Biografia
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Urodzony
17 grudnia 1958 (wiek 66)
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Urodzony w
Orange, Orange County, California, Stany Zjednoczone
Michael Edward Mills (born December 17, 1958 in Orange County, California) is the bass player of the band R.E.M. Though known primarily as a bassist and piano player, his musical repertoire includes many other keyboard, string, wind and percussion instruments. He also contributes to much of the band's songwriting.
As a young boy, he moved with his family to Macon, Georgia in the early '60s. Mills' father Frank was a singer whose appearances included The Ed Sullivan Show, while his mother Adora was a piano teacher, which helped him develop a love of music at an early age. He met and formed a band with drummer friend Bill Berry in high school (the two were arch-enemies for a while during grade school). They met Peter Buck and Michael Stipe after starting at the University of Georgia in Athens.
Mills, Berry, Buck and Stipe decided to drop out of University and focus on their band, now named R.E.M. The band quickly developed a following and were soon signed to I.R.S. Records.
He is responsible for the songwriting behind some of R.E.M.'s most respected songs, including "Find the River", "At My Most Beautiful", "Why Not Smile", "Let Me In", "Wendell Gee", "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville", "Beat a Drum", "Be Mine" and "What's The Frequency, Kenneth?". In addition to providing backing melodies, he has also sung lead vocals on "Texarkana", "Near Wild Heaven", The Clique cover "Superman" and The Troggs cover, "Love Is All Around".
Mills was arrested for indecent exposure in Athens in the early 1980s, known in R.E.M. lore as "the water tower incident".
Mills was responsible for toning down the lyrics of the song "Welcome to the Occupation." Stipe's original lyric was "Hang your freedom fighter" which, given the Reagan administration's active support for the contra "freedom fighters" in Nicaragua, sounded very violent and militant. Mills' objection led the line to be changed to "hang your freedom higher."
Mills is also known for his collection of Nudie suits that he often wears on stage, and were first seen in the 1994 video for "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" and then regularly on the subsequent 1995 Monster Tour.
Recent album Around the Sun was received with huge media criticism. Mike Mills' influence was arguably greater on that album than ever before, with his piano lines and keyboards coming to the fore far more than the guitar playing of Peter Buck. His background vocals have become increasingly mixed into the background, and this has been the case since 2003's "Animal". Some would suggest that Buck's songwriting may be somewhat diluted in R.E.M., and that he focuses greatly on various side projects, leaving Mills to write more than ever.
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