My first 15 years or so meant crushes and clubs. Clubs meant planning out the bylaws, finances, hierarchical charts, mission statements, and membership criterion for clubs that never existed. I ripped out the parts of myriad radios to reassemble robots that never walked, I had crushes on girls I never knew, I studied Hebrew and couldn't speak it. An outsider in my family, at school, in my own cliques, I began to realize I didn't exist. Then two things changed - in high school I actually finished a project - the cabin in my back yard. Once a mere figment, it became reality. And in that cabin, my high school band had parties. That was the second change. All of the soul searching that came from imagining projects, groups, relationships, was replaced by a new kind of relating that music seemed to bring on. My high school band was very popular among the few people that liked us.

So the band thing made sense for college too (hence "Phish"). But it wasn't until my peak experience in 1985 that I realized improvising musically could open up a door to - well to seeing what was already there.

Relationships, groups, projects all existed and came into fruition when the band jammed. Most importantly, all the past archiving and future dreaming gave way to a new concept, and a concept that seems to be the lowest common denominator in all therapy: I learned to live in the moment. And once I saw how much there was to let go of, especially self-consciousness, I learned to actually surrender to that moment. In this way I explored my body, brain, heart, and soul as a newly integrated being--all in the backwoods of Vermont. I hugged a tree, vowed to live in the woods and play music every night. And that I did.

The bass has been a passion. I started to learn ways of combining propulsion with flight, opposing integral components of my new musical ecstasy. And in the meantime the other pursuits came back - films, drawings, stories, circuits, relationships. I set out on a lifetime's journey of making things. And I try to seek those experiences which dissolve the minutia of making so I can find that magic of the moment. Okay, Mike, shut up, you're thinking by now. Anyway, it will now just be a matter of, for once, thinking about something other than myself. To make a website, I looked through all of my carefully archived history, and it ends up being a lot "me." In my next lucid dream I'm going to will myself to assume the body of another character, and then I'll make it so that I wake up in that person's "real" body, and I'll continue this bio from that person's website.

Start by cold-rinsing one Modulus TBX bass (through-neck), add a teaspoon of Jerry Dunlop 1.5mm triangular graphite pick, bring to a boil a pack of Ken Smith Slickround™ (half flat) strings, and peel and chop two EMG DC pickups. [For a lighter meal, try a Dave King A Series headless/bodyless bass, ans season with an RMC piezo bridge pickup, an Aguilar preamp, and a built-in tuner]. In the kitchen of Phish, the instrument was thickened with vegan effects like The Meatball envelope filter by Lovetone™, an Ibanez stomp box flanger, and an Eventide 4500 Harmonizer (Mike marinates with at least ten Eventide patches on a regular basis, such as "Echospace Of God." These effects were simmered, char-broiled, and braised by a Bradshaw midi switching system, comlpete with hard-bypass on-off loops. From there the signal was cajun-blackened using an ADA bass preamp, a Meyers parametric EQ, and onward toward a Meyers powered speaker system (A 750P 2x18 unit and a MSL2 (?) top speaker with a 15" and a horn). For extra zest, an Eden WT800 head grabbed the signal and shoved it into an Eden 4x10 cab as well. Check out Diagram A or, perhaps the sexier Diagram B to feel more confused. In the current era, Michael has been cooking with The Lovetone, an Akai Deep Impact pedal, as well as a Boss TU-something tuner. Finishing the sound he goes straight to the Eden WT800 and to two Eden 4x10 cabs, sometimes enhancing with more 18's and more power.

1914 - Mike's grandmother and best friend, Lillian Cherry (Nanny) is born 1927 - Buster Keaton releases black and white film, "The General" 1964 - U.S. incites the Tonkin Gulf incident, which eventually leads to Vietnam 1965 - Mike is born on the same day the U.S. conducts first walk in space 1967 - Nightmares about men who live inside the radiator 1968 - The Gordons move to the country, inspiring Mike's appreciation of
country music 1969 - A famous concert in Woodstock, Vermont, features three Gaelic bands 1970 - In this glamrock decade, Mike hears easy-listening songs while carpooling
to school 1971 - A whole file of typed documents is created, mostly plans for "clubs" and
their heirarchies 1972 - Still avoiding Jewish-day-school homework, Mike assembles his first
electric circuit 1972 - Joe Linitz comes on board to Solomon Schechter Day School;
They pass sick notes 1973 - During third grade, Mike and best friend Rebecca Kolodny record
Store 24 commercial 1974 - Mike writes first script ("Mighty Man") and contemplates production 1974 - First 'band" idea is concocted and uncocted - The Bluebirds, with classmate
Jeremy Kahan 1975 - Mike makes skits with Ron Getz, filming with broken surveilance cam
and reel-to-reel video deck 1976 - Mike and Father Bob Gordon go to New Orleans and drive up to Nashville
and later visit Madrid 1977 - Mike watches his mother create art with hundreds of gallons of acrylic paint 1977 - Family trip to Bahamas - calypso music is dreamy sounding.
Mike favors the bass 1977 - First job - at Surplus 24 - selling vacuum cleaner bags with hamonicist
Danny Dinoto 1978 - Mike takes junior high "music-mini" guitar course and attends
New England Music Camp 1979 - Mike buys $99 Kent bass from Kenny Getz and plays along with Who and
Janis Joplin LPs 1979 - First rock concert with Ron Getz - J Geils at Boston Garden,
The Love Stinks tour 1980 - Summer and weekends, Mike edits list of Soviet Refuseniks for Dad on
early computer 1980 - First attempt at a band practice with Darryl Hotch and his brother
ends sourly 1980 - First successful project ever is germinated - a cabin in the woods
behind "the house" 1981 - Guitar lessons with Fran at Sudbury Music abandoned in favor of bass
with Quentin Hodges 1981 - High school band Tombstone Blues is formed, Kerry's dad takes them to a
bluegrass fest 1982 - High school band makes shifts and is renamed The Edge, still playing
at Teen Center 1982 - After seeing the Dead Movie, Mike and Dan McBride go to Dead concert at
Boston Garden 1982 - Mike joins High school jazz band despite not "reading music,"
conductor Diego gets excited, finds bass teacher Jim Stinnette 1983 - Mike starts UVM, and after three weeks answers sign, "Bass Player Needed"
put up by Trey 1983 - Mike sees Leo Kottke for the first time, also Jon Gailmor, Max Creek
and others 1984 - Engineering curriculum interrupted to take "Film I" at Emerson during
the summer 1984 - Mike quits Store 24 maintenance dept. to start making training films
for the company 1985 - Film class with Ted Lyman at UVM, lifetime peak experience playing with
Phish at Goddard 1986 - A million band practices, film projects, mini-tours and gigs at Nectar's, etc. 1987 - Mike graduates from UVM and starts "managing" the band, Page
helps with booking 1988 - First Phish tour to Colorado proves neat 1989 - Phish gig at The Paradise in Boston proves landmarkish; minipeak
experiences at fratgigs 1989 - Mike acquires motorcycle (pictured below) from former girlfriend, Roz 1990 - Adventures with the Aquarium Rescue Unit teaches mike about
vomiting and brokenness 1991 - Jazz gigs prove mildly educational and The Giant Country Horns join
Phish on the road 1992 - Mike purchases his log cabin, later to be abjuncted, continues much
Phish touring 1993 - Mike edits videos while recording Hoist in LA, like Tracking and Cribbage 1994 - Mike sets up office in Dad's building in South Boston to direct
Down With Disease video 1994 - Phish appears on Letterman, meets Seinfeld, and plays Madison Square
Garden for the first time, all in the same night. 1995 - Phish performs The Who's Quadrophenia at the Rosemont
Horizon in Chicago 1996 - With new Avid system and filming gear, Mike starts work on Outside Out 1997 - Phish does Europe; a recording studio is built in abjuncted log cabin 1997 - Book of farcicle rants, Mike's Corner, is assembled from Doniac Schvice 1998 - Five thousand hours of work on Outside Out is underway 1999 - With the movie finished, Mike continues attending many band meetings
and tours 2000 - Eight hour nonstop set at Phish's Big Cypress concert in Florida is
another life peak 2001 - Resituating for a spell in Manhattan, Michael works on documentary,
Rising Low 2002 - Mike and Leo Kottke jam, record, and find themselves making Clone
and touring 2003 - With engineer and enthusiasm-guru Jared Slomoff, Mike creates
Inside In from Outside Out 2004 - Joey Arkensat is helped with Bane, and calypso is being studied by Mike;
Phish ends 2005 - Mike and Leo finish Sixty Six Steps, recorded in Bahamas 2005 - Mike returns full time to Vermont 2006 - A new home studio is almost done 2006 - Another Side Of In artshow debuts, with Mike's sounds, Mom's art, and
Eric's proximity 2006 - Mike works on Ramble Dove and this website 2006 - The Rhythm Devil's welcome Mike as a member and they hit the road 2006 - Mike Tours with Trey Anastasio, Marco Benevento, and Joe Russo (GRAB) 2007 - A year of no touring begins, with a focus on writing a new album 2008 - The Green Sparrow is released in May 2008 - Mike tours in the Summer and Winter with his band 2009 - Phish returns, records a new album, tours 2009 - Mike tours with his band in September

Q: What is that odd bass you play? A: The headless, bodyless one was made by Dave King, whom I've known since around 1990. It has a tuner built in, and Morch pickups, which are handwounded in Denmark by, you guess it: Morch. Dave builds basses in Portland Oregon. Q:Do you really check all of your hotline messages? A: I check every hotline message. But if someone rambles forever, or starts to ask when the guys are getting back together, that's when I hit delete. Sometimes someone will recite some poetry or tell a story and I'll be riveted. I love hearing what people have to say, generally. We play games, but people also recommend books, movies, bands, websites, etc. There are regular callers who I enjoy hearing from. You actually have to call a lot to leave a message. With as many as ninety calls an hour and a thirty call limit, it fills up right after I empty out the messages. I go in phases where I leave a new message every day, and other times I don't even listen for a week. I always listen to messages in the car. I'm just trying to enjoy this obsession before it gets the best of me. Maybe I'll release the best of the hotline. Q: Have you "guested" on any albums? A: Yes, a couple, and you can find out more about that in the Kameos section of this website, under Projects. Q: Where can I get copies of your live shows? A: Live Phish Downloads has remained the vehicle for such offerings. Only certain gigs end up going up for sale. Since taping is often allowed, there are also sites where you can find audience recordings. Q: Why do people associate you with Joey Arkenstat? A: Joey was a bassist in my documentary, Rising Low. Since then I've been called his "alter-ego," which I find hugely flattering considering how cool and quirky he is. Also, I did produce his album, Bane, and I even chanted and added a couple bass notes to that album. Joey has a website that incorporates his name in the URL. Q: Are you and Leo going to play again? A: I love playing with him, and we have talked about doing more projects. The more we do the more potential we see. For now, having just finished an album project, we are working on our own stuff. There were three years in between our first two album releases, but a year after the first one the planning had already begun. It's nice to think that we venture separately and then reconvene as partners in crime. Q: Any plans to make another film soon? A: A common problem for Geminis is finding time to do everything, and prioritizing correctly. I definitely want to make another film sometime - another narrative film, but this time with a screenplay. I have ideas that date back before my last two feature films. I'm very passionate about some ideas that haven't come to life yet, but I'm focusing on other projects first. Q: What's with all of the owls? A: They just keep visiting me. They have chosen to climb on board the Mike wagon, it seems. I say a little more in the Journals section of this here website. I love them though. Q: What kind of owl is that anyway? A: OK, pal, you've asked a good question there. The original owl they designed with was too mean looking and the one after it too nice looking. This here medium looking owl is a great horned owl with the horns photoshopped off. And by "pal," I mean myself, since no one has really asked this question, since no one has seen this site yet at the time of this "response." Q: Who took the pictures on this website? A: Funny you ask, Reena, 'cause I was just thinking about that. Raoul A. Berman did. Nuff said. Well, at least he took The Edge picture. Photos on this site came from David Barron, Brad Palm, Edwin Hurwitz, Michael Wilson, Allison Murphy, Roxanne Haynes, Gary Ashley, Dino Perrucci, Sofi Dillof, and Danny Clinch and a host of photos by friends. Q: On your hotline, when you used the word "favicon," what did you mean? A: A favicon, pal, is the little icon that appears to the left of a URL line when it appears in your browser's address window. Good question. Q: What is Cactus Unlimited and who is Jared? A: Cactus, a name derived from my supposed Russian name Gacht, is abjuncted to include the not limited part, and this was first concocted to appear in the opening sequence screen of Outside Out. But Jeff Lawson ran the original Vermont Cactus Unlimited empire, and for a brief spell it was in Brett Hughes' apartment, and then in Manhattan. In New York Jared Slomoff took over, working on movies, films and a pile of randometry. Back in Vermont, the new studio is fazmotic, and Jared's getting it dialed in. Not too many other people recorded at Cactus, but on rare occasion, someone like Melissa Cartoun came in and worked out a song arrangement. With Mike on bass and guitar, this rendition of her song, 25, won second place in the John Lennon Song Writing Competition. Anyway, I'll be making much music, and eventually I will be following through with the sensory deprivation tanks concept. Q: What is Mike's Corner? A: My lifelong collection of little stories, often written in the margins of engineering class notebooks, started making their way into Phish's aptly named newsletter, Doniac Schvice. After some years of letting that column thrive, I decided to pick out a bunch of them from the Schvice and combine them with extras from the files and some illustrations to form the book Mike's Corner. The book was released on Little Brown's Bulfinch division and it became a best-seller within my own mind. Ever since, I've been penning more of these microscopic novellas, sometimes using made up words or made up punctuation. When Phish put to rest the hard-copy Schvice in favor of an online presence, more Mike's Corner style stories were submitted and released thusly. And now more are to be found in the annals of this here website. Who knows what's to come later - M's Corner II? A novel? I wish I had more time. Q: What is the plan for this website? A: We intend to update every part of this website, even the obscure tucked away morsels and tidbits that I'm offerin' up. In some cases a carefully archived list, like dreams, will seem not to have varied, but hot diggity, there is a new dream squozen into the middle of the other ones that were already on there. I'll have to see how it all pans out, and I'd be glad to hear your comments, and I'll be asking for specific feedback on my hotline.