Mike Park

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Mike Park
Mike Park Honolulu 2008.jpg
Live at Arts at Mark's Garage, Honolulu, HI
Background information
Born (1969-11-11) 11 November 1969 (age 54)
Genres Ska punk, punk rock, indie rock
Occupation(s)Musician, Songwriter, Producer, Label Owner
Instrument(s)Vocals, Guitar, Saxophone
Years active1985–present
Labels Asian Man
Dill
Dr. Strange
Simple Stereo
Sub City
Suburban Home
Website http://www.mikeparkmusic.com

Michael Brian Park is an American musician and progressive activist. His musical ventures include Skankin' Pickle for whom he both played the saxophone and sang, The Chinkees, The Bruce Lee Band, and Ogikubo Station, as well as an acoustic solo project under his own name. After his time with Skankin' Pickle he went on to found Asian Man Records, [1] a label which he has run out of his garage in California since 1996 with only help from his parents and friends. [2] Asian Man Records supports mostly ska and punk bands. Park has used Asian Man Records to release his own music, in addition to providing a start for smaller bands to allow them to grow, including Less Than Jake, Alkaline Trio, and The Lawrence Arms. In 1999 he formed the Plea for Peace Foundation an organization whose aim is "to promote the ideas of peace through the power of music", something which Park has been trying to do with his own bands and with the help of other groups.[ citation needed ]

Contents

Park was the impetus behind the Spring 1998 "Ska Against Racism" tour. The goal of the tour was to promote awareness about racism and raise money for anti-racism organisations such as the Museum of Tolerance. The national tour included The Toasters, Less Than Jake, the Blue Meanies, Mustard Plug, Five Iron Frenzy, MU330, Kemuri, and Mike Park himself. [3]

Plea for Peace Foundation

The Plea for Peace Foundation was founded in 1999 by musician and founder of Asian Man Records, Mike Park. The Plea for Peace Foundations is a 501C3 Non-Profit Organization based in San Jose, California, in the United States. The organisation's stated goal is to "promote the ideas of peace through the power of music". Initially the foundation was only active in national and global music tours, but in 2007 it intends to open a youth center for children where they will be encouraged to "perform music, create art, dance and talk to others of similar interests".

In 2004, Plea for Peace organized a musical tour of the same name. The tour was a stand against President George W. Bush and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. [4]

Personal life

Park grew up in Silicon Valley in Northern California, where he still lives. He majored in music in college. [5]

He is a Minister of the Universal Life Church. [6]

Discography

Solo

With 'Skankin' Pickle'

YearTitleLabel
1991 Skafunkrastapunk Dill Records
1992 Skankin' Pickle Fever Dill Records
1994 Sing Along With Skankin' Pickle Dill Records
1996 Live Dill Records
1996 The Green Album Dr. Strange Records

With 'The Chinkees'

With 'The Bruce Lee Band'

YearTitleLabel
1995 The Bruce Lee BandAsian Man Records
2005 Beautiful World EPAsian Man Records
2014 Community Support Group EPReally Records [7]
2014 Everything Will Be Alright, My FriendAsian Man Records
2019 Rental!! Eviction!!Asian Man Records
2021 Division in the Heartland EPAsian Man Records

With 'Ogikubo Station'

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Dill Records was a small punk rock/ska record label based out of Monte Sereno, California, that put out CDs/records from 1989-1998. The name is an allusion to initially the label's only band, Skankin' Pickle. The record label was started by Mike Park, a.k.a. Bruce Lee of Skankin' Pickle. The first other band with a release on Dill Records was the Tantra Monsters in 1994. After the breakup of Skankin' Pickle, Mike Park continued releasing records, beginning the label Asian Man Records in 1996. Asian Man and Dill Records coexisted until 1998. Asian Man re-released many albums originally released by Dill Records, as all releases are now out of print and Dill Records is no longer in operation.

The Chinkees are an American ska punk band fronted by Mike Park. The group debuted with 1998's The Chinkees Are Coming!, and followed with 1999's Peace Through Music and 2002's Searching for a Brighter Future before a greatest hits album was released in 2003. According to the liner notes for the band's debut album The Chinkees Are Coming!, the music was recorded by members of the band Tuesday with vocals provided by Mike Park. Subsequent albums were recorded all or in part by members Park, Miya Osaki, Greg Alesandro, Jason Thinh, and Steve Choi, as well as "guest" musicians, including Slapstick and Tuesday drummer Rob Kellenberger and Link 80's Steve Borth, often with members trading and playing different instruments than listed. All of the members were involved with the ska/punk scene. Jason Thinh was from the band Short Round, Miya was a member of the Santa Cruz punk trio The Muggs, Greg Alesandro a member of San Jose band Statue Man, and Steve Choi later becoming a keyboardist and guitarist for Rx Bandits in 1999.

The Rudiments are an American ska punk band from the East Bay, California, United States.

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Sing Along With Skankin' Pickle is the third studio album by the American ska punk band Skankin' Pickle. It was released on Dill Records in 1994. Four of the bandmembers contributed to the songwriting. The band supported the album with a North American tour.

<i>Skankin Pickle Live</i> 1995 live album by Skankin Pickle

Skankin' Pickle Live is a live album by American ska punk band Skankin' Pickle, released on Dill Records in 1995.

<i>Skafunkrastapunk</i> 1991 studio album by Skankin Pickle

Skafunkrastapunk is the debut album by American ska punk band Skankin' Pickle, released in 1991 on Dill Records and subsequently re-issued in 1995.

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<i>The Chinkees Are Coming</i> 1998 studio album by The Chinkees

The Chinkees Are Coming is the first studio album by the all-Asian ska punk band the Chinkees. Released in 1998 on Asian Man Records, it was the first of three studio albums by the band. Some of the album's proceeds went to anti-racist organizations.

The Ska Against Racism Tour of 1998 was a one time musical tour in the United States organized by Mike Park, a Korean American musician. The audience was mainly young white male hardcore ska devotees. Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica and later became the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. This genre of music promoted racial tolerance through a variety of multicultural artists and bands. The purpose of this tour was to overcome racial barriers in a nonviolent and peaceful manner.

Lynette Christine Knackstedt was an American punk and ska musician, as well as a member of the band Skankin' Pickle.

References

  1. "Mike Park | Biography & History". AllMusic .
  2. Inoue, Todd (January 1998). "Secret Asian Man". Metroactive. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
  3. Steininger, Alex (April 1998). "Ska Against Racism". In Music We Trust. Retrieved February 17, 2007.
  4. Hajdu, David. "Where Has "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" Gone?". New Republic. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
  5. "PIONEER OF THE THIRD WAVE SKA REVIVAL, 99.9 PER CENT INDIE MAN: INTERVIEW WITH MIKE PARK". koreanpop.com. September 11, 2007. Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  6. "Mike Park". Mikeparkmusic.com.
  7. "Music: Bruce Lee Band (Bomb the Music Industry!, Skankin' Pickle) announce 'Community Support Group' EP". Punknews.org.