You may recognize Mike Mirabella from seeing him behind the drumkit of the bands Scamper, The Brendan Boogie Band, or currently The Rationales and The Future Everybody. (Or maybe you don’t. I mean, who pays attention to the drummer?)  Besides banging on things loudly, Mike is a songwriter in his own right. Did you know it was actually Mike who penned the Scamper hit “Wait Wait”? True story. 

Mike and I have been playing music together for many years.  When I was offered this residency at the Somerville Armory a few months back, Mike happened to be standing next to me and also happened to be drunk. He asked me to book him for his solo debut show and I (who was equally drunk) agreed.

After a very fun (and shockingly drunken) songwriting session, I chatted with Mike about the experience:

Mike: Once we settled in things started to go real smooth real fast. Did you go into this with any plan? Song Title perhaps?

Brendan: No, nothing at all. I thought of an idea beforehand about everyone thinking we’re brothers, but we ended up not using that. I was surprised the direction the song went in. Not at all like anything we’ve played in bands together before. Were you surprised by the process at all?

Mike: Honestly, I was a bit nervous. When I write songs on my own its very easy to “ignore the rules” and just write what I want. The idea of writing with someone else had me worried that I might be called out as a fraud…so to speak. Instead, as ideas started popping up, we started heading in all of the directions I hoped we would.

Brendan: So you didn’t mind when I pointed and yelled “Fraud!” at you for twenty minutes?

Mike: I would have but it was only minutes later that you accepted one of my lyrical ideas so I figured it was worth the ridicule.

Brendan: It’s funny – we’ve been in bands together for over 5 years now and we’ve never really written a song together. We’ve done so many other things together.

Mike: So, so many other things… In all honesty it is pretty surprising that we’ve never written together before. I’ve always wanted to write like that, a couple of guitars and notebooks bouncing ideas off each other. I am so happy with the results.

Brendan: Yeah, it’s not a bad little tune. Definitely not like anything we did in Scamper. It’s nice to write without those assholes Keith and Nate around to fuck up the awesome sauce.

Mike: Wow! So all this time it was them holding us back. It’s all coming clear now. Hey Brendan – remember that time we almost wrote a hair metal song about being brothers but then came to our senses?

Brendan: We really dodged a bullet on that one. So how are you feeling about your first solo show?

Mike: Nervous, excited, hungry?

Brendan: What’s your worst case scenario of what will happen on May 6?

Mike: I don’t get a record deal. I’m really going for the gold on this one. I feel no one has really ever cornered the market on playing power chords on acoustic guitar and singing about girls who went away and/or are in the process of going away.

Brendan: Well, the good news is there is now beer available for sale at the Somerville Armory. How much political lobbying did you do to make this happen?

Mike: I filled out the form, I posted the link in my profile. Thank heavens, it was enough to keep the beer flowing. I am going to need to have a beer or two to get up there. I hope the good people enjoy a few and get in a FRIENDLY mood before I play.

Brendan: Well, just to let you know – I have no faith in you whatsoever.

Mike: That’s what keeps me going. Keep doubting and I will get up there and (most likely) prove you right. Over all, I’m pretty excited. A few months ago I had one of those drunken moments, demanding that I must play a solo show, you booked me and you’re holding me to it. So thanks for that D-bag!

Brendan: No problem. Brendan Boogie makes performance anxiety nightmares come true!

Mike: There is a good chance that I’ll get up there, freeze up and start playing air drums while shouting out the chorus to “Two Princes.”

Come on by the Somerville Armory this Thursday to support your pal Mike in his solo debut. 8pm doors.

You may be wondering what’s with the slow April in Boogieland.  When are the gigs, Brendo?  We’re tripping all over ourselves to see your music again, goddamn it!  Our lives are empty without you!

Rest easy, honkies.  Here’s the big announcement for which you’ve been waiting:  I’ll be playing every Thursday in May at the Somerville Armory.  What’s more – check out the great lineups I have uh… lined up:

All you Somervillians need to brave the elements tonight to hit the Somerville Armory tonight .  Doors at 7, music starts at 8pm sharp.  It’s a really cool venue, but the room is small, so be sure to get there on time or you may be shut out.  I’m just saying.

Sets from Golden Bloom and old Scamper-mate Nate Rogers (now helming The Future Everybody).  There will be collaborations, guests, new songs, old songs, covers, shenanigans.  Its going to be a fun night.  So be there.

It’s time for another BrendanBoogie.com interview with a former band member!  This time, I speak with my former Scamper and Brendan Boogie Bandmate Nate Rogers.  Here’s the handsome devil that currently fronts The Future Everybody:

The vest of the vest

In preparation for his big acoustic show with yours truly and Golden Bloom at the Somerville Armory, I gchatted with Nate while watching pro wrestling on television…

Brendan Boogie:  So, your thoughts on tonight’s return of Bret “The Hitman” Hart to the WWE?

Nate Rogers: You misspelled “Bret Michaels.” And “The Tonys.”  Also, that was like 6 months ago.

BB: So a lot of interviews ask what your favorite local bands are right now. I’m going to go the other way – what current local bands do you not care for so much?

NR: Well, The Rationales definitely get worse the more ex-Scampers they recruit.  I’m also tired of the Fatal Flaw never booking shows with me. Good music, but come on already.

BB:  Well, in all fairness, if you were them, would YOU want to spend the night with you?

NR: Spending the night with me is no longer a pre-requisite for a gig.
 
BB: Speaking of ex-Scampers, what do you miss most about our old outfit?

NR: It’s something I hadn’t even thought of, going into TFE:  in Scamper, I only sang lead on a couple tunes, giving me ample opportunity to dance around, visit other people on stage, do foxy synchronized routines, lean over backwards til my knees snapped, and so on. Now I’m locked at the mic for pretty much the whole show. I need to get more creative with my hip shimmying, and/or write longer guitar solo sections for Morgan.
 
BB: I miss the backrubs.

NR: I made you do that at O’Brien’s, is that right?

BB: Yes, for our 5 year Scamperversary, I gave out coupons. Mike got one hug, you got one backrub, and Keith gets to punch me in the stomach once as hard as he wants.  As long as he warns me. That’s how Houdini died.

NR: Did Keith ever cash in, by the way?
 
BB:  No, he’s the only one that hasn’t cashed in. It’s good until 2013, though.

NR: I’ll be sure to remind him. He should have done it at your recent Paradise show.

BB: Knowing him, he’s waiting for an even more opportune moment. Like me speaking at my kids’ career day at school.

NR: Heaven knows he hasn’t forgotten. He must be getting Google Calendar reminders.
 
BB: So other than the shimmying, what’s different about being in charge of a band for the first time ever?

NR: I think I’m most struck by having the final say in things. The day-to-day stuff isn’t so different from any of my former projects. We divvy up duties — Matt is spearheading our upcoming recording project, for instance — and I strive to be pretty laid back as “leader.” But when we do reach an impasse, it’s nice to be able to say “hey, it’s my band, we’re doing it this way.” Or, even better, when someone will just say “Nate should make this decision.”

BB: Speaking of recording, what’s the story with that? Want to let us in on the plans?

NR: We’re hitting New Alliance at the end of the month to lay down basics on hopefully 4 tunes, time and money permitting. We’re launching into pre-production mode in earnest this week. Mike’s excited to use a metronome again. But before we get to that, I foresee a nice knock-down drag-out about which songs we’re doing.

BB: You’ll find those are the moments when its good to be the king.

NR: After New Alliance, we’ll be doing the rest with Matt. Too early to predict an estimated release, alas.

BB: I’m definitely interested to hear what you guys come up with in the studio. You have some pretty diverse players in your band. What does everyone bring to the table?

NR: Oh man, it’s a whole new world for me. The only person whose bag of tricks I’m kind of familiar with is Mike, of course, having played with him since 2001. But with the new guys and girl, he and I are both getting pushed out of our comfort zones, which is awesome. I love the fresh blood and new ideas and new dynamics. In Matt and Morgan, I feel like we found this two-headed monster of awesome searing rock and roll, writing parts that don’t remotely resemble anything that, say, Scamper would have done. And they do it like magic, disappearing into a mystical mind-meld musical moment and emerging with some Holy Shit part. And then V-Rock… having keys/piano has been a long-elusive band dream of mine, and it has more than lived up to that dream. Considering Veronica has never done this “local rock band” thing before, she’s come into her own real fast. Her parts, particularly the piano ones, often elevate songs from merely “grand” to outright “epic.” Once we get the 3-part harmonies going in earnest, we’ll be unstoppable.  (I just broke my self-proclaimed 2010 moratorium on “epic.”)

BB: Are you talking about using the word or the length of your answer?  Seriously, I grew a beard waiting for that one.

NR: The problem with doing an interview with someone like me over a chat program is the interminable waits while I find just the perfect words, phrasings, and punctuatings.
 
BB: Well, it actually gave us time for a write-in question, believe it or not.
 
NR: Ha, we’re taking callers.
 
BB: This one comes from Mike M. in Revere:  “Who is your favorite bandmate and why?”

NR: Mike Nastri. Look it up.

BB: So we’ve got an acoustic show coming up on Friday at the Somerville Armory. Have you even been inside this place yet? I hear its a great venue.

NR: I drove by it 700 times when we rehearsed at the Somerville Rock House, but I’ve never been inside.  I saw a parking lot, though. That’s nice.

BB: The best part is that we’ll be safe if the Redcoats try to attack.  Which, let’s face it, they might.

NR: We will lob acoustic guitars at them, and shield ourselves with our beards*. (* = contingent on you having a beard.)

BB: The beard issue is still undecided. So besides facial hair, what have you got in store for the people on Friday?

NR: I’m looking to nicely represent all of my songwriting eras. TFE stuff, Scamper stuff, solo whiny whiskey stuff. Maybe a new one. Maybe Veronica’s vocal debut on a heartbreaky favorite. And if you could see my Firefox history for the past couple hours, you’d see the ridiculous things under consideration for a cover.
 
BB: Huey Lewis, I assume?

NR: That’s eerie. “If This is It” seriously just came up on iTunes.

BB: As it should be. All is right in the universe. So the final question, as you would predict, is about me.
 
NR: And the answer, as ever, is no.

See Nate as well as me and the great Golden Bloom at the Somerville Armory this Friday night.  8pm start!  Early show!

Just a quick reminder to head over to the Lizard Lounge tonight.  I’ll be sitting in with The Rationales during their set and also enjoying sets from my friends Jon Gorey and The Future Everybody.  It’ll be a nice night of friends, music, and uncomfortably long man-hugs.

“But Breeeeendan,” you might be asking, “It’s going to snow a few inches tonight.  I need to tape up my windows, buy 3 months worth of supplies, and stockpile ammunition and bibles.”  When did we turn into such namby pambies when it comes to snow, Boston?  Strap on some boots (and a pair while you’re at it) and get out and enjoy some rock and roll music.  You know, before the inevitable snowpocalypse.