ION INDIE MAGAZINE August 2014, Volume 3 | Page 32

ION: The tour--you recently had to cut the tour with
A7X and HELLYEAH short because of the accident.
How emotional for you was all that? Between losing
gear and cutting the tour short, but also having
escaped any serious injury. Can you talk about how
that felt and what actually happened on that day?
Mike: Well it was like being on top of the mountain
and then in seconds flat, face first in the dirt. Definitely
very emotional and something I'd rather not go real in
detail with...but it was a very trying and emotional time
for sure. The tour ending instantly, the gear, having to
cancel shows, and most of all, almost losing our lives.
I was sleeping so all I remember was waking up and
being thrown around like a worm in a can. It's a
horrible scenario, you know, that can happen out on
tour and you always hope and pray it never does. Well
unfortunately, it happened to us. Thankfully, it wasn't
worse than it was.
ION: Though you had to cut that tour a little short, you
were able to fulfill a few other shows with you as
headliners, one which I was honored to have covered.
How did you manage to pull that off in such a short
period of time?
Mike: Basically, some of us had to take some time to heal from being injured and some equipment got
damaged that needed to be replaced or fixed. The last thing on earth we wanted to do was cancel the
second part of the two month tour. After a week of recovering, we decided to go out and play the last four
shows around our area, which seemed to be the easiest at the time. On a high note--It was such an honor
to be out with AVENGED SEVENFOLD and HELLYEAH as well. We are truly thankful for the month we
were out! Those guys rule!!!
ION: You’ve been labelled a “Super Group” (Russell Allen of SYMPHONY X on vocals, AJ Pero of TWISTED
SISTER fame on drums, and JOHN MOYER of DISTURBED on bass-- add to Mike’s own awesome history
in the music world, as a solo artist of near unmatched guitar virtuosity). But with that label, always comes