More about: Mike Tony

When you play the newest single by Mike Tony, ‘Velvet Sunshine’ you hear a swagger in his voice, attitude in every pluck of a bass or kick of a drum, a sound refined over years of playing experience and a style that he is happy to put his own name to. After an eclectic career playing in bands and under various nicknames, it’s now time for him to say goodbye to all of them, and time for us to meet the real Mike Tony. 

So, who is he? “Mike Tony,” he said, “is your brown eyed lover boy from the State. Dramatic but playful. Cheeky and sly. Silly and sexy.” Mike is a multi-instrumentalist with a lot of experience in music that is reflected in his dominance of each song he puts his name to and performance he takes part in. 

“I grew up watching my Dad play in bands my whole life,” said Mike, “I think being exposed to live music at a very early age, and often, definitely rubbed off on me. When I was 4 years old I would set up pots and pans and play them with wooden spoons. If I wasn’t doing that, I was strutting around the house mimicking my Pops on my toy guitar. I always loved making a ruckus and being the centre of attention, so it only made sense for me to be at the front of the stage in front of an audience.” 

Mike puts it best. After growing up being so surrounded music, there was only ever one route that he could go down. Mike originally started out playing as the frontman in the band Tres Bien, who were more a retro rock band, drawing from the likes of The Strokes. The band had a successful run over the next decade before Mike went to LA to farm weed and play drums in local band, LVLS and guitar in the Venice Symphony Orchestra. 

On first listen, you'd easily mistake Mike Tony from a Camden boy. With a sound that seems to come straight from the 00s indie sleaze crew, or a direct descendant of AM era Alex Turner - I don't think anyone would expect Atlanta to be the home of this kind of sound. Originally going by Rollingchild, he has now dropped the nicknames and is just playing as himself. “I was going by Rollingchild for many years but I have grown so much as a person and an artist that having a name with ‘child’ in it didn’t seem to fit. My full birth name, ‘Michael Anthony Bostinto’ was a little too long, so I shortened it to Mike Tony to keep it snappy and easy for people to remember.” 

"it’s a great song to play 3 Mai Thais in on a sunny day at 1pm…"

The change is a positive one for Mike, who admits that things seem to fit into place a lot better at the minute. “Releasing anything these days is always a little nerve wracking,” he confesses, “but releasing things under my own name feels like it makes sense for what I’m writing now, and it’s empowering.” 

The new track, ‘Velvet Sunshine’ is one laced with swagger, one that packs a subtle punch, that’s cool but fun at the same time. “Hopefully people will feel like they found their new best friend and new favourite artist,” said Mike, “it’s a great song to play 3 Mai Thais in on a sunny day at 1pm… Ultimately I want people to feel uplifted, sophisticated and sexy with the permission to get loose when they listen to it.” 

The lyrics of the song are personal for Mike but remain open enough that listeners have the ability to apply their own sentiment. “I had recently fallen in love with a stunning blonde bombshell badass of a woman,” he confesses, “the tune is a playful love song dedicated to my ultra babe, but can be used for anyone, or anything. I always thought ‘Velvet Sunshine’ would be a great name for a strain of weed, or a refreshing cocktail.” 

"This is just the tip of the iceberg, I have so much more to show you.” 

The track is the result of a tried and tested songwriting approach that Mike has been using since he first started writing. “I always write the music first, and in this instance I wrote the song on bass first. The bassline is actually taken from the song ‘Liquid Love’ by my first band Tres Bien. I ended up playing the final phrase of the bassline over and over like a loop and thought it had such a groove, everything else kind of fell into place.” 

If you’re a fan of indie rock and a fun writing style then Mike Tony could be the new artist for you to start listening to. Not only is his current body of work filled with gems but there is a lot more on the horizon. “I’m currently working on finishing up my 2nd full length LP as a solo artists and will be releasing another single and video in the coming months… I’m also planning on hitting the road this year and hopefully that means touring in Europe. I’ve been doing this since I was 13 and I’ve yet to tour Europe so I’m making that that a priority. This is just the tip of the iceberg, I have so much more to show you.” 

Check out the new single ‘Velvet Sunshine’ now 

Grab your copy of the Gigwise print magazine here.

More about: Mike Tony