Mike has been playing guitar since he was 14 and started playing in cover bands in high school including the prog band Relayer and the hard rock & metal band Redline. He is currently playing with the Milwaukee area based hard rock & metal cover band Backlash while composing and recording instrumental music.

Early influences were guitarists that inspired almost all guitarists in the 70’s - Hendrix, Clapton, Page, etc., but also Robin Trower, Steve Howe and David Gilmour in particular. An affinity for the high energy hard rock and metal of Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Scorpions and others was accompanied by the revelation of the more complex prog rock of Yes, Genesis, ELP, Kansas and Rush. An affinity for odd time signatures was the logical result. Exposure to the seminal fusion bands of the era revealed a wider musical landscape. Attending a performance at Summerfest in the late 70’s by the Dixie Dregs was revelatory and began a life long fandom of all things Steve Morse. An extended stretch of academia and starting a career in technology and manufacturing put music on the back burner for almost a decade. Getting back to music in the early 90’s, Mike started scraping off the rust and playing with friends and in the early 2000’s started writing and recording what would become Lost in the Bandlands. Discovering Dream Theater and John Petrucci finally melding not only the hard rock & metal side with the prog side of his influences but also the Dregs and Steve Morse influences. Hopefully all of those influences came together harmoniously in Lost in the Bandlands.