Mike Vasas and The Beasts of Burden

July, 2006

After the release of The City and Grace Monica, I took a break from writing music and did other things. I ended up interested in music again by way of the January Songs record which focused on me removing my control from the compositional system and letting music grow based on small input. A few months before that record, I put a flyer around MSU to get a band started. I had no idea what I was getting into, and had no idea what I really wanted out of a band, but I felt like I needed to do music with somebody. I figured it wouldn't happen that quickly, so I never followed through until a second batch of flyers started getting responses. One response was from a certain Matt Milia whom later went on to form Frontier Ruckus, the best band to ever come out of the MSU/UofM rivalry. I also got a response from a guy named Ryan Bodiford whom I have played a few shows with...he is now a proud father. Eventually I found a few friends named Matt Feldman and Pat Fitzgibbon and we began jamming. We played two shows and then the band called it quits. I began looking again. Brian Slagle, my buddy from Kalamazoo, said he'd be interested in joining up as a guitarist if I decided to do a "Beasts of Burden 2.0" as he called it.

Mike Vasas and The Beasts of Burden cover

Meanwhile, in the Detroit area, Ryan Malinich and Brian Richard put up a post in Craigslist saying that they were looking for a songwriter/singer who could jam with the intention of playing out. They listed some cool influences including Radiohead, the Beatles, Interpol and Coldplay. I emailed them. We met. We rehearsed. It worked. I explained that I was looking for a backing band to perform whatever new material I would record on my own. Doctor Slagle joined us and we played a few shows to a surprising amount of fanfare and support from a local scene that seemed to be supportive and great. Met some fast new friends.

We needed a keyboardist so we contacted Brian and Ryan's friend Eric Bredin, who had played synth and harmonica back in their MSU days in their band Mama Pajama. He said he'd be interested and that he recently had gotten into playing mandolin. He came down and rehearsed. We liked him a lot. We talked him into doing a show that night. Somewhere between the addition of Eric and December of 2005, I decided that The Beasts of Burden were not just a cool backing band but a band that should be part of the record. So, I decided to change the name of the record from its working title 100- A Mike Vasas Record, to Mike Vasas and The Beasts of Burden.

The record is a pretty dark one. Far darker in tone than anything else I've ever done and I hope people can see it as it is a piece rather than as a "new direction" for my discography. I now consider the record as the beginning of a collection of records that will be credited to "Mike Vasas and The Beasts of Burden" and won't specifically feature this brooding, reflective tone but will focus on the abilities of the ensemble that inspired me to include them in the process.

The record was mixed by Kevin Pople at Elpop Studios and though it may not seem like it, and he'd be nonchalant about it, mixing the record was quite a BURDEN in and of itself, so special kudos to Kevin and his facilities.