MUSICAL DIRECTOR, ARRANGER AND MUSICIAN
Mike has been the arranger and woodwind/sax/keys player for electronic music legend and 7-time Grammy nominee Bonobo since 2010. The recent ‘Fragments’ World Tour included a record-breaking 5-night run at the Royal Albert Hall, for which Mike orchestrated the music for string orchestra, brass, woodwinds and the Albert Hall Grand Organ.
Mike is currently MD for pop stars Becky Hill and Clementine Douglas; dance producer and Mercury Prize-nominee Barry Can’t Swim; Warp-signed electronic producer Nightmares on Wax; UK Garage legend MJ Cole; and DJ, music producer and singer Eliza Rose. He was the first Musical Director for singer Arlo Parks, creating the show that she took from unsigned artist to Grammy-nominee and Brit- and Mercury Prize-winner. He was also MD for R&B legend Kelis for the 20th anniversary tour of her album Kaleidoscope, playing keys in the live band. Other recent MD credits include pop icon MARINA (formerly Marina and the Diamonds); electronic artist George FitzGerald; and singers Alewya, CLOVES and Andreya Triana.
Mike was asked to play sax and woodwinds for Quincy Jones for a series of concerts and the recording of the film ‘Quincy Jones: A Musical Celebration’. He also played in the horn section for TLC’s legendary Glastonbury show in 2022. Mike has recently toured, recorded an album, and played the Glastonbury pyramid stage with multiple Brit-winner and Grammy-nominee Raye; performed with Dua Lipa and Elton John; arranged and performed woodwinds for Maribou State and Jordan Rakei; recorded on a live album for BBC Radio 1′s Sound Of 2024 and Brit-nominees The Last Dinner Party; and Music Directed the pre-show at the Royal Albert Hall for Basement Jaxx‘s latest tour.
He has contributed arrangements and performances to 4 Grammy-nominated albums (‘This Music May Contain Hope’ by Raye; ‘Fragments‘ and ‘Migration‘ by Bonobo and ‘Chronology‘ by Chronixx); played and arranged horns on Jamie Woon’s Mercury Prize-nominated record ‘Making Time’ and arranged strings on Barry Can’t Swim‘s latest Mercury-nominated album ‘Loner’.
Other credits as a performer include Erykah Badu, Sam Smith, Tim Minchin, Jamie Cullum, Friendly Fires, Honne, Pete Tong, the Heritage Orchestra, Odesza, Lapalux, Roni Size, Kim Wilde, Vanessa-Mae, Alice Russell, The Herbaliser, The London Community Gospel Choir, Matmos, PREP, and Hackney Colliery Band.
COMPOSER AND PRODUCER
Mike is also a producer and composer for film, TV, radio and advertising, regularly working on bespoke compositions as well as writing for major production music labels (Sony BMG, EMI, Universal, Ninja Tune, Extreme Music, Cavendish). He recently wrote and produced the original music for Channel 4 show Highlife; has composed and recorded theme music for Sky TV; and his production music has been used extensively worldwide in shows like Family Guy, Good Morning America, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Saturday Night Live and The Big Bang Theory, as well as countless other programmes in the UK, US, South Korea, Spain, Germany, France and Australia.
Mike recently won the Production Music Award for best use of Production Music in Digital/Online Advertising for his work on the Guinness’ ‘Black Shines Brightest’ campaign. Other bespoke recent work includes compositions for ITV drama ‘You and Me’; commercial compositions for Lego, Stella Artois, and Argos; and original music for Joe Lycett‘s short film ‘Linda’.