the
sets, sometimes longer than 3 hours, throwing in new originals and covers in
each show. The acoustic guitar parts became more and more complicated to
compensate for the lack of instrumentation on the cds. Along with acoustic
shows, Mike slowly acquired a band of top notch performers and began playing
bigger venues.
THE BAND
Joe Vigliotti:
Mike went to see a NYU jazz ensemble play in NY and the upright bass player really stood out, so he gave him a
recording of his music and at the very next show, he was plugging in his electric bass at the first mention of Otis Redding.
Mike Catapano:
Tichy knew Catapano as a singer from North Jersey, who would to do harmonies when he'd play in town. Also a multi-talented drummer, he went from tapping on a conga to playing the "entire kit" when the full band was needed.
Spike Fist:
Mike's guitar tech was asked to accompany him on one of his songs at a show. After seeing how good he was at tuning guitars and adjusting truss rods, Mike asked Spike to learn all of his songs. He then started playing alongside Mike on a regular basis, except when he was on the road with Jackyl. The job of tuning Tichy's guitars is now handled by a guy named Zakk.
LIVE
In January of 2001, the leadoff track to Pop Core "Dr. Said" was featured on
New Jersey based Artist Amplification compilation CD. Following that, in
March, Mike got in a van, and went on his first tour of the southeast, for 4
weeks playing solo/acoustic all over North Carolina, South Carolina, and
Georgia. This lead to many of his songs getting airplay on college radio in
the southeast. When returning home in April Mike was immediately asked to
perform live on Rutgers College Radio as his songs were beginning to be heard
up north as well. That summer, he and his band made an appearance in
independent film "Just Add Pepper", by Peter Paul Basler and "Dr Said" and
"Only Lookin" were featured on the soundtrack as well. Come August, Mike
headed back down south for his second solo/acoustic tour and after that he
and the band finished out the year gigging around New York. After releasing
his next full length CD, "self-titled" he spent most of 2002 playing bass
with NYC garage rockers The Mooney Suzuki. He played on their 2nd album
"Electric Sweat" and toured the U.S., U.K., and Spain, playing on bills with
bands such as The Hives, The Datsuns, The White Stripes, and The Sahara
Hotnights, as well as an appearance on Craig Kilbourne.
Wanting to play guitar and focus on his original music Mike returned and put
the band back together. With two tours of the east coast and two
full-length records complete and a third on the way, the band is playing non
stop and planning on taking their flawless live show across the US.
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