Bands |
Mike Baker - vocals
Studio Report - The Human Equation: Through Gary Wehrkamp (guitar/keyboard/kazoo player in Shadow Gallery) I came in contact with Mike (Shadow Gallery's vocalist). We've been emailing a lot for a couple of years and became good friends. We are both huge music lovers, especially all these obscure hardrock and progbands from the 70's. So we've been recording loads of CDRs with obscure bands for each other; the weirder the better. Coincidentally we both turned out to be huge Alice Cooper fans as well and we regularly quote parts of his great lyrics in our emails! - How did you get in touch with Mike? Arjen: I had this weird song subtitled "Loser" with its Alice Cooper-like lyrics and vocal style, and Mike once wrote me that he would once like to do something like this. So who would be a better choice than Mike? I asked him and he immediately said yes, even before he heard the song! - Where did Mike record his vocals? Arjen: Gary Wehrkamp recorded Mike in his studio in Allentown, PA in the U.S. I sent Mike the instrumental track, and already one week later I got it back! Needless to say I was really impressed by what he did. I'm sure Alice himself couldn't have done a better job and would be proud of him ;-) - How would you describe Mike's voice? Arjen: The song Mike sang for me is definitely not representative for his own broad style, he can do a lot more as he's proved in Shadow Gallery. I think he's so versatile because he's such a big music lover with a very wide taste, very important I think. And having a great voice helps as well ;O) - What was the most memorable moment? The moment I played his vocal track here in my studio for the first time. I got goosebumps all over when I heard how much emotion and humor he managed to put into his performance. - What was something you absolutely didn't expect? Arjen: I already knew he was a great singer, but I didn't know he would be such a great 'actor' as well. - What was something Mike did not expect? Arjen: I'm not sure, but when I sent him an Ayreon song I guess he didn't expect it to be such a weird folk/country/world/oriental/Irish/metal/jazz/shuffle song! - Mike has the unique ability to... Arjen: …make me laugh and impress me at the same time. - Describe the endresult of the session. Arjen: Mike did an amazing job. It's a real shame I couldn't be present when he recorded the song. Hope to meet you in person one day, Bastard! Er..sorry...Mike. |
