Want to watch the premiere of his latest video "Brown Bag Ba$tard" and read an exclusive interview where Mikey chats to us about musical style, his rap journey and eating a bucket of cheese balls? Click below...
So first things first,
your EP “WILL RAP 4 BEER”; how much beer is it going to take before you rap?!
You’ve said that the EP got its name from you only being able to rap when
drunk. When was the change for you when you gained confidence? Or are we still going
to have to bribe you with a few beers?
Well as of now the beer is just a perk, I’ll rap at anytime. I used to
hit parties with my homies and I was shy so I’d slam booze to warm up to
people. That eventually turned into me drinking and rapping. It got to a point
where I would hit a party and someone would ask me to rap but I’d tell them I
have to be drunk first so they’d get me a beer. As far as gaining more
confidence and drinking less beer goes, that happened when me and my homie
Kevin Getzen opened up for the Gym Class Heroes at Valparaiso university, which
is the biggest lutheran school in the country and had a no booze policy. We
spent the whole day on campus so come showtime I was sober as f**k. As a result
I was forced to face my confidence issues on the spot. Luckily, the
second I stepped on stage I realized I couldn’t see passed the first row
because the lights were so bright. After that we performed at this frat house
where I proceeded to get trashed and rap while eating a bucket of cheese balls.
(career highlight) Now, rapping sober isn’t a problem for me...but if you got a
beer...
So let’s go back a
little bit to talk about your early love for music. You didn’t start off as a
rapper did you? In school you played guitar and saw yourself maybe becoming a
rock star. How did you move from that to rapping? I know you said your dad was
a DJ?
When I was a shorty I would dance or sing along with anything that had
a melody. Around the age of 10 or 11 I picked up an acoustic guitar because my
grandma told me that she would buy me an electric after I learned the basics. I
looked at the electric guitar as this magical instrument that was going to
transform me into this tattooed covered rockstar who drives fast cars and
chilled with wild women. Needless to say I never obtained this magical
instrument of transformation but I found out I could rhyme on the playground so
I started doing that to be cool. Fast forward 15 years, add a wicked case of
A.D.D., DJing at a skating rink for a few years, countless basements parties,
and some other s**t. Marinate all that in beer and here we are. All of this is
Mikey Fast Life...oh yea, my mom told me my pops was a dj too so i think my
love for music is genetic.
What draws you to rap
specifically instead of being in a rock band or any other genre of music?
Being born in 87’ I feel like I’ve seen rap since birth. I’ve seen it
in its many forms and I learned from the stories that were told through rap.
It’s just more relatable to me than any other genre of music.
You said that you’ve
always been in to music from an early age, and a real mix of music; what was
the first record you bought?
The first time I ever bought music with my own money I picked up “The
Fat of the Land” by Prodigy and “Tubthumper” by Chumbawamba. “Fat of the Land”
had that joint “Firestarter” and I thought that was badass. The Chumbawamba
album had a baby with some big ass teeth on the cover..trippy.
You grew up in Racine , WI-
Growing up the only rap I ever heard from local artists was all
gangster rap which I couldn’t relate to at the time. I grew up around that and
saw it first hand but I didn’t want to portray that image. The music scene now
is getting bigger and instead of finding my niche I’m slowly creating it along
with some of my closest homies...I wouldn’t have it any other way.
In terms of modern
music, do you still listen to and take influence from a mix of artists and
genres? Who have you been listening to recently?
Lately?...,Action Bronson, Big K.R.I.T. Yelawolf is a huge
inspiration to me. Artists that are creating their own lanes inspire me to stay
true to myself and don’t try to “fit-in”. I’ve also been jammin hella old music
for the last year and that’s where I draw most of my inspiration
from...listening to Pink Floyd, James Brown, Led Zeppelin, Al green; all of the
classics. There’s so much “new” old music that I’ve been discovering, it gets
hard for me to keep up with modern music.
You’ve said you want
to put the fun back in to rapping, so for people who are unfamiliar with your
music what kind of things do you rap about? And do you have a set way of
writing that works for you?
I rap about having sex with Mila Kunis (which will never happen unless
she reads this interview and decides that now is the time to make the worst
decision of her life), drunk shenanigans, hanging with my homies, growing up,
and tons of other things. I just go about it in a fun loving manner. I’m just a
regular dude who happens to know how to rap, that’s what makes it fun; most of
what I say is easy to relate to. My shows are always wild too, we just hosted a
wrestling themed rap show called RAPPER-MANIA (first of many); we had a title
belt, entrances, all that. My shows have a punk-ish vibe to them;
borderline moshpits and so that’s always a good time. I try and make it an
experience when I’m performing. When I write it’s at the most random times.
I’ll be driving and get a song idea. I could be on the toilet and get a song
idea. There’s no real process, I just create. Having a group of homies
who dabble in the arts themselves and provide positive reinforcement definitely
helps. PMA all day.
And finally what’s
next for you in terms of the next year and your music?
Basically from
this point out I won’t settle for a shitty sound, I’ll be taking my time and
dropping the highest quality of music I can make. It’s the least I can do for
people who take time to listen to me. I have a few projects in the works,
a mixtape titled “UNEMPLOYED” and another EP (produced entirely by my homie
Ekstoluke) titled “Twin Silvias.” These don’t have release dates yet but I will
be dropping some material leading up to and in between those projects most of
which will be singles with videos. Other than the constant flow of music, I
really want to travel and keep doing shows because I love that shit! I
really want to just continue to have fun and enjoy music as an artist and a
fan, it keeps me grounded.
