Hello again all of my excitable friends! Monday, Monday…can only mean one thing! It’s time for the new 311 fan spotlight – feast your eyes on this weeks fan Mr. Mike Taylor!
Eighth grade is where Mike’s journey with 311 began. His pop gave him five CD’s – Tool, Rage Against the Machine, Soul Coughing, Hed (pe), and 311. “Needless to say, those 5 albums started my musical path.” Mike said it’s hard to put into words what drew him to the sounds of 311. “It just made sense to my ears!”
While he isn’t sure of the exact number of shows he’s attended, he believes the last cruise allowed him to get to the 30th mark. He added them up on memory alone. While each show and event he has been to are all his favorite for different reasons, if he had to choose one it would be the second cruise. “2 words: Beach. Show.” Which leads us into the song that means the most to him, “Stealing Happy Hours.” I’m sure he thinks of the cruise when listening to this song! Favorite lyrics from a 311 song are, “Nothing in life is above being honest.
A small town just outside Rochester, New York, is where Mike was born and raised. He moved out at the age of 18 and has moved twice since then, but he always stays in the Upstate N.Y. area. He funds his 311 habit with hard work and he says a mind that never rests. “I will take my shirt off my back for anyone. I try my best to do my best in everything I do. Music is my life. I love climbing trees, throwing frisbee’s and kicking the hack sack. I love to drive. I am always the DD for everything ever and I like it that way. I like words. Using words. Listening to words. Writing words. Playing with words. Reading words. Which is to say I love communication. I listen to, analyze, appreciate and follow every single word to every single song to all my favorite bands. The lyrics, rhyme scheme, message and meaning of the words in a song are one of my favorite things about almost all the music I listen to.”
Music plays a big part in Mikes life and he said as far as his favorite bands, he could sit here and list them for hours. “I am into every and any type of music that is real, raw, soulful, funky, emotional, energetic, you name it. If it comes from the heart, soul, and mind, it is music I will connect to.”
Do you know what or who you were in your past life? Mike does! “I used to be a Cheetah. I think that is why I still had 9 lives when I started in my current human state. Although I have only a few lives left now (been in a couple intense traumatic experiences growing up).” Mike also said that most people don’t know that his skull is half metal!
A little cool tidbit of info about Mike – he was born on 6/11 at exactly 6:11 A.M. “I became human on 611 at 611. So 611 is a sacred number to my perceptions and I live my life by the numbers. I mean the answer to life, the universe, and everything is 42 so why not!”
Guilty pleasure for Mike is chocolate. “It may very well be the death of me someday but I am ok with that.”
Mike would simply like to tell 311 “Thank you.” And to all of the amazing fans that make up 311 nation:
“Infinite Love is the only Truth. Everything else is Illusion.”
——-
That’s a wrap on this weeks edition of the 311 fan spotlight! I hope you enjoyed the story of Mike Taylor! Now go kick some Monday ass and remember to keep on spreading the message of positivity, unity, and love wherever your path takes you!
Much love – The Runt