In almost every cover from the earliest videos, Mikey played uke rather than guitar. At the time, the project was just a fun little quarantine diversion, so the sweetness of the ukulele was a perfect fit, as seen in this early pandemic version of ‘On the Road Again’
However, as the collaborations became bigger and more complex, Mikey realized that a ukulele wasn’t going to do them justice. It was then that he came up with the idea of doing a short ukulele intro at the beginning before switching to guitar for the actual performance (first done for ‘Unity’ #94). That was also when Michael Crusty and Steve Rizun joined Mikey, Dean and Darrin to round out the team and establish the template for the second phase of the series.
I think one of Mikey’s prettiest intros so far is for ‘American Jesus’.
This is a story Mikey originally shared with Patrons on the Mikey and his Uke Patreon site.
Creation of the Logo
By Mikey Hawdon
I first met my good friend Ron Cybulskie when our two bands were touring together back in the early 2000s. At the time, Ron was the drummer for the Saigon Hookers and I was the drummer for the Inner City Surfers. We struck up a friendship and have been pals ever since. Later, Ron became a graphic artist in Kitchener, Ontario, where he works on a wide range of design projects.
In May 2020, when I was first transferring the daily videos to Youtube, I asked Ron to create a ‘Mikey and his Uke’ logo using a couple of references. The first was of a monkey, and the second was a picture of me holding my ukulele. Obviously, he did a great job blending the images and creating a distinctive and playful logo for the series.
And I think we can all agree, it definitely beats my original concept of a 'Mikey Pirate’ over two crossed ukuleles! I'm no artist. Yikes! Mikey
MIKey and his uke
2020/2021
Trivia quiz
Since June 2020, starting with the Unity video, guests from all around the world have appeared on the series. They’ve generously given us glimpses into their homes, studios, neighbourhoods, and even their closets.
Just for fun, we’ve put together a trivia quiz to see how many details you can track down or remember from past collaborations. Some of the questions are fairly easy, some are moderately tough and some are master class only! Good luck!.
Q. 1
In 2020/2021, how many Mikey and his Uke videos featured Nikola Sarcevic of Millencolin?
A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4
E) 5
Q. 2
Which performer on which video is wearing a Dee Dee King t-shirt?
A) Chris Cresswell in The Ramones ‘Something to Believe In’
B) Chris Cresswell in The Ramones ‘Bonzo Goes to Bitburg’
C) Jason Cruz in Rancid’s ‘American Jesus’ by Bad Religiion
D) Steve Caballero in ‘Dope Sick Girl’
E) Jonny ‘2 Bags’ Wickersham in ‘Ever Fallen In Love’ by the Buzzcocks
Q.3
Which guest performer was playfully attacked by a cat during recording?
A) Russ Rankin of Good Riddance
B) Matt Hock of The Explosion
C) Chuck Cole’s of RULES, Organ Thieves, Creepshow
D) Greg Hetson of Circle Jerks/Bad Religion
E) Jim Lindberg of Pennywise
Q. 4
Who wore a DRI shirt on the cover of Black Flag’s Rise Above?
A) Tim McIlraith
B) Lou Koller
C) Moby
D) Mike Herrera
E) Darrin Pfeiffer
Q. 5
Two of the following artists recorded M&HU video footage in a pool. Which two?
A) Hunter Burgan from AFI
B) Dan Vapid of Dan Vapid and the Cheats
C) Tony Hawk
D) Buddy Schaub of Less than Jake
E) Karina Denike of NOFX/Dance Hall Crashers
Q. 6
Who was the youngest guest performer on M.A.H.U. In 2020/2021?
A) Tosh the Drummer
B) Rose Farrell of Yee Loi
C) Matilda Farrell of Yee Loi
D) Kye Smith session drummer
E) Lauren Denitzio of Worriers
Q. 7
Which video has been most viewed?
A) No Cigar
B) I Turned Into a Martian
C) All I Want
D) Bonzo Goes to Bitburg
E) I’m So Bored With the U.S.A.
Q. 8
Who dressed as a nun for a M&HU recording?
A) Karina Denike of NOFX/Dance Hall Crashers
B) Purple Intruder of Masked Intruder
C) Jennifer Finch of L7
D) Josie Cotton
E) Stacey Dee of Bad Cop/Bad Cop
Q.9
Which artist on the cover of Devo’s ‘Girl U Want’ has a skeleton in his recording space?
A) Milo of the Descendants
B) Johann Gustafsson of The Hives
C) Eaglebones Falconhawk of the Aquabats
D) Adrian Young of No Doubt
E) Jason Freese
Q. 10
In which video is there an ‘exploding’ Stephen Egerton cameo?
A) Everything Sucks by the Descendents
B) Attitude by the Bad Brains
C) Favourite Thing by the Replacements
D) Bad Religions’s No Control
E) Time for Livin’ by The Beastie Boys
Q.11
On which of the following covers does Mikey take solo lead vocals?
A) Betray by Minor Threat
B) Radio, Radio by Elvis Costello
C) I Forget by SNFU
D) Everything Sucks by the Descendents
E) Streams of Whiskey by the Pogues
Q.12
How many different pets and/or kids appear on the cover of ‘Big Mouth’ by the Muffs?
A) 3
B) 4
C) 5
D) 6
E) 7 or more
ANSWERS
Q1 -D
Q2 -A
Q3 - B
Q4 - C
Q5 - C & D
Q6 - C
Q7 - D
Q8 - D
Q9 - E
Q10 - A
Q11 - D
Q12 - E
Full list
of
guest performers
From June 2020 to Present
Angeleno, Hasma (Angelo Moore is Dr. Madd Vibe and the Missin’ Links/Super Kreep)
Appleton, Matt (Reel Big Fish)
Armstrong, Tim 'Lint' (Rancid/ Operation Ivy/Transplants)
Aukerman, Milo (The Descendents)
Bag, Alice (Bags)
Baksh, Dave ‘Brownsound’ (Sum 41/Organ Thieves)
Ballew, Chris (The Presidents of the United States/Caspar Babypants)