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Mick Sweda | |
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| Born | April 18, 1960 Gowanda, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, synthesizers |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Formerly of | King Kobra, BulletBoys |
Mick Sweda (born April 18, 1960) is an American guitarist, best known as a former member of the rock bands King Kobra and BulletBoys.
Mick Sweda began playing guitar at age 17. [1] He attended community college in Jamestown, New York on a drama scholarship while simultaneously touring the East Coast of the United States with a band covering various acts such as ZZ Top and Cheap Trick. [1]
In 1980, Sweda and a few friends formed a band called The Pedestrians that leaned towards punk rock. [1] A year later, they moved to Los Angeles, where Sweda got involved in various musical projects. [1] In 1984, he was approached by Carmine Appice to join his new band King Kobra, which had been signed to Capitol Records. [1] Sweda recorded two records with King Kobra ( Ready to Strike and Thrill of a Lifetime ) and toured extensively, opening for bands such as Iron Maiden, Kiss and Ted Nugent. [1] Sweda left the band in 1987 and started BulletBoys [1] with Marq Torien, who had briefly served as King Kobra's lead singer. [2] The band signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1988. Upon the release of their eponymous debut, the band toured extensively opening for bands such as Cheap Trick, Bon Jovi, Ozzy Osbourne, Cinderella and others, as well as headlining theaters. BulletBoys recorded two more records for Warner Bros., Freakshow and Za-Za . Sweda said that inspiration for the former came from taking in the scene at truck stops while the band was on tour. [3] Sweda supported both records with tours before he left the band.
In 1993, Sweda started recording music of his own, which varied between hard rock, blues and jazz, amounting to six albums. [1] After recording demos for a wide range of artists in his studio and doing some session work, Sweda formed a band called Brain Stem Babies which included Jason Hook and Jeremy Spencer. They played scattered shows but spent the majority of their time recording records which Sweda made available on his Monsters Making Music label. The band parted ways in 1996 and Sweda, along with BSB bassist Jon Winquist, recruited Troy Patrick Farrell of White Lion to form Lolligag. They played occasionally in Los Angeles but again spent more time recording and disbanded in 1998.
Sweda continued to record with John Porter and Marty Horenburg at Cello Studios in Hollywood, but began to concentrate more on family matters after he moved to Merced, California in 2002 to be closer to his wife Shellie's family. [1] After forming Mick Sweda and the Candy Bar Band in 2007, he released Songs in the Key of Cool, a record geared towards kids and parents alike. [1] Shellie came up with two of the songs on the album, "Only Monster In My Room Is Me" and "Nothing To Do". [1]
Sweda played guitar on two more King Kobra records released on Frontier Records. He co-wrote an original Christmas song with Tilli Tills called "Merry Christmas, little baby!", which was featured on Rodney Bingenheimer's radio show on KROQ. He released The Hot Summers album with Shane Tassart.
Sweda lives in Los Angeles, where he is still active, and works in his own studio, Redcake Digital. He is married to Shellie and has a son, Wyatt. He also has a son by the name of Easton Rocket Sweda, who is an actor on General Hospital [1]
Cheap Trick are an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, Nielsen and Petersson. Their work bridged elements of '60s guitar pop, hard rock, and punk rock, and would help set the template for subsequent power pop artists.
King Kobra is an American heavy metal band founded by drummer Carmine Appice after his tenure with Ozzy Osbourne from 1983 to 1984.
BulletBoys is an American hard rock/glam metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1987. The group's original lineup was composed of singer Marq Torien, guitarist Mick Sweda, bassist Lonnie Vencent, and drummer Jimmy D'Anda. The group released two successful albums and had a number of singles featured on MTV between 1988 and 1991. From the 1990s onward, the group went through numerous lineup changes, with Torien as the only consistent member. Their most recent album From Out of the Skies was released in 2018. The original lineup reunited for one-off shows in 2011 and 2019.
John Douglas Edwards is an American rock singer who sang for the bands Buster Brown, Montrose, King Kobra, Wild Horses, Northrup, Royal Jelly and is best known as the second lead singer of the rock band Foreigner.
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Ready to Strike is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band King Kobra, released in 1985 by Capitol Records.
Jimmy D'Anda is an American drummer who is perhaps best known as the original drummer for the Los Angeles glam metal band BulletBoys.
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BulletBoys is the first album by the American rock band BulletBoys, released in 1988. The cover art is a copy of ".30 Bullet Piercing an Apple" by Harold Eugene Edgerton. The album features the hit "Smooth Up in Ya" as well as a cover of The O'Jay's song "For the Love of Money". The album reached No. 34 in the Billboard 200 chart and was certified gold in 1989 selling over 500,000 copies.
Freakshow is the second album by American rock band BulletBoys. It was released in 1991 by Warner Bros. Records. It is the follow-up to their successful self-titled debut.
Za-Za is the third studio album by American rock band BulletBoys, released in 1993. It was their last album released by Warner Bros. Records, and the final one produced by Ted Templeman.
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King Kobra II is a 2013 album by the hard rock band King Kobra. It was the second release by the band King Kobra since its reformation by founding member Carmine Appice.
Timothy Gerard Landers is an American bassist best known for his contribution to the 1970s-80s jazz-fusion genre and his work with Al Di Meola, Billy Cobham, and Gil Evans. Landers is a session musician and was a member of Tom Scott's band on The Pat Sajak Show.
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