"My inspiration comes from my relationship with God." Mike says, "God wants what’s best for your life so don’t settle for anything less than the best."
These aren't just idle words, but a philosophy he lives by. His record, Honest, brought forth the top-ten single ‘America’ which is also featured on a PBS film ‘The American Southwest’ which deals with the water crisis in America. The record’s songs 'Scream’ and ‘Real Big World’ are nominated for Hollywood Music Awards.
"Honest is called that for two reasons. It’s my own self, becoming honest as an artist with both my musical style and the things I want to say. It’s also a commentary on life as a modern day American. One of my favorite songs, off the record, is a song called ‘Everybody’s Hero.’ It's actually about our international policy and how we always have to be everybody’s hero." he confides. "Sometimes we overextend ourselves in the world, trying to police everything that’s going on. But, I also point out in the song that we need to focus on what we commit to, such as the Iraq war. Most importantly, finish the job. We need to follow through."
If it isn't already obvious, Mike doesn't shy away from jumping right into the problems that plague the world and touch upon issues like politics and religion. "I do a lot of research and study historical stuff and current events. I want to be very involved in what is going on in current culture and I don’t mean just pop culture- what’s going on in the United States , politically, as well as issues that have to do with human rights, international issues.”
Referring to an incident involving recent violence against a young girl in Somalia , Mike speaks passionately, “Someone needs to write a song about that. There are things that need to be talked about. Sometimes, when it’s only talked about on the news, it kind of becomes commonplace. Our hearts become hardened to it. The cool thing about music is it can reach to a deeper place. There are different parts of your spirit that are moved. When you hear a song, it moves you, as opposed to just reading something in the paper. I try to take things that I think are important and translate them through music."
| written by Joshua Schrader
