Mike Mills facts for kids

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, piano, organ, guitar, accordion, 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 December 17, 1958) is an American musician, singer, and composer. He was a founding member of the famous alternative rock band R.E.M.. While he's best known as R.E.M.'s bass guitarist and a backing singer, Mike also plays keyboards, guitar, and sometimes sings lead vocals. He helped write many of the band's songs. He is also the only member of R.E.M. who had formal music lessons.

Early Life and Musical Beginnings

Michael Edward Mills was born in Orange County, California. His father was in the U.S. Marines. When Mike was six months old, he moved with his mother and grandmother to Atlanta, Georgia. They lived there for about ten years. In 1971, his family moved to Macon, Georgia.

It was in Macon that Mike met Bill Berry, who would later become R.E.M.'s drummer. They went to high school together and started playing in bands. One of their early bands was called Shadowfax, then later The Back Door Band. Bill kept his drums at Mike's parents' house. Mike would often try playing them. He remembered having only three records at the time: A Night at the Opera by Queen and Tres Hombres by ZZ Top.

Mike started playing bass guitar in high school. He loved how the sound of the bass made the wooden bleachers in the school's jazz band room vibrate. He borrowed two bass guitars from his mother's chiropractor. Later, 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.

During high school, Mike listened to many different types of music. He enjoyed Suitable for Framing by Three Dog Night and Summer Breeze by Seals and Crofts. He also listened to a top-40 radio station that played everything from Motown to the Beach Boys and British Invasion bands. Growing up in the American South, he heard white gospel music and country music. His parents liked classical music and jazz, so he was surrounded by many musical styles. His mother also played acoustic guitar.

Later, Mike and Bill Berry moved to Athens, Georgia. They had sold most of their music gear but bought it back. They had become interested in punk music. Mike attended the University of Georgia, 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. Some of these include "Nightswimming", "Find the River", and "At My Most Beautiful". His piano and keyboard playing were especially important on R.E.M.'s 2004 album, Around the Sun.

Mike also sang many of the backing vocals and harmonies in R.E.M.'s songs. His singing was very noticeable on albums like Lifes Rich Pageant (1986) and Accelerate (2008). He sang lead vocals on songs such as "Texarkana" and "Near Wild Heaven".

Mills performing in 2004

Mike has also worked on many other 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 as part of the band Hindu Love Gods.

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

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

He also plays in singer-songwriter Joseph Arthur's band. In 2014, while performing with Joseph Arthur, Mike accidentally announced that David Letterman would be retiring from his TV show. Years later, David Letterman told Mike it was okay.

Since 2010, Mike has played in a special concert series called Big Star's Third. These concerts celebrate the album Third/Sister Lovers by the band Big Star. Mike is a big fan of Big Star. He even wrote the notes for the re-release of their first two albums.

In 2016, he toured with his childhood friend Robert McDuffie for a special "Concerto for Violin, Rock Band, and String Orchestra." This tour started again in 2022.

In 2023, a new type of mushroom was named after him: Pluteus millsii.

Mike Mills' Musical Style

Mike Mills' bass playing style is very melodic. He was inspired by bass players like 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." He didn't want to play the usual bass lines that just follow the drum beat.

Mike has more musical training than his R.E.M. bandmates. He said this helped him turn his musical ideas into real songs. He started taking piano lessons when he was 14.

In R.E.M. songs, Mike often sang harmonies with Michael Stipe. For example, in the song "Stand", Mike and Michael sing different parts back and forth. Mike explained that his voice was like an extra instrument in the band. He grew up loving harmony and singing in church choirs.

Musical Instruments

Mike isn't a "gearhead" (someone who is obsessed with musical equipment). He said his Rickenbacker bass sounded good on R.E.M.'s first few albums. However, he had to stop using it when the pickups (parts that turn string vibrations into sound) broke. He tried other basses like Ibanez and a Guild Pilot. Eventually, he started playing a Fender Precision Bass. Even though many people played them, he realized they were the best basses, especially for big concert halls.

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 "Sentimental Hygiene", "Boom Boom Mancini", "The Factory", "Trouble Waiting to Happen", "Detox Mansion", "Bad Karma", "Even a Dog Can Shake Hands", and "The Heartache"
• 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 for the Red Apple Foundation
• 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
• 2024 – Johnny Irion – Sleeping Soldiers of Love

Personal Life

Mike Mills enjoys playing fantasy sports. He follows teams in the NFL (football), NBA (basketball), and PGA (golf). He is also a big fan of the Georgia Bulldogs football team, which is his old university's team.

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

See also

In Spanish: Mike Mills para niños