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Twin Town High (vol. 8) |
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Rock for a Cause: The Soc-rock-tic method
Wednesday 24 January @ 14:39:41 |
  by ANDREA MYERS
Bill Mike is going to save rock and roll. In the corner booth of a hip coffee shop in South Minneapolis, Bill Mike (aka William Michel, aka "call me Mike") is sipping a strong cup of coffee and divulging his plan. I look to my tape recorder, praying that it's catching all of this, as I am too captivated to take notes.
"I made a turn with the Bill Mike Band," he begins. "We decided to do an all-ages show, just for the heck of it, and it turned out to be the most successful show we've ever had. And it got me thinking—well, I'm a teacher part-time, how can I intermix all of this? So I started Rock for a Cause. I wanted to give back."
You wouldn't know just by looking at him that this is the guy who is going to save rock and roll. Dressed in true Minnesotan garb—a black puffy parka layered over a thick black hoodie—Michel has a sort of gruff look. His wild mane of semi-curly hair would make him a convincing bad-ass if it weren't for his bleeding-heart sparkling brown eyes, which seem to actually twinkle as he talks animatedly about his ideas. "When the average person hears the word 'musician,' a few things pop up in their minds," he explains. "They think—and this is from experience—they think poor, they think slacker, they think lazy, they think drugs, they think airhead ... That's real, and it's still going on. Rock for a Cause is about teaching kids to value what they do and realize that it's important."
The first step in saving rock and roll comes this Saturday night, when Michel will kick off a year full of Rock for a Cause events. For each show, Michel rounds up three teen bands from around the metro area and acts as mentor while they figure out how to put on a live show, complete with an opportunity for each musician to explain their background and their musical interests. Bands who play the show are paid, and Michel shows the teens how the money is handled. "It teaches them to be valued, and that if they decide to do this for a living, money is part of it," he says.
"I get three teen bands—I don't care where, who, why—and we play music. I kind of emcee, and each one talks about their musical identity and political interests that they might have. And what's going to happen eventually is that at the end of the show I want a forum. I want audience participation, I want to know what you are about, and [have] people asking questions. Dialogue. Because everyone is coming from really different backgrounds. I've got bands from Chanhassen, I've got bands from West St. Paul, and they don't know anything about each other's lives and cultures."
Of all of the people living in Minnesota who could save rock and roll, Michel seems to be the most eligible. After spending 10 years submerged in the local scene as a guitarist, working with such diverse acts as Redstart, Iffy and Haley Bonar, Michel now spends his time writing his own tunes with the Bill Mike Band and teaching music lessons to high school students from across the metro area. "The people that I've been teaching are from different high schools of all class structures, all locations. That's been really amazing, because everybody is super progressive. When I was 15, I wasn't that cool, you know." Michel has learned a lot about the next generation of music through his teaching. "These kids are coming in with the Dead Presidents and all this cool hip-hop, all this cool rock, and then they're really into '60s music—they'll have a Gnarls Barkley disc, and then they'll have a Led Zeppelin disc. It's really been amazing to watch the sociology of music, in doing this series and teaching ... To learn about cycles of music and what inspires and what regenerates."
"I've learned the deepest of things through this experience ... I can help guide these kids on different kinds of music." If the minds of our youth are the road to our future, it seems Michel is the best candidate to put behind the driving wheel. And he is showing no signs of slowing down; Michel expresses frustration with the way schools administer music education, and he sees himself doing even more in the future to reach out to kids who are learning to play.
"The kids that I've taught, the music programs at their high schools are shit. That literally is fading away ... That's another thing I want to develop, I think that's the future for me. Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers has a school, and that's what he does—he teaches trumpet when he's not touring. He gives free lessons to whomever and hangs out in his little teaching room in Silver Lake and teaches trumpet. I kind of envision that. A school. More of an open school, where you can learn about everything. Music has been taught the same way for the last century, pretty much in a European-based system. It's not a bad thing, but the world is so big. Still, in 2007 there is nothing about contemporary music or world music. It's pretty sad, what's going on in the schools. So I think what's going to happen is independent entrepreneurs are going to have to take over, and start cool things to get exposure to different things. I think that is something I'll do ten years from now."
For now, though, Michel is content in developing his own musical talent while mentoring teens in Minnesota. Oh, and devising his master plan for saving rock and roll. ||
Rock for a Cause kicks off a year of events on Sat., Jan. 27 at the Triple Rock Social Club with the Bill Mike Band, Ill Chemistry and MC Concentrate. 5 p.m. $6. All Ages. 629 Cedar Ave., Mpls. 612-333-7499. The first Rock for a Cause of 2007 happens on Sat., Feb. 24 at the Acadia Café, featuring three teen bands. 5 p.m. All Ages. 1931 Nicollet Ave. S., Mpls. 612-874-8702. For more info on Bill Mike and Rock for a Cause, visit bill-mike.com.
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