I HATE MICHAEL SHIRLEY

It’s 8:30 PM and I’m sitting in the dressing room at my friend’s New Year’s Eve party. I’ve been putting this moment off all day, because I know this is the last entry I’ll be writing here on my blog.

It’s so wild to me that I wrote this blog for almost 8 years. It’s been such a wonderful experience as a music journalist, artist and fashion junkie. I hope all of you have learned and grown from the articles I wrote and new bands, styles, and art I’ve exposed you to. All of them have inspired me in some form and I’m so pleased to have been given the chance to share it all with you.

There are all kinds of big changes for me coming in 2016 and I’m so excited about all of it. Thanks so much for reading. I hope the new year gives you everything you want from it.

Love,

Before I left for winter vacation, I took a bunch of forgotten disposable cameras to be developed and got back so many great photos that span the last 5 years! Below, you can check out a few of my favorites, and be sure to check back tomorrow for my final blog post on IHateMichaelShirley.com!

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You’ve probably noticed I’ve been a lot less present on my blog this month, for various reasons... I’m on winter vacation, in the process of developing a NEW brand, and a non-fiction book based on this blog upon it’s closing. That being said - after almost 8 years, I’ve decided to conclude my blog in a few days at the end of this year! 

It’s exciting and sad at the same time, but like I said - I have a bunch of great new projects coming in 2016, which I will go into on a later blog post, but until then... Enjoy this farewell mixtape I’ve been making for yall over the past few months.

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What 3 words would you use to describe your sound?

Pop. R&B. Dance.  

Where are you currently based out of?

New York, NY

What is the craziest thing you've ever experienced playing a live show?

One of the craziest experiences I have ever had playing at a live show, was actually in New York City during dress rehearsal the day before. I was in the middle of a dance break in one of the songs. I was supposed to do a double back hand spring, which isn't uncommon for me to do since I know how to flip. Those in attendance seemed real into that part in the song and I suddenly had a boost of energy and felt the need to show off. Long story short, instead of keeping things to exactly as I was suppose to do it, I decided to add landing into a split following my double back hand spring. Keep in mind I had not properly stretched prior to all this. So I went into my double back hand spring, jumped up high into the air, and went directly down into a split. I felt immediate pain shoot up my left leg as I later found out at the hospital that I slightly tore the muscle. I toughed it out on pain killers and steroids and still performed the following day, unfortunately somewhat limited due to my injury.

If you could go on a dream world tour with any 3 living artists, who would you take with you?

My top three choices to tag team a world tour with would be Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift, and Jay-Z.

Any big projects in the works for 2016?

I recently released my collaborative debut single with Harmonix Factory called "Get To Know Ya" which is now available on iTunes. I am now prepping to release the remix package to that single in January, I'll be featured on a new single for Jamareo Artis which is set to release around February, and I am currently in the process of negotiating a tour in Asia and prepping my second single release, both for sometime in early 2016. So fingers crossed!

Who is Wonder Pickle?

Wonder Pickle is, in real life, Carl Cuke - a lonely cucumber who was left on the vine when he was suddenly coated by mysterious space goo giving him amazing super powers!

How did your idea for a super-powered pickle come about?

It all started when I was at a local deli one day. There was an armed, masked robber that came in and held up the place. The owner, being a quick thinker, threw a pickle across the room getting vinegar in the eye of the masked robber and knocking him out cold! It all ended well for everyone... except the robber who went to jail plus couldn’t see out of the one eye for several days. Actually, I just made that up, pickles are just funny!

How did Wonder Pickle gain his super powers?

There is this mysterious government satellite, probably NSA... we don’t know for sure, that is stricken by an asteroid and crashes into the farm where Carl is from. There is a strange space goo that ends up all over poor Carl. The rest is pickle history!

What can he do that other pickles can’t?

He can fly, has super pickle strength, and speed. In this first issue, Carl is learning his place in the world around him, trying to figure out life in general... just like all of us!

Does Wonder Pickle have any sidekicks or arch-frenemies?

The Evil Onions are his biggest enemy in Issue #1! They always travel in bunches, and in this first issue Carl is introduced to them in a big way! There is also a dark and sinister villain at the end of the first issue as well.  We have to have a little suspense for Issue #2, don’t we? Master Sensei Ginsu is Wonder Pickle’s coach and mentor. He owns the sushi restaurant where Carl works and trains. Farmer Brown is the closest thing that Carl has to a dad, and plays an important part in his early life!

What about a love interest? I feel like he’d have a thing for olives…

Well, Carl is rather shy, but once that mask goes on, watch out ladies!!!  Wonder Pickle has his eyes on a local news reporter named Kristen. We will see how she handles things in the future!

You have this insane app for Wonder Pickle, and I’ve never seen anything like it… I don’t even really know how to explain. It’s basically a virtual reality 3D comic book that is powered by printable comic strips, right? Maybe you can explain it better?

We really wanted to combine a traditional printed comic book with a mobile app using Augmented Reality.  What we are striving to do is have the comic, and the story within, live on its own while the app also lives on its own, but when combined, “WHAMMO!”

I’m a “Silver Era” comic guy, so we grew up and had these great comics in the back of the car to entertain us on family vacations for hours on end!  I wanted that same feeling of entertainment. But the kids these days are all app based. So, we decided to make the companion app that could, in part, live on its own as well as be used with Augmented Reality with the printed pages of the comic. I think of it as part peanut butter, part chocolate, all fun!

I’m sure that unlocks all kinds of amazing possibilities for the future. Do you think Wonder Pickle will ever be able to fly around your house? Or maybe at a rock concert?

As a matter of fact, yes!  When our team was first looking at this concept, we asked ourselves, “How can we use this technology for Special Needs kids and for education?”  That is where we started, and ultimately plan to take all this down that road.  We are already working on a concept that could revolutionize how special needs therapy is performed!  As devices like Microsoft’s Hololens and the Oculus become common place, we want to be in a position to take Wonder Pickle, as well as the really important work we are doing, into 2016 and beyond!

So what else is on the horizon for the Wonder Pickle app in 2016? More cool virtual comics, I hope?

This first issue of Wonder Pickle and the full app should be wrapping production by first week of January 2016. You can try out the sample version by visiting wonderpickle.com, printing the Target and installing the Wonder Pickle sampler app from your iOS or Android app store. We have fully self-funded this effort and will be doing a Kickstarter, starting December 14th, to determine a rough number of copies to print. We will have some very cool rewards! The Kickstarter will wrap late January 2016 and we will head to the printer the next day!  As I mentioned, we are already working on some very cool virtual reality concepts for special needs kids, and also have a children's book in pre-production now.  We are also working on a couple of mystery games, a horror Augmented Reality comic line where ghosts come alive in your room, and some early concept ideas that are just pure whiteboard today. And, of course, we have almost 12 issues of Wonder Pickle already scripted and in various stages of pre-production, so we will have a LOT of work to do! We hope people will really enjoy this technology combo and will join and help us create some groundbreaking things!

And finally, I have to ask… what does Wonder Pickle eat? Please don’t say pickles…

Sushi actually! He loves the stuff!! But you’ll have to read the comic to know the whole story!!

What 3 words would you use to describe your sound?

Electric. Contagious. Frenetic.

Where are you currently based out of?

Los Angeles, CA

What is the craziest thing you've ever experienced playing a live show?

That's a hard one actually. Once DJ Quik's people kicked my old band off the stage for being too good, haha. We were opening for him at The Key Club and everything was going according to plan. We started right on time and were not going over. We finished our fourth song and the crowd was so hyped that we just got the boot. Two guys wearing black, or something, ran up to the stage and said, “That's it. You're done.”

If you could go on a dream world tour with any 3 living artists, who would you take with you?

Pharrell Williams, St. Vincent, and Bjork.

Any big projects in the works for 2016?

I have a 2nd EP and an album on the way!

No christmas trees were harmed in the making of this mixtape.

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What 3 words would you use to describe your sound?

New age ballad.

Where are you currently based out of?

Boston, MA

What is the craziest thing you've ever experienced playing a live show?

I burned paper money.

If you could go on a dream world tour with any 3 living artists, who would you take with you?

Bob Dylan, Bon Jovi and Bono.

Any big projects in the works for 2016?

I’m releasing a single and creating music videos for most of my songs and, if possible, tour in different countries.

Check out this amazing piece of artwork Jeff Tompkins created of me as DC Comic’s Robin! The piece spans from my teens to the present day, and I just love how it turned out! It’s almost unbelievable how much I look like my cartoon self! Ok... maybe the muscles are a LITTLE bigger than my own, hahahahaha!

I can’t wait to have it printed in giant size and hung by my comic book collection. I’m going to treasure it forever! Robin is definitely my favorite DC Comics superhero, what about you? Who is your favorite hero in the DC universe?

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What 3 words would you use to describe your sound?

Energetic. Fun. Bass-hitting.

Where are you currently based out of?

San Diego, CA

What is the craziest thing you've ever experienced playing a live show?

I had to play 3 encores to a show at an Ultra Festival official afterparty. The crowd couldn't get enough and we almost ran out of music!

If you could go on a dream world tour with any 3 living artists, who would you take with you?

Skrillex, Excision, and Kronic.

Any big projects in the works for 2016?

I have a lot of remixes in the works with some big name artists. The next one will be with Messinian. Also in 2016, besides continuing to work in the studio, I will be playing at clubs and festivals.

Check out these beautiful, floral envelope arrangements created by artist Anna Remarchuk. Each arrangement is delicately placed in vintage envelopes once owned by her grandmother. You can check out a few of my favorites of Anna’s pieces below, and you can view the entire “Envelope Series” HERE on the artist’s Instagram!

And can you believe, every photo was taken on an iPhone?!

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If you’re like me, you have what are undoubtedly the most obnoxious neighbors in the world. One of mine fashions himself as a burgeoning EDM DJ, and the other one just likes to hit the bottle and her boyfriend as soon as the sun starts going down. Regardless of what makes these people awful neighbors, we hate them... so why not fight fire with fire?

Check out this amazing 2 volume set of Bad Music For Loud Neighbors created by the folks at SnickerDuck ... it’s absolutely GENIUS and a must have for anyone seeking passive-aggressive revenge.

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My friends in the German, art rock duo The Mints Of Idaho just released a music video for their new song “Fakdad” and it’s amazing. You can watch the short film above and check out more of their videos HERE on YouTube!

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