Mike Ayley from Marianas Trench, known as MIKEH has shared Golden Hour: First Things First
Mikey Ayley, known as the bassist of the multi-Platinum-selling Vancouver pop-rock band Marianas Trench has stepped into the spotlight under the moniker MIKEH with his debut solo project, an EP titled Golden Hour: First Things First, released via 604 Records.
Golden Hour: First Things First was produced by Mike and Pedro Dzelme, and together, the pair explored the line between full-on rock and pop effortlessly, capturing the kind of beginnings, endings, and uncertainties that lay between them when anything can happen in a manner that’s relentlessly hooky, richly textured, and leans heavily on Mike’s soaring, often chill-inducing vocals.
Aptly titled, the five-song EP is inspired by emotional gray areas Ayley often found himself pondering during his favourite times of day while the pandemic put his musical career on hold. The songs are highly personal, leaving plenty of room for listeners to see their own lives and the kind of uncertainties many of us have experienced over the past two years and the change reflected in them.
Mike credits much of his musical inspiration to the creative world that Marianas Trench exists in, lead singer Josh Ramsay’s approach to vocals as instruments in their own right, and the band’s ability to up their game and push the envelope with each successive record; things that opened his mind to endless musical possibilities.
Ultimately, Golden Hour: First Things First is a celebration of the kind of daily victories we too often take for granted that’s compellingly honest and immediately relatable, musically and lyrically.
Listen to Golden Hour: First Things First below and learn more about MIKEH via our mini-interview.
First off, care to introduce yourself to our readers?
My name is Mike Ayley. With my solo music, I go by the name MIKEH (cuz I’m Canadian, eh), and I’m the bass player in Marianas Trench.
You have unveiled your debut Solo EP, Golden Hour: First Things First. What can you tell us about the creative process behind the release?
I like the term you used, unveiled. That is literally my creative process. I usually have a tidbit of an idea and just sit down and try to find out what that little bit is. While working on that part, it seems that the next parts- whether the complimenting instruments or the next part- are slowly unveiled to me, one by one, as the song becomes more complete. The music usually becomes obvious pretty quickly for me. But sometimes, I still surprise myself as I carve the song out. Other times, I think I just follow an idea that was too obvious or too easily placed and rework it. Most of the melodies reveal themselves in that slow but steady unveiling process too, but sometimes this takes longer.
Writing the lyrics is probably the slowest and most tedious part for me. Sometimes I’ll have a recorded song with the melody sitting ready to go for days, weeks, or even months before I find the right words. I’ll have the main idea and possibly even a key one or two, but getting the right words is not easy for me. Sometimes I think I have the final words, start singing them, and realize they need a rewrite. With “Up Up Up,” I was literally in the studio with the producer, standing in front of the mic about to sing, and I stopped him from recording. It started with analyzing the first line while I was still in the isolation booth, but we ended up sitting together for the next two hours in the control room, massaging some of what was there and completely changing some other lines. I realized that the words were too specific to my story and would end up not being relatable for most listeners.
You worked with Pedro Dzelme on the EP. How was that experience?
Pedro is a wonderful human being. I love him! We both had the best time ever working on these songs. Literally the time of my life. We have very complimentary tastes and skill sets. He is a maestro with the recording software and all the technical aspects. He is a drummer first and has an incredible ear. He is also very patient and is a mild-tempered man. There were days when I would come into the studio just tired or just not having “it,” and he never made me feel any pressure. Sometimes I’d sneak a nap on the couch while he was editing or comping vocal takes and never felt guilt. Sometimes we were both riding the Wembley Express at light speed and laughing to the point of tears about jokes nobody else will ever quite get. What a guy! I can’t wait to work with him again!
What are the main differences when it comes to creating your own music, as opposed to working with Marianas Trench?
Good question. When you work with Josh, you walk into the studio to mostly complete ideas, and there is often nothing I could suggest to improve a thing. He is a genius. His voice is the stuff folklore is written about. His creative ambition may be of that rare generational type. For me, after recording and touring Phantoms, it seemed almost foolish to even entertain the idea of making my own music. It felt like I was a tenth-grade student and would be comparing myself to an Oxford University professor. But…. I still had no choice. Once the ideas started coming, ignoring them would have killed a part of myself. In my first band, I was one of the two creative members. In MT, I kind of turned off the creative faucet. There just wasn’t room for another key writer in the project. When the waters started running again, I had to make the music and just make it for me. If I turned that flowing tap off again, it might never turn back on. When I started making songs, I didn’t intend to write an album or EP. But after I had about 3-4 songs that I thought were pretty good (although in an incredibly rough demo state), I started sending them to Jonathan and Julie from 604 Records to see what they thought. Eventually, I had enough music and the support of the label to record the songs in a pro studio with Pedro to produce and engineer.
If asked to describe your sound in 10 words or less, what would you choose?
Hopeful, introspective, sensitive, honest, vulnerable, passionate, and inspired.