Mike Mills facts for kids

For other uses, see Mike Mills (disambiguation).

Quick facts for kids Mike Mills
Mills in 2008
Background information
Birth name	Michael Edward Mills
Born	(1958-12-17) December 17, 1958 (age 66) Orange County, California, U.S.
Genres	Alternative rock, folk rock, college rock, jangle pop
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer, music producer
Instruments	Bass guitar, keyboards, vocals
Years active	1978–present
Associated acts	R.E.M., Hindu Love Gods, The Backbeat Band, Automatic Baby, The Baseball Project, Big Star's Third

Michael Edward Mills, born on December 17, 1958, is an American musician, singer, and composer. He was one of the people who started the famous alternative rock band R.E.M.. While he's best known as R.E.M.'s bass player and for singing backup, he also plays keyboards and sometimes sings the main vocals. Mike helped write most of the band's songs. He is also the only member of R.E.M. who had official music lessons.

Mike Mills' Early Life
Mike Mills' Music Career
Mike Mills' Musical Style
- Equipment Mike Mills Uses
Mike Mills' Discography
Mike Mills' Personal Life
See also

Mike Mills' Early Life

Michael Edward Mills was born in Orange County, California. His dad was in the Marines there. When Mike was six months old, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia, with his mom and grandma. He lived there for about ten years. In 1971, his family moved to Macon, Georgia.

Discovering Music

In Macon, Mike met Bill Berry, who would later be his bandmate in R.E.M. They went to high school together and started playing in bands. One of their early bands was called Shadowfax, which later became The Back Door Band. Bill kept his drums at Mike's parents' house. Mike often tried playing the drums himself.

Mike said he only had three records back then: A Night at the Opera by Queen, Tres Hombres by ZZ Top, and one he couldn't remember. In high school, he started playing bass guitar. He loved how the sound of the bass made the wooden bleachers vibrate in the school's jazz band. He borrowed two bass guitars from his mom's chiropractor. One was a Fender and the other a Gibson EB-2. After returning them, he used the school's jazz bass for a long time. Because he played in the jazz band, he also had to play in the school's classical band and marching band.

Musical Influences

During high school, Mike listened to many different records. Some of his favorites were Suitable for Framing by Three Dog Night, Summer Breeze by Seals and Crofts, and You Don't Mess Around with Jim by Jim Croce. He also listened to WNEX-FM, a top-40 radio station in Macon. He enjoyed how they played all kinds of music, like Motown, the Beach Boys, and British Invasion bands.

Growing up in the American South, he also heard white gospel music on TV. He said, "You'd get the white gospel, and you could find some black gospel. Country music was everywhere." His parents liked classical music, and his dad enjoyed jazz. So, Mike was surrounded by many types of music. His mom also played acoustic guitar.

Moving to Athens

Later, Mike and Bill Berry sold most of their music gear and moved to Athens, Georgia. Once they arrived, they bought new equipment. They had become interested in punk music because of Ian Copeland, who Bill worked with. Mike attended the University of Georgia in Athens, which is where R.E.M. was formed.

Mike Mills' Music Career

Mike Mills is known for being the main composer for many of R.E.M.'s songs. These include "Nightswimming", "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", "Electrolite", and "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" His piano and keyboard playing were very important to R.E.M.'s 2004 album, Around the Sun.

Mike also sang many of the important backup and harmony parts in R.E.M.'s songs. His singing was especially noticeable on the albums Lifes Rich Pageant (1986) and Accelerate (2008). He sang the main vocals on songs like "Texarkana", "Near Wild Heaven", and covers of "Superman" by The Clique and "Love Is All Around" by The Troggs.

Mills performing in 2004

Mike has also worked on many other music projects with friends. In 1990, he wrote music for a short film called Men Will Be Boys. That same year, he recorded with Warren Zevon, along with his R.E.M. bandmates Peter Buck and Bill Berry, as the Hindu Love Gods.

In 2012, Mike played piano on a special single released by Drive-By Truckers member Patterson Hood. This song was a protest against a Walmart store being built in Athens, Georgia.

Mike is also a member of a band called The Baseball Project. Other members include Steve Wynn, Scott McCaughey, Peter Buck, and Linda Pitmon.

Mike performs with singer-songwriter Joseph Arthur's band. In 2014, while performing with Arthur, Mike shared the news that David Letterman would be retiring from his TV show. Years later, Mike said that Letterman was fine with him sharing the news. Mike even took a picture and did a short interview about "breaking" the story.

Since 2010, Mike has played with different musicians for a series of concerts. These concerts are based on Big Star's album Third/Sister Lovers. The concert series is called Big Star's Third. They have performed in cities like London, Sydney, Chicago, and New York. Mike has been a fan of Big Star for a long time. He wrote the notes for the re-release of their first two albums, #1 Record (1972) and Radio City (1974).

In 2016, Mike went on tour to support a special piece of music. It was called Concerto for Violin, Rock Band, and String Orchestra. He performed with his childhood friend Robert McDuffie, and guitar players William Tonks and John Neff. The tour started again in 2022.

In 2023, a new type of mushroom was named after him. It's called Pluteus millsii.

Mike Mills' Musical Style

Mike Mills plays the bass guitar in a very melodic way. This means his bass lines often sound like a tune, not just a rhythm. He was inspired by Paul McCartney from the Beatles and Chris Squire from Yes. Mike once said, "I always played a melodic bass, like a piano bass in some ways... I never wanted to play the traditional locked into the kick drum, root note bass work."

Mike has more formal music training than his R.E.M. bandmates. He said this "made it easier to turn abstract musical ideas into reality." He started taking piano lessons when he was 14.

During R.E.M.'s career, Mike often sang harmonies with Michael Stipe. For example, in the song "Stand", Mike and Michael take turns singing lyrics. Mike explained that his voice is good at harmony because he enjoyed it his whole life. He sang in a church choir as a kid and always found the harmony parts. He grew up with music all around him. When R.E.M. started, he sang. They thought of his voice and Michael's voice as extra instruments, adding more melody to the music.

Equipment Mike Mills Uses

Mike isn't a "gearhead," meaning he doesn't focus too much on his equipment. He liked the Rick bass he used for R.E.M.'s first few albums. But when the pickups (parts that pick up the sound) broke, the new ones weren't good. So, he stopped playing Rickenbacker basses. He tried different brands like Ibanez. He ended up using a Guild Pilot bass for the 1989 tour. Eventually, he started using a Fender Precision Bass. He said he didn't want to at first because everyone played one. But then he realized, "There's a reason everybody plays one." He thinks they are the best basses, especially for playing in big concert halls.

Mike Mills' Discography

Mills, 2017

1984 – Hindu Love Gods – "Gonna Have a Good Time Tonight"/"Narrator"
1985 – Full Time Men– Full Time Men, organ on "One More Time"
1987 – Warren Zevon – Sentimental Hygiene on several songs
1987 – Waxing Poetics– Hermitage, production
1988 – Billy James – Sixes and Sevens, production
1988 – The Cynics –"Roadrunner" (live)
1989 – Indigo Girls – Indigo Girls, bass guitar on "Tried to Be True"
1989 – Vibrating Egg – Come On in Here If You Want To, writing and performance
1990 – Kevn Kinney – MacDougal Blues
1990 – Hindu Love Gods – Hindu Love Gods
1990 – Hindu Love Gods – "Raspberry Beret"
1991 – Nikki Sudden – The Jewel Thief
1991 – Nikki Sudden – "I Belong to You"
1991 – Robbie Robertson – Storyville, singing on "Shake This Town"
1992 – The Troggs – Athens, Andover
1992 – Jane Pratt Show theme music
1993 – Automatic Baby – "One"
1993 – The Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream, piano on "Soma"
1993 – Three Walls Down – Building Our House, production
1993 – Three Walls Down – "Steps"/"Wooden Nails"/"Faith in These Times" (live)
1994 – Backbeat soundtrack
1994 – Victoria Williams – Loose, vocals on "You R Loved"
2000 – Christy McWilson – The Lucky One
2006 – Various artists – Big Star, Small World, bass guitar on "The Ballad of El Goodo", with Matthew Sweet
2006 – Mike Mills and Sally Ellyson – "Jesus Christ", a Big Star song covered for a charity single
2007 – Mudville – Iris Nova, piano on "Eternity"
2008 – Modern Skirts – All of Us in Our Night, production on "Motorcade"
2008 – The Baseball Project – Volume 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails
2009 – Favorite Son soundtrack – "Gift of the Fathers"
2009 – Jill Hennessy – Ghost in My Head, backing vocals on "Erin"
2009 – The Baseball Project – Homerun EP
2010 – Various artists – The Voice Project, cover of Billy Bragg's "Sing Their Souls Back Home"
2011 – The Baseball Project – Volume 2: High and Inside
2011 – The Baseball Project – The Broadside Ballads
2012 – Jason Ringenberg – Nature Jams – vocals on one track
2012 – Patterson Hood & The Downtown 13 – "After It's Gone"/"Unspoken Pretties" – performance on A-side, single released for Record Store Day
2014 – The Baseball Project – 3rd
2016 – Mike Mills – Concerto for Violin, Rock Band, and String Orchestra
2022 – Superchunk - Wild Loneliness, vocal on "On the Floor"
2022 – Drive-By Truckers - Welcome 2 Club XIII
2023 – The Baseball Project – Grand Salami Time!
2024 – Johnny Irion – Sleeping Soldiers of Love

Mike Mills' Personal Life

Mike Mills loves playing fantasy sports. He is interested in teams from the NFL (football), NBA (basketball), and PGA (golf). He is also a big fan of his old college football team, the Georgia Bulldogs.

He is married to Jasmine Pahl. Mike has a younger brother named Mitch, who is also a musician.