INTERVIEW: Mike Sherk (Portland, OR)
Over the years you've performed with or as a part of too many bands to honestly name (Deer Tick, Viking Moses, David Israel, Liz Isenberg and iji - to scratch the surface). You've also brought in multitudes of collaborators yourself for your albums released under the Mandarin Dynasty moniker. What is your greatest strength and greatest weakness in collaboration? Mike Sherk: My strength in collaborating, if you can even call it that, is my luck in being able to surround myself with lovely humans who are incredibly giving in our work together. As far as my greatest weakness in collaboration: I'm an Aries with a Gemini moon. Look it up, and weep for me. After three full-lengths and three EPs as Mandarin Dynasty, you've decided to forge ahead under your true-blue-presumably-birth-given name. Was that a difficult decision? Is it intimidating or freeing to divorce your tunes from their publicly recognized name while everything else remains largely the same underneath?
MS: Performing under my own name felt foreign and strange at first, but it now feels good. It also makes things a little more self-explanatory -- the members of my touring bands have always varied, depending on the schedules of my pals. Striving for clarity.
When we last spoke, it was during your tour very recently after the release of 'Feedback Time' in 2015. A year later, how do you feel about those songs and the group of people that helped make them? Is the music you're currently creating similar or different from those tracks? MS: I care deeply for the people with whom I made Feedback Time, and I appreciate the album. Getting to sing those songs throughout last year with Caitlin Roberts and other friends was an incredible life experience. I'm pushing on towards new sounds that excite my brain. My new music has a lot of holes in it, on purpose. The ear of the listener hopefully can color it in with their own brush and palette. What is an album or song from 2016 that has stuck in your head? What is an album or song from long ago that found it's way to you in 2016 and won't leave? MS: Chris Weisman's “Play Sharp to Me” is a pretty incredible album. His songs are like someone smashing jigsaw puzzle pieces together to create a new work of art. The components he's arranging shouldn't work together, but they do. I found Jaco Pastorious' first two albums this year. They rocked my world. I encourage readers to seek those records out.
Who would be most likely to hit a homerun at the FUNZONE batting cages: 2016 Mike Sherk or 2016 Jerry Sherk? MS: Big Jerry will always out-baseball me. Next question. Lastly, who are some of your favorite bands in your area that you think people should check out here in California? I'd also like to extend that out for you to shoutout any friends and collaborators projects you think deserve a listen too. MS: My bandmates on this tour have other projects: Michele Finklestein plays in projects called Swooning, Jenny Creep and the Chelles. Annie Fifer is the bassist in Why Oh Why. Tyler Martin is the original mastermind behind James Rabbit, and is also currently playing in Iji and Stop Clicking. All of the aforementioned acts are rad and worth a listen.
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Mike Sherk and Band will be taking the floor at FUNZONE on Monday, November 7th. Also on the bill are Tuscon-based Logan & Lucille and local musicians Grand Amour and Katie Murray. The show begins at 8PM, costs $5 and is all-ages. More information can be found at SBDIY.org.
