What’s The UC Radio Podshow all about?

UC Radio is my way of staying connected to the music world. I grew up in the East bay of San Francisco, then in Los Angeles. Both of those areas had a rich pirate radio community in the mid 70’s through the mid 80’s. I spent hours on weekend nights parked on hilltops listening to some amazing shows that were so much better than the local FM stations. What I really liked about them was the freedom of format and content. The UC Radio Podshow is produced in that same vein. It’s total freedom to do whatever I want on the show while playing some of the best music that nobody has ever heard of.

Mike, what was the first album you ever owned?

When I was 10 my parents gave me The Best of Jim Croce, which is a fabulous album, however, my Uncle Tom didn’t think it was what a growing boy needed. He took me to the record store in Walnut Creek and bought me “Led Zeppelin III”, Jimi Hendrix “Are you Experienced” and Deep Purple “Machine Head”. My life was never the same.

Were you really in a band in Hollywood in the 80’s?

Sure was. The band was Minus One. We were huge, in our own minds, just as almost every other band in Hollywood is and was. We played some great clubs before they were taken over by Hollywood starlets, including the Viper Room. In fact, we played there when it was still called The Central, which it became after it was called Filthy McNasty’s, the Door’s favorite Hollywood hangout. The Gaslamp, Madame Wongs etc. etc., all the usual places were our stomping grounds. We played with some really good bands, we played with some really shitty bands. It was a tough time, but I wouldn’t trade any of it. There is nothing like the feeling of stepping onto a stage on the Sunset Strip. Nothing even close.

Will you play anything on your show?

No. If it sucks or doesn’t rank my iPod, you won’t hear it. No bullshit and no sellout here. That’s one of the beautiful things about podcasting. I don’t have to play anything and I can play anything I want.

Are you the same Mike from Pacific Coast Hellway?

Sure am. I started writing for PCH in February of 2006. What started out as a casual, fun release for me, and a way to satisfy my dark side, turned into a friendship with Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff. As the show changed, Mark offered me a co-producer slot, which I took, and then about June of 2007 I became a co-host with Mark. Regardless of what people say about the show, I'm very proud to be a part of it. I really do feel like it's doing something that no other show is even close to, and to be a part of the first show of it's kind is an honor.

Why do you always hum "The Girl From Ipanema" when you say you need hold music during your show?

Beats me, just pops into my head for some reason.

Were you a Poly/Sci major?

Fuck no. I was a University of Northern Mexico Major when I attended San Diego State.

Are the stories you tell all true?

Every last one of them. I've been pretty lucky in that I've done a lot of stuff, survived a lot of things I probably shouldn't have, and have had a lot of colorful friends that dragged me along on their adventures.

If you could only have three albums, what would they be?

I absolutely hate questions like this because I always want to ask where I'd be with those three albums, am I alone, is it forever, like I'm stuck on a mountain someplace and this is it?

I guess if I had to pick three...
1. Bruce Springsteen "The River" would be the first. It was really the first Springsteen album that was all mine. It didn't come to me through my uncle Steve, I got to walk in, buy it and digest it alone in my room for weeks, and really make a connections with it. I can still associate every song on that album with my Junior year in high school some how and to someone, mostly girlfriends, but like I said, it was really the first Bruce album that was mine to take in.

2. Jim Croce's "Greatest Hits". I know, stop shaking your head, but this album can make me tear up. The songs are so beautifully writen and played and the lyrics are so touching and emotional that it's hard not to connect. Every once in awhile it's good to put in an album that can touch you emotionally in a deeply sad way, then turn the tables and make you get up and dance. Jim Croce had that ability and this album covers that. It was also the first album I ever owned. My parents bought it for me one Christmas so maybe there's a connection to my early childhood there as well.

3. This isn't fair....only three? Okay, I'd have to say, under duress, Van Halen 1. There is no album on my wall that makes me want to get up and take on the world like Van Halen 1 at max volume.

Why do you let Mark (Yoshimoto Nemcoff) make fun of you on Pacific Coast Hellway?

Because it's funny, I know he's just kidding and it makes listeners laugh. Really, what's the point of doing a smart, comedy show if it's not funny? See, we firmly believe that all of this PC crap has just gone way too far, so if in pushing the edge further out, Mark calls me gay, or pretends that I'm sitting there naked in the studio, so be it. It's funny. Hell, I'm there while we record and more often than not, when I'm listening to the show later, I crack up at the stuff we say.

Are you really married and have a kid?

I do. I have a great, beautiful and amazingly intelligent wife, Diane and a great little boy named Nick. You've heard them both on the show over the years and without the support of Diane, I wouldn't be doing this. Nick? He just likes playing space commander with my compressors and mixer. I'm going to start putting chili paste on the knobs so next time he does it, then picks his nose, he'll remember to keep his hands off. (Calm down, I wouldn't really do that....or what I?)

Were you an only child? Why are you so wrapped up in music?

I'm not an only child. I've got a great brother that's 3 1/2 years younger than I am.

I've always been into music, what can I say? It just makes me feel good and always has. Think about it. When you're depressed, isn't there an album you can put on that makes you feel better? If you're happy? If you're feeling saucey....? Can you imagine a day without music? Even if it's just humming to yourself in the shower? I guess coming from a musical family helps, but for me, music is just an emotional thing that I need. It's a way for me to express myself, even if I'm just playing someone else's song for a friend. Music is my timeline through life, I can pull almost any album from my wall, listen to it and connect it with some point in my life or a person or an event. I don't know, just can't imagine not having music in and around me constantly.

Anything else you guys want to know?