Featured artists
(Alphabetical By Band or Artist)
(A-G)
Over time, I hope to highlight each and every one of the incredible artists who have appeared throughout the series, but for now, I’ll start with a few of my personal favourites.
anti-flag
Featured Artist
Chris #2
Chris #2 (Chris Barker) has been providing bass and vocals for Anti-Flag since 1999. Their unique brand of punk activism has been an inspiration to people all over the world (including Mikey’s brother Danny, who has their broken guns logo tattooed around his elbow). Needless to say, it’s been wonderful having Chris on the covers of Bro Hymn by Pennywise, Drain You by Nirvana, and most recently, Panic Song by Green Day.
In a 2020 interview with Cryptic Rock, Chris was asked about the political nature of Anti-Flag’s lyrics and the controversy they generate. He responded by saying
“Honestly, it’s what our job is and what we’ve set out to do; we don’t know how to do anything else. There are people that are suffering on many greater levels than we’ve ever felt, and it’s our job to carry them with us, to have solidarity, and really work to put the environmental, social, racial and economic justice that we want to see happen at the forefront of all of our discussions—even if it is sometimes scary.”
In case you missed it, here’s Chris #2 on the series’ cover of Green Day’s Panic Song, along with White Wives’ Josh Massie and drummer extraordinaire, Kye Smith
chris #2
acoustic version
bring out yOur dead
Featured artist
Milo aukerman
The desCendents
Although best known as the lead singer for The Descendents, Milo Aukerman also holds a PhD in biology, and has worked both as a researcher for DuPont and as an adjunct Professor at the University of Delaware.
In 2016, he decided to step away from his science career to return to music full time, and we’re certainly glad he did!
So far, Milo has appeared on three ‘Mikey and his Uke’ covers, including Girl You Want by Devo, Jealous Again by Black Flag and Nirvana’s In Bloom. In each, his distinctive voice and persona add a unique and joyful dimension to the overall collaboration.
For ‘In Bloom’, Milo shares lead vocals with pro skater Tony Hawk, Jason Cruz of Strung Out and Jim Lindberg of Pennywise. They’re backed by Jack O’Shea of Bayside, Ryan Sinn of the Distillers and Andy Granelli of the Distillers. This particular video was done in honour of the 30th anniversary of Nirvana's groundbreaking album, Nevermind, which ushered in a new era of music, and paved the way for the punk explosion of 1994.
The DESCENDEnts
Without love
With
Milo aukerman
DescenDents
live at riot fest 2012
Toronto, Canada
This is a bit of a ‘Where’s Waldo?’ challenge for you. There are six people onstage in this video who’ve all performed with Mikey and his Uke.
Milo, Stephen Egerton and Bill Stevenson are front and centre (of course!) and have appeared individually on 4 collaborations: Jealous Again (Bill and Milo), Girl You Want (Milo), In Bloom (Milo), and Everything Sux with its very cool ‘explosive’ cameo by Stephen.
If you scan near Bill on drums, you’ll see Eric Melvin of NOFX who performed on Police Truck, and Dave Brownsound of Sum 41 who performed on both SNFU’s ‘I Forget’ and Nirvana’s ‘Drain You’.
Mikey is standing behind Stephen to the left of the stage, wearing a baseball cap, and looking very much the fan that he is.
BAD COP/BAD COP
LET’S HEAR IT FOR THE GIRLS!
The Bad Cop/Bad Cop video ‘Simple Girl’ includes a number of artists who have guested on ‘Mikey and his Uke’, including band members Stacey Dee, Myra Gallarza, Linh Le and one of their featured guests, Talli Osborne.
Simple Girl is described by WallofSoundau.com as “such a great song with an awesome message for women all around the globe, held together with a pop punk riff that you can’t help but dance to.”
From the album ‘The Ride’ put out by Fat Wreck Chord label in June 2020
BAD COP/BAD COP
Stacey Dee
MIKEY AND HIS UKE COVER
beastie boys’
time for livin’
BAD COP/BAD COP
MYRA GALLARZA
MIKEY AND HIS UKE COVER
THE OFFSPRING
ALL I WANT
BAD COP/BAD COP
lInh Le
MIKEY AND HIS UKE COVER
jimmy eat world
the middle
BAD COP/BAD COP
‘simple girl’ video GUEST APPEARANCE
talli osborne
MIKEY AND HIS UKE COVERS
bro hymn chorus And
thE pogues
streams of whiskey
Featured artist
Chris ballew
Chris Ballew achieved tremendous success and recognition as lead singer for the Presidents of the United States, but his greatest motivation has always been, quite simply, to make people happy.
Since 2008, he’s been actively pursuing that goal by writing and performing children’s music under the name Caspar Babypants. It’s a career he finds deeply rewarding, in part, because it allows him to “bring the whole family into the same room and have every age say, ‘I love this song!”
What a perfect fit for the spirit of these collaborations! Mikey was thrilled to have Chris bring his unique voice to the Nirvana classic, Sliver, also featuring Zander Schloss and Jake Kiley
Caspar babypants
MIster Rabbit
Featured Artist
Brittany Nicole
Bowman
What a pleasure to have Brittany Nicole Bowman on the cover of Alternative Ulster by Stiff Little Fingers! This talented performer has been playing drums and guitar since childhood and is well known for her session work, her demo videos and her association with companies such as Roland, Celestine U.K., Sabian and Vater Pecussion. Now based in L.A., she’s developed a strong following on Youtube, Facebook and Instagram, where she posts drum covers, drum lessons and remixes of a wide range of songs.
Once in a Lifetime!
In addition to their shared love of drums, guitars and all things punk, Brittany and Mikey also have another very unique and specific experience in common, having both been ‘that lucky kid’ who gets called up on stage to play with Green Day. For Mikey, it was at a 1998 concert in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and the song was Knowledge. He still has the pic that Billie Joe gave him that night along with a newspaper article describing the performance. For Brittany, it was 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada, where she played guitar on Jesus Of Suburbia from the American Idiot album. In her case, that thrilling performance was captured on video and posted at
https://youtu.be/zvmeyMcUvUo
Below is Brittany’s cover of Kerosene by The Interrupters:
FEatured artist
rAndy bradbUry
Randy Bradbury became a permanent member of Pennywise following the unexpected death of former bass guitarist Jason Thirsk in the mid 1990s. In a recent conversation with Michael Crusty (The Miserable Failure Podcast EP30), Randy talked about the pressure he felt during that transition and his determination to do the best work possible. Clearly, he rose to the challenge and remains a key contributor to the ongoing success and relevance of Pennywise for the past 25 years.
Randy is well known for his social media presence and his work with Punk Rock Karaoke alongside bandmates Greg Hetson of Bad Religion/Circle Jerks, Stan Lee of the Dickies and Darrin Pfeiffer, ex-Goldfinger.
He’s also been a great friend to the Mikey and his Uke series. His first guest appearance was on their epic cover of the Pennywise anthem, Bro Hymn, which helped set the tone for all the collaborations that followed. More recently, Randy joined Lauren Denitzio, Buddy Schaub, Matt Appleton, Dan Palmer, Darrin Pfieffer and Mikey for a cover of ‘When You Were Mine’ by Prince. As always, his performance was stellar!
RAndy
brAdbury
PennywiSe
In conversation with Dominic and Sam of Bad Music Taste
Featured artist
Tim brennan
dropkick murphys
In 2003, already a fan of Celtic punk, a young Tim Brennan was asked to go on tour with the Dropkick Murphys to sell merchandise, and then to play accordion on a few of their songs. Those performances led to more and more involvement with the band until he was made their full-time accordion/mandolin/tin whistle/banjo player, and eventually their permanent lead guitarist. It sounds like every kid’s dream-come-true, but one for which the multi-talented Tim Brennan was more than deserving. Over the years, he’s continued to make stellar contributions both as a performer and a songwriter.
In a 2019 interview with Music Mayhem Magazine, when the interviewer commented on the band’s commitment to giving back to the community through its Claddagh Fund, Tim replied, “Thank you. We are so lucky to be where we are and get to do this for a living, as we are literally just seven idiots from the northeast who happened to fall into being able to do this so as long as people keep coming and loving what we are doing, as it’s just so phenomenal, and as long as they do, we’re going to keep doing it.”
You can learn more about this incredible initiative at https://www.claddaghfund.org/
When asked about his spare-time pleasures, Tim shared that he’s a huge TV and film buff who retains a lot of weird movie quotes, saying “I come from one of those families that communicates with one another through film quotes, so that and music are pretty much the things that I grew up with.”
The full interview is available at https://musicmayhemmagazine.com/catching-up-with-dropkick-murphys-guitarist-tim-brennan-at-louder-than-life-festival/
Mikey has been a longtime fan of Tim’s work and was delighted when he agreed to appear on a cover of The Hives’ Hate to Say I Told You So, along with David Hidalgo Jr. (Social Distortion), Ryan Sinn (The Distillers) and Matt Hock (The Explosion).
As always, it was a great performance!
Dropkick murphys
until the next time
WITH TIM BRENNAN
Featured artist
Dave Brownsound
Dave Brownsound is a Canadian singer, songwriter and guitar player, best known for his work with Sum 41. Between 2008 and 2015, while on hiatus from the band, he founded the heavy metal/reggae group Brown Brigade which now focuses primarily on studio work. Later, he started producing, recording and performing with Brown Brigade bandmate, Chuck Coles, in Chuck’s Organ Thieves project. Since returning to Sum 41, Dave has once again proven himself to be a stellar guitarist and a fan favourite.
Interestingly, when Mikey first moved to Toronto with the Inner City Surfers in 2001, their first big show was opening for Sum 41 at the El Mocambo Club. The show coincided with the release of Sum 41’s ‘Fat Lip’ single from their debut album, All Killer No Filler, and marked the beginning of their meteoric rise as internationally acclaimed performing and recording artists.
Here’s Dave joining Chuck Coles (Rules/Organ Thieves), Chris #2 (Anti-Flag), John Craig Sifton and Darrin Pfeiffer for a cover of Nirvana’s Drain You.
Dave brownsound
Return to sum 41
In this interview, Dave talks about his return to Sum 41 and the band’s experiences in Africa whIle making the documentary ‘Rocked: Sum 41 in the Congo’ which can be found at
https://youtu.be/kgpf0ZNUO_Y
FEATURED ARTIST
KARINA DENIKE
As of this writing, Karina Denike has appeared on two covers in the series (‘Radio, Radio’ and ‘Bonzo Goes to Bitburg’) with more in the works. Aside from her incredible voice and musicianship, Karina brings a unique playfulness to everything she does, and is a perfect fit for the spirit of these collaborations.
Mikey was first introduced to Karina’s music during the ska revival of the late 90s when she was one of the lead vocalists for the Dance Hall Crashers, and then again when she began playing keyboards with NOFX.
When he started looking for strong female voices to add to the series, Karina was one of the first people he contacted.
Radio, Radio is a favourite of mine, also featuring Dan Vapid, L’il Joe and Ray Jacildo.
It makes me smile every time I see it.
Dance Hall Crashers
He Wants Me Back
With Karina Denike
featured artist
Lauren denitzio
worriers
Mikey was thrilled to kick off his second year of collaborations with a stellar vocal performance by queer activist and commentator Lauren Denitzio, best known as singer, songwriter and guitarist for Worriers. In addition to touring and collaborating with punk artists such as Anti-Flag, The Wonder Years and Laura Jane Grace of Against Me, Lauren is active in podcasts, newsletters and visual media that reflect a queer-feminist perspective.
It was wonderful having this incredibly gifted artist join Randy Bradbury (Pennywise), Buddy Schaub (Less Than Jake), Matt Appleton (Reel Big Fish) and Dan Palmer (Zebrahead/Death By Stereo) on the classic Prince tune, ‘When You Were Mine’.
Together, they made it something really special!
WORRIERS
PLANS
With lauren denitzio
Produced by Laura Jane Grace
Featured artist
stephen egerton
descendants
all
Guitarist Stephen Egerton joined the Descendents in 1986, and then, when lead singer Milo Aukerman left for grad school in 1987, continued on with bandmates Karl Alvarez and drummer Bill Stevenson to form ALL. Over the years, vocalists for ALL included Dave Smalley of Dag Nasty and DYS, Chad Price (Drag the River and A Vulture Wake) and the incredible Scott Reynolds, all of whom have also appeared on Mikey and his Uke.
It was an incredible thrill to have a Stephen Egerton cameo on our cover of the Descendents ‘Everything Sux Today’ which he wrote for their fifth studio album (Everything Sucks) released in 1996. He’s truly one of the greats!
stephen egerton
interview
Featured Artist
Anton Fig
Anton Fig is a world famous session musician who’s played drums with many of the biggest names in rock and roll, both onstage and on several massively successful albums including the 1986 True Colours album by Cyndi Lauper. He’s also recorded with Kiss, Bob Dylan, Peter Frampton, Madonna, Mick Jagger, Ace Frehley, Joe Cocker, Josh Groban and many others.
Needless to say, it was an honour to have him guest on our cover of ‘You Wreck Me’ by Tom Petty, along with Dave Hause, Jonny Two Bags of Social Distortion, Greg Kuehn of TSOL and Jason Black of Hot Water Music.
This is a fun one!
Anton Fig
Drum Solo
on
David Letterman
Featured artist
Jennifer
finch
L7
This groundbreaking L.A. native is the bass player for the legendary punk band L7 which she joined in 1986; she is also a gifted songwriter, vocalist, photographer, actress and entrepreneur. Prior to L7, she was a member of Sugar Babydoll with Courtney Love (Hole) and Kat Bjelland who later founded Babes in Toyland.
Jennifer contributed significantly to L7’s three most popular albums – Smell the Magic (1988), Bricks are Heavy (1992) and Hungry for Stink (1994) – and has been credited as a driving force in the band’s overall success.
In the following article from PleaseKillMe.com (August 28, 2019), Jennifer discusses her career, her personal spin on punk feminism and her life as an artist.
https://pleasekillme.com/jennifer-precious-finch-l7/
Her appearance on the cover of the Misfits’ song ‘I Turned Into a Martian’ has helped make it one of the most popular videos in the Mikey and his Uke series.
L7 Live
Everglade
Jennifer Finch
Featured artist
Rocky George
suicidal tendencies
Rocky George became the lead guitarist for Suicidal Tendencies in 1984, and later became a member of Cro Mags and then Fishbone.
In an interview with Guitar World magazine, he was asked about the metal/punk crossover that made Suicidal Tendencies so influential, and how they differed from other hardcore bands of the era. One of the things Rocky noted was their willingness to give band members plenty of room to innovate. Rocky has been credited with moving the band to more of a thrash sound and for bringing in his high school friend Robert Trujillo who also added unique elements. Trujillo eventually became the permanent bass player for Metallica, arguably the biggest metal band of all time. The full interview can be accessed at https://www.guitarworld.com/features/rocky-george-going-distance-rocky
What a thrill to have this legendary musician on a cover of the Vandal’s ‘Oi to the World’ with Brie, Erin and Sirae of The Doped Up Dollies, Andy Platfoot of Buck-O-Nine, and Darrin and Mikey from the M&HU team.
suicidal tendencies
how will I laugh tomorrow
featuring
rocky George
Featured Artist
Johan
Gustafsson
Johan Gustafsson is best known as the bass player for two iconic Swedish punk bands – The Hives and Randy.
He joined Randy in the late 90s and helped them create a uniquely melodic fusion of garage and pop punk that was at the forefront of the garage-influenced movement, and still highly regarded by fans and critics alike. Their songs are both catchy and lyrically relevant, with an emphasis on political and social justice topics.
Since 2013, Johan has also been the bass player for The Hives, performing under the stage name ‘The Johan and Only’.
It was a thrill to have him join Milo of the Descendents, EagleBones Falconhawk of the Aquabats, Adrian Young of No Doubt/Dream Car and touring musician Jason Freese for our cover of ‘Girl You Want’ by Devo.
randy
FEaturinG
johan gustafssoN
Introducing a New Sound
1998