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Mike
It was 1973, the year that welcomed me into the world. I didn’t have much of a family musical
influence per say. One of my grandfathers used to play violin, and my grandmother taught herself to
play piano, (information I didn’t know until writing this). My other grandfather was a very good old-
time country guitar player, and very artistic in many other fields; Painting, carving wood sculptures,
metal/machine fabrication, and pure love for automobiles just to name a few. Music just kind of
slipped through the cracks for my parents and seeped into my blood.
I was 4 years old when my parents got divorced, and I lived with my mother growing up. She turned
me on to the rock bands like AC/DC, REO Speedwagon, STYX, and Journey in the early ‘80s. Around
1982 she started dating a drummer/truck driver who was hardly ever around. He turned me on to
drums and gave me my first pair of drum sticks. In 1983 she met and later married my worst
nightmare, the man that would try to take music out of my life for the next 8 years.
Although I was living in a very controlled environment, 1986 was a turning point for me. Bon Jovi hit
the mainstream and brought bands like Ratt, Poison, and Cinderella into my life. SOLD! It was all
over but the crying, I had to have this music and would frequently have to find places to hide it
because if HE found it, it would be gone.
My father helped me buy my first drum kit when I was in eighth grade. It was a shabby old Pearl kit
that needed a lot of work. With this kit I taught myself how to keep a beat and that was about all.
Since I had no experience at playing, or fixing drums, I lost interest rather quickly, and only fiddled
with them for the next few years.
Early on in my junior year of high school, my cousin and I decided to try to put a band together to
play at the talent show. I went out, financed a new drum set and got to work. I learned a few songs
inside and out, but really came down on myself for not sounding exactly like the CD. Then the news
came, I was out, they found a better drummer, someone who had lessons and was better than I was.
None of them actually went on to do the show, but I was more determined than ever.
Another disadvantage to living in a controlled household was the lack of musician contacts in my
address book. I found a few to jam with, and it was fun, but I was still trying to be a perfectionist at
my trade.
I took a few years off to try the whole college and marriage thing but that didn’t work out and found
myself literally needing to start a band again. My cousin and I made some amends and found an
amateur bass player and tried it again. Soon my cousin realized that that was not what he wanted and
quit. Back to square one, tons of drive, knowing nobody.
Until that fateful day the Schwans guy showed up. He heard me playing and complimented me. I
asked him if he knew of any guitar players looking to start a band and he told me something that no
one else had ever said when I asked that question, YES. He said to call Tommy Haviland and Jim
McGuire, so with nothing left to lose, I called right away, and we started Superflytunka, one of the
many incarnations of the current line up. We played together for a few years and Jim decided to go
onto bigger better things. So Tommy and I found Lenny Burkett and hounded him until he had no
choice but join our band.
After some trying times, Lenny and I went on with a few other friends to form Aftermath. Aftermath
also changed faces a few times before it was said and done, but started to feel closer to perfect every
time a new member came in. Soon Lloyd Wallace came into the picture, and the harmonic lead guitars
just started pouring out! As our last bass player had decided to quit, I knew that we needed Tommy
back in the line up. He and I have always created a solid rhythm section and that is what I
wanted/needed to experience once again. We started having problems with the singer, so we replaced
him with Breck Searle. Breck had actually tried out for us a few months before but, at that time, we
decided it was just the wrong time to change singers. But that all changed as of January 1st 2006,
Slap Maggy was born and now things are as close to perfect as they can get, and the best is yet to
come.
So what do you get when you combine 2 great lead guitar players, a solid rhythm section, and a front
man with more energy than a nuclear warhead? You get a really good time, really good music, and an
unbelievable show. You get Slap Maggy.
influence per say. One of my grandfathers used to play violin, and my grandmother taught herself to
play piano, (information I didn’t know until writing this). My other grandfather was a very good old-
time country guitar player, and very artistic in many other fields; Painting, carving wood sculptures,
metal/machine fabrication, and pure love for automobiles just to name a few. Music just kind of
slipped through the cracks for my parents and seeped into my blood.
I was 4 years old when my parents got divorced, and I lived with my mother growing up. She turned
me on to the rock bands like AC/DC, REO Speedwagon, STYX, and Journey in the early ‘80s. Around
1982 she started dating a drummer/truck driver who was hardly ever around. He turned me on to
drums and gave me my first pair of drum sticks. In 1983 she met and later married my worst
nightmare, the man that would try to take music out of my life for the next 8 years.
Although I was living in a very controlled environment, 1986 was a turning point for me. Bon Jovi hit
the mainstream and brought bands like Ratt, Poison, and Cinderella into my life. SOLD! It was all
over but the crying, I had to have this music and would frequently have to find places to hide it
because if HE found it, it would be gone.
My father helped me buy my first drum kit when I was in eighth grade. It was a shabby old Pearl kit
that needed a lot of work. With this kit I taught myself how to keep a beat and that was about all.
Since I had no experience at playing, or fixing drums, I lost interest rather quickly, and only fiddled
with them for the next few years.
Early on in my junior year of high school, my cousin and I decided to try to put a band together to
play at the talent show. I went out, financed a new drum set and got to work. I learned a few songs
inside and out, but really came down on myself for not sounding exactly like the CD. Then the news
came, I was out, they found a better drummer, someone who had lessons and was better than I was.
None of them actually went on to do the show, but I was more determined than ever.
Another disadvantage to living in a controlled household was the lack of musician contacts in my
address book. I found a few to jam with, and it was fun, but I was still trying to be a perfectionist at
my trade.
I took a few years off to try the whole college and marriage thing but that didn’t work out and found
myself literally needing to start a band again. My cousin and I made some amends and found an
amateur bass player and tried it again. Soon my cousin realized that that was not what he wanted and
quit. Back to square one, tons of drive, knowing nobody.
Until that fateful day the Schwans guy showed up. He heard me playing and complimented me. I
asked him if he knew of any guitar players looking to start a band and he told me something that no
one else had ever said when I asked that question, YES. He said to call Tommy Haviland and Jim
McGuire, so with nothing left to lose, I called right away, and we started Superflytunka, one of the
many incarnations of the current line up. We played together for a few years and Jim decided to go
onto bigger better things. So Tommy and I found Lenny Burkett and hounded him until he had no
choice but join our band.
After some trying times, Lenny and I went on with a few other friends to form Aftermath. Aftermath
also changed faces a few times before it was said and done, but started to feel closer to perfect every
time a new member came in. Soon Lloyd Wallace came into the picture, and the harmonic lead guitars
just started pouring out! As our last bass player had decided to quit, I knew that we needed Tommy
back in the line up. He and I have always created a solid rhythm section and that is what I
wanted/needed to experience once again. We started having problems with the singer, so we replaced
him with Breck Searle. Breck had actually tried out for us a few months before but, at that time, we
decided it was just the wrong time to change singers. But that all changed as of January 1st 2006,
Slap Maggy was born and now things are as close to perfect as they can get, and the best is yet to
come.
So what do you get when you combine 2 great lead guitar players, a solid rhythm section, and a front
man with more energy than a nuclear warhead? You get a really good time, really good music, and an
unbelievable show. You get Slap Maggy.