Jan 15:
Open Mike.
Mike answers your questions. Send yours
to: exivey@aol.com Plus visit the message
board where Mike visits almost every day to answer your questions on
Badfinger.
From Jim Mullen:
I had the pleasure of meeting you when you
played The Saloon in Berlin, NJ in April of 1989. I remember hearing that
you'd left the band in 1987 and Jerry Shirley replaced you. When did you
rejoin? Did A.J. Nicholas join at the same time you temporarily
rejoined?
Mike: I had left the band 6 weeks
after my second son was born in late 1988. I only joined Joey for one more
tour in 1989 which took us into August of that year. I am not sure at what
time frame A.J. had joined the band. I then moved to Florida in early
1990.
From Jeff Robertson: The Wish You Were
Here album is outstanding, but the production style is much heavier than
previous Badfinger albums. Was this choice made by the band/songwriter during
the recording sessions, or was it the direction provided by Chris Thomas
either during the sessions or the mixing? If the latter, what was the band's
reaction during the sessions and after the album was completed?
Mike: Obviously...a bit of both...the
songs were written under a lot of stress...duress...what have you? Chris did
what he always did...get good clean stuff on tape. The bands reaction during
and after the recording was positive.
From Sherry Manning in Canton, NC:
Other than Ron, do you have any contact with anyone else such as Tommy's wife
or son, Pete's daughter, or say Dixie?
Mike: Yes, I continue to speak to all
of them with the exception of Petera Ham. I have not had the pleasure of
meeting her face to face, but we communicate through other means.
From Nori Kelley: I've always been
impressed with that monster drum sound they got with you on those Badfinger
recordings. Any tips for an engineer? did you use a thick snare?
Mike: No tips...but we used a thin
snare..and a thick drummer!
From Mikey Williams: I would like to
ask how did you get the drum sounds on the finger records; Wish You Were Here;
Head First era. To make the question a little more clear, were you tuning them
down real low? Were you using any kind of muffling on the heads? Were you
using single headed or top and bottom heads on your kick and toms? And
finally, being a hard hitting player such as yourself, do you or the engineer
when recording put any tape on the cymbals to dampen them from washing out the
rest of the kit or change the mic placement on the overhead or room mics?
Mike: We tuned 'em deep and kept the
ring...double heads are the way to go. No tape on the cymbals (except under
ride...sometimes). Mic placement is trial and error. Just play hard and in
time and your in!
November questions:
From Dave S: This is a two part
question. Part one - With all the negative that we've heard about
"Badfinger" and all the management problems...What makes you smile
when you look back at those years of your life?
Mike: When I look back on the
early days of The Iveys and Badfinger it brings back many good memories. We
had major fun!! I mean MAJOR FUN!! Before the obvious tragedies even the bad
times were good...if you know what I mean? I even laugh at the time Pete drove
the group van into a concrete lamp post. He fell asleep driving. I lost five
front teeth in that little episode...see...major fun.
Part Two - With a new generation of
fans discovering your music, do you feel a sense of "We mattered!"
(Pride.) When you hear Badfinger's influence on the radio? (i.e., Counting
Crows "Hanging Around"/"It's Over.")
Mike: I feel a certain pride when I
see how much interest and positive feeling toward our music that has been
around for twenty odd years. That it's being played still amazes me...I guess
we hit a good nerve with a lot of people. To many people Badfinger music is
timeless and hopefully will be around for many years to come.
From Rich K. in New Jersey:
Do you ever see the time when you might team up with Joey and Bob Jackson and
maybe play together again? Also, I know years ago, you and Joey appeared at a
Beatlefest convention. Do you think you would enjoy doing something like that
again? I heard there were problems with the man who ran the convention and
that's why "Badfinger" hasn't been asked to appear there again,
while some very "lesser type" guests have been there year after
year!!!
Mike: Your comments are right
on the money. I have no plans to tour with Joey or Bob. I will be gigging in
the future. The band will hopefully include Ron Griffiths (ex Iveys). As for
the Beatlefests...I am toying with that idea...it would be fun to see and meet
people after all the years of being out of the public.
Archive:
Q: From Randy Justesen.
Regarding Head First: The song
"Back Again" is really very cool. Your voice sounds great and
the lyrics are in many ways uplifting. I was wondering where the idea
for the song came from and if you wrote it on the piano or with interaction
from Pete?
Mike:
The song was written for my first wife
Gaynor. it's all about leaving for the road, and how I will return in
once piece: The same person who left. I wrote the song on an
acoustic guitar...note the shaky finger pickin'! Pretty rough eh?
(Interesting fact, Mike played the guitar to
"Back Again", because Pete had trouble with Mike's left handed
finger style.)
Q: From Digger
Mike, best of luck with the new Badfinger
album...It seems strange saying that in 2000! I wonder what made you
want to be a drummer? Who would you say were the best drummers: in the
past and now? Did you follow Buddy Rich's work or was he before your
time? Can you tell the difference and identify different drummers from
their styles? All the best, Digger at www.sixtiespop.com
Mike:
Girls made me want to be a drummer...I
watched the local band hero's get all the girls...say no more!!
There are too many good drummers to choose
from. My early influences were drummers like Brian Bennett of the
Shadows, and Sandy Nielson (let there be drums). Buddy Rich was before
my time, but I do possess a few of Buddies albums.
Q: From Tom Brennan
If you had time to do a 3rd song for the Head
First sessions, what demo would you have done as a Badfinger song? Would
"Old Fashioned Notions" have been done with Badfinger? It
sounds like it could have fit in very well on "Wish You Were Here"
also.
Mike:
Old Fashioned Notions was written during
the early Ivey days at Golders Green. I had totally forgotten all about
it until it turned up recently. I would have liked to re-record with
Badfinger the song "A Lesson In Learning" (which was written around
the time that I left the band for a while). I demo'd three songs (A
Lesson in Learning, Dust to Dust, Take a Look Around) at Rockfield studios in
Wales at the time I was away from Badfinger. Martin Ace & Deke
Leonard of the legendary "Man Band" played on the tracks. I
will release these original versions on a compilation CD in the near future.
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