"...I look in the mirror, surprise
myself. I look so happy now,
I can`t believe it`s really me and
not somebody else..."
(Michael Garrett -
Swallowing Clowns
- 2007)
Michael Garrett
Michael Charles Garrett
was born on May 14th 1955 in Nottingham, England. Michael has been playing guitar since he
was 12. Early influences were
Martyn Carthy, Nic Jones
and
John Martyn.
Later -
Miles Davis, Ry Cooder
and
Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen.
He also plays bouzouki, violin and mandolin. As a singer-songwriter he has written material for his own bands and as a solo artist.
"I started off playing finger in the ear folk music, then pop, reggae, jazz and blues,
...you name it. Now I play whatever I like, ...wherever it comes from: It's a question of
style. Takes a while but you get there in the end."
(Michael Garrett, June 2009)
After leaving school he studied philosophy at the University of Sussex (from 1975 - 1978)
where he became more interested in music than philosophy. After graduating, he formed his
first trio -
Risk.
In 1980 he moved to London and the band became a quintet and changed it's name to
Exit
(later -
The Meccanos).
Between 1979 and 1981 the band produced four singles for RCA Records.
Fool for Fashion
was a top 50 "hit" for
Exit.
The band toured extensively in the UK, flirted with fame and recorded an album which
was never released.
From 1981 - 88 Michael formed
The New Belgians
(Emex Records) and
Antmanbee
(Touchstone) and worked with
The Fixx, B-Movie, Dan Priest, God's Forgotten Army
plus various bands playing pubs and working men's clubs as a
guitarist / vocalist.
"I was getting better as a musician - at least, more adaptable. But the gigs were
often really depressing. I used to think "this is this the last time I'll do this".
Took me a while cos the money wasn't so bad but in the end I stopped. Can't remember when
I made this decision. It just happened. Suddenly, I was doing something else. Time to move
on I suppose; strange thing is, after 9 years in the "music business", I didn't
miss it at all."
(Michael Garrett, June 2009)
Later he worked as a freelance journalist
(Daily Express, Sunday Mirror, Home Entertainment Design)
and then as a market research consultant.
His book - The Seventies - was published by Wayland in 1989 and can still be found gathering dust in various libraries and antiquarian bookshops.
He travelled round the world for two years working as a crane driver, barman, teacher, cook, treasure hunter, musician, tourist guide and male model for a (major) biscuit company.
Since 1995 he has been living and working in Berlin, Germany as a teacher, translator and
musician. Collaborations include projects with
Mirco Nontschew, Peter Paulic, Nick Hajdu, Shannon Callahan
and
Anja Lange
plus the occasional solo gig. Recent work with
Randy Wollenberg
(engineer, producer) led to
Behind the Curve,
Michael's first solo CD of original songs released in April 2009.
Check out to Michael Garrett’s MySpace site to get more details.