Steel Notes Magazine Spring 2017 | Page 5

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Alexxis : How old were you when you first got interested in music ?
Mike : I was very interested in music at a young age . In grade 2 , I was asked to do an airband performance for summer camp . They dressed me up like Gene Simmons from Kiss . We were performing " I Was Made For Loving You ". Looking into the crowd and hearing the loud music , I was immediately hooked to the stage .
Alexxis : Do you come from a musical family ?
Mike : I come from a very musical family , on my mom ' s side . My mother still performs as a singer to this day , and I couldn ' t be prouder !
Alexxis : Who were your earliest musical influences ?

singer-songwriter

JB Sky

By Alexxis Steele

Mike : Earliest musical influences , were the Beatles , Ozzy Osbourne , The Who , Kiss , Slaughter , and Motley Crue .
Alexxis What was your first instrument , and are you selftaught or did you take lessons ? Do you play other instruments as well ?
Mike : My 1st instrument out of school was the drums . I am a self taught musician , and play multiple instruments with guitar being my favorite by far !!
Alexxis : When did you get your start performing professionally ?
Get ready to witness the next big superstar ready to take on the musical world !!
Mike JB Sky was recently signed by Radar Love Records , owned by 5 time Juno award winner , Grammy nominated producer , Michael Hanson , founder and original drummer for Glass Tiger . Mike graciously put time aside from his busy schedule to speak with me about his new band and what he is doing .
Alexxis : Hello Mike ! You are from Montreal , Canada , the place where a lot of good music has come from , Is that where you were born and raised ?
Mike : I actually was raised in Toronto , Ontario , Canada , but I also lived in Montreal and Calgary .
Mike : I started performing professionally at the age of 17 .
Alexxis : You had the privilege of playing onstage with many top musicians from around the country , including the late great Jeff Healey .. How did you land that gig , and tell me about your time playing with him . Mike : I met Jeff through a female acquaintance . Jeff had invited me to come back and play at his bar Healey ' s in Toronto . I wasn ' t familiar with his music being a total rock musician at the time . So Jeff challenged me to improvise with him live on stage . He did his best to showcase me and introduce me to some amazing people .
Alexxis : When did you switch instruments and start playing guitar ? What influenced your decision to switch ?
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