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Mike Dillon | |
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Background information | |
Origin | Texas / Kansas City / New Orleans |
Instrument(s) | Percussion, vibraphone, drums |
Labels | Hyena, Indie, Ropeadope |
Mike Dillon (a.k.a. Mike D) is an American percussionist, vibraphonist, bandleader, and vocalist born in San Antonio, Texas. He is a member of Critters Buggin, Les Claypool's Fancy Band and Garage A Trois. He has performed with many musicians including Ani DiFranco, Galactic, Brave Combo, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, Marco Benevento, Claude Coleman Jr., and New Orleans musicians Kevin O'Day, Johnny Vidacovich and James Singleton.
Dillon's love of playing percussion was born out of his love for the band Rush as a teenager. [1] He originally performed in the 80's with local Dallas and Denton favorites Ten Hands. At the time, he was a casual drug user. Later when he led the 1990s Dallas-based Billy Goat, he and his girlfriend (who he later married) became heroin addicts who began missing gigs and eventually were "on the verge of death". The band's management sent him to rehab, but he "only lasted three days". In the late 1990s, Billy Goat disbanded and he performed in the Kansas City-based Malachy Papers and the Austin-based Hairy Apes BMX (HABMX). Dillon quit heroin in 2000, and split with his wife around that time.
In 2006, Dillon started a funky project "Mike Dillon's Go-Go Jungle" which included members of Billy Goat, drummer Go-Go Ray, and bassist, J.J. Jungle. The live Go-Go Jungle also performs songs from Dillon's prior projects. They released their second CD entitled Rock Star Bench Press in 2009.
Dillon contributed the majority of compositions to Garage A Trois' Power Patriot CD released in 2009.
Dillon and saxophonist Skerik perform as a trio called "The Dead Kenny G's" with alternate third members. National tours have included keyboardist Brian Haas and bassist Brad Houser. With Houser they have also toured as "Critters Buggin Trio". They released a CD entitled Bewildered Herd in 2009. [2] As a trio with bassist James Singleton, Dillon and Skerik have toured as "Illuminasti" and as a trio with Les Claypool they have been billed as "The Fancy Trio".
Dillon is married to artist Peregrine Honig, whom he resides with in Kansas City and New Orleans, but a busy touring schedule keeps him on the road much of the time. [3]
Leslie Edward Claypool is an American musician, best known as the founder, lead singer, bassist, primary songwriter, and only continuous member of the rock band Primus. Frequently considered one of the best bass players of all time, his playing style is well known for mixing tapping, flamenco-like strumming, whammy bar bends, and slapping.
Pigface is an American industrial rock supergroup formed in 1990 by Martin Atkins and William Rieflin.
Matthew Chamberlain is an American session musician, drummer, producer and songwriter.
Colonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade is a musical project with rotating personnel, led by American singer/bassist Les Claypool. The Frog Brigade was formed during a hiatus from Claypool's main group Primus.
Critters Buggin is a Seattle, Washington-based instrumental group which performs in a jazz, rock and African-influenced, eclectic style. The band is composed of Matt Chamberlain, Skerik, Brad Houser and Mike Dillon.
Skerik is an American saxophonist from Seattle, Washington. Performing on the tenor and baritone saxophone, often with electronics and loops, he is a pioneer in a playing style that has been called saxophonics.
Marco Benevento is an American pianist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer, who has been a fixture of the New York experimental music rock and jazz scene since 1999. He is the founder and recording engineer of Fred Short, a recording studio in Upstate New York, and a member of the rock groups Benevento/Russo Duo and Joe Russo's Almost Dead, both of which feature his regular musical collaborator Joe Russo.
Stanton Moore is an American funk, jazz, and rock drummer from New Orleans. Most widely known as a founding member of Galactic, Moore has also pursued a solo recording career and recorded with bands as diverse as jazz-funk keyboardist Robert Walter and heavy metal act Corrosion of Conformity.
Garage A Trois is an American jazz quartet including drummer Stanton Moore, saxophonist Skerik, vibraphone and percussionist Mike Dillon and keyboardist Marco Benevento. They play a variety of music including rock, funk and jazz.
Robert Walter is an American keyboard player specializing in soul jazz on the Hammond B3 organ and Fender Rhodes. He is best known as a founding member of The Greyboy Allstars.
Zachary Baird is an American keyboardist known for collaborating with the nu metal band Korn. He is also noted for using the Moog synthesizer, as well as the Ondes Martenot.
Brian Coogan is a keyboardist and vocalist from New Orleans, Louisiana.
John Bradley Houser is an American bass guitar, baritone saxophone and bass clarinet player, originally from Dallas, Texas. He was a co-founding member of the New Bohemians, later to become known as Edie Brickell & New Bohemians. He also co-founded Critters Buggin with fellow New Bohemian Matt Chamberlain and Skerik.
James Singleton is an American acoustic bassist, composer, and producer. He is a member of the New Orleans-based jazz group Astral Project with Johnny Vidacovich, Tony Dagradi, and Steve Masakowski. He has been described as one of the best and most sought-after bassists in New Orleans.
Billy Goat was a band playing rock, funk and Latin styles from 1989 to 1997 that frontman Mike Dillon later described as "a funk-punk band in the vein of the Red Hot Chili Peppers". Originating in Denton, Texas, Billy Goat was popular in the Dallas and Austin scenes including Deep Ellum and became known for its wild stage antics. One published reason for disbanding was turmoil caused from a tour van crash. Putting music ahead of antics, the band reformed with a new line-up in Kansas City prior to the 1995 release, Black and White. The more recent project of Dillon, Go-Go Jungle, has ties to Billy Goat's second incarnation including band members Go-Go Ray and J.J. Richards.
Karl Denson is an American funk and jazz saxophonist, flutist and vocalist from Santa Ana, California. He was a member of Lenny Kravitz's band and has co-founded and led The Greyboy Allstars. Denson has recorded with artists including Jack DeJohnette, Dave Holland, Slightly Stoopid, Blind Boys of Alabama, Blackalicious, Stanton Moore, and Jon Foreman of the rock band Switchfoot. He continues to lead his own Karl Denson's Tiny Universe (KDTU) and Karl Denson Trio (KD3), while touring with the Rolling Stones since 2014 to date. Denson appears in the 1988 movie Coming To America as the saxophonist in the fictional band Sexual Chocolate.
III is Stanton Moore's third studio solo album released 2006. As each of Moore's solo albums have had unique character, III features keyboardist Robert Walter and guitarist Will Bernard for a 1970s-like soul funk with a "sense of authenticity" as "artists who live it."
Solarallergy is a jazz and rock instrumental album by Black Frames. Black Frames is a collaborative project by Skerik, Mike Dillon, Earl Harvin and Brad Houser from 2002. The album was accompanied by a national tour. Between the musicians are long-time associations: Dillon and Harvin from Ten Hands and Billy Goat; Skerik, Houser and Dillon from Critters Buggin. Though Dillon and Harvin are primarily percussionists, for Solarallergy all members are credited for percussion. Each musician is also credited for composition.
Power Patriot is the third studio album by Garage A Trois. It is the first CD with the musician line-up that includes Stanton Moore, Skerik, Mike Dillon and Marco Benevento. It was released October 2009.
Royal Potato Family is an American independent record label based in Brooklyn, New York. The label's roster includes Marco Benevento, Seth Walker, American Babies, Robert Walter, Holly Bowling, Lukas Nelson, Neal Casal, Mike Dillon, Allison Miller, Superhuman Happiness, and Nolatet. The label was founded in early 2009 by Kevin Calabro and Marco Benevento.