| Mike Park | |
 | |
| Genre | Ska Punk Rock Indie |
| Occupation(s) | Musician Songwriter Producer Label Owner |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals Guitar Saxophone |
| Years active | 1985-present |
| Label(s) | Asian Man Sub City Dr. Strange Dill |
| Associated acts | The Chinkees The Bruce Lee Band Skankin' Pickle Shaken 69 Psychiatric Disorder |
| Website | http://www.mikeparkmusic.com/ |
Mike Park is a Korean American musician and progressive activist. His musical ventures include Skankin' Pickle for whom he both played the saxophone and sang, The Chinkees, The Bruce Lee Band, and most recently an acoustic solo project under his own name.
History[]
After his time with Skankin' Pickle he went on to found Asian Man Records, a label which he has run out of his garage in California since 1996 with only help from his parents and friends. Asian Man Records supports mostly ska and punk bands. Park will support any band as long as it is "anti-racist, anti-sexist, and anti-prejudice". Park has used Asian Man Records to release his own music, in addition to providing a start for smaller bands to allow them to grow, including Less Than Jake, Alkaline Trio, and The Lawrence Arms. Park strives to offer affordable music and rejects mega-chains who overcharge for CDs. Park's most important goal though is to end hate and hate crimes. Because of his strong convictions, in 1999 he formed the Plea for Peace Foundation an organization whose aim is "to promote the ideas of peace through the power of music", something which Park has been trying to do with his own bands and with the help of other groups.
Park was the impetus behind the Spring 1998 "Ska Against Racism" tour. The goal of the tour was to promote awareness about racism and raise money for anti-racism organisations such as the Museum of Tolerance. The national tour included The Toasters, Less Than Jake, the Blue Meanies, Mustard Plug, Five Iron Frenzy, MU330, Kemuri, and Mike Park himself.[1]
Personal life[]
Park majored in music in college.[2]
Mike finished a European tour as of March 2008 and is currently planning on a North American tour with Chris "Sundowner" McCaughan. His first child, Maggie Elizabeth, was born on 17 November 2006, weighing 6.46 lbs. He is a Minister of the Universal Life Church[3]. His second child, Moses Young Park, was born on October 15, 2008 at 5:30 AM.
Sometimes he has a picture of one of his children as a baby taped to his guitar during live performances.
Discography[]
Solo[]
- For the Love of Music 2003
- North Hangook Falling 2005
- Mike Park 7 Inch and Art Print 2008
- Beans & Toast 2008
With 'Skankin' Pickle'[]
| Year | Title | Label |
| 1991 | Skafunkrastapunk | Dill |
| 1992 | Skankin' Pickle Fever | Dill |
| 1994 | Sing Along With Skankin' Pickle | Dill |
| 1996 | Live | Dill |
| 1996 | Green Album | Dr. Strange |
With 'The Chinkees'[]
- The Chinkees Are Coming CD
- Karaoke with the Chinkees 7"
- Peace Through Music CD
- Present Day Memories Split CD with The Lawrence Arms (out of print)
- Searching for a Brighter Future CD
With 'The Bruce Lee Band'[]
| Year | Title | Label |
| 1997 | The Bruce Lee Band | Asian Man |
| 2005 | Beautiful World EP | Asian Man |
References[]
External links[]
- Asian Man Records
- Secret Asian Man
- Official Site
- Simple Stereo Official Site - with information on the Mike Park 7 Inch
- Plea For Peace Official Site
- Interview by Sound Scene Revolution (Podcast)
- Interview by Tom Bastian of decapolis.com (2000)
- Interview by Josh Snider and Jonny Havoc on BigSmileMagazine.com
- Album Review of "North Hangook Falling" on BigSmileMagazine.com
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This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Mike Park. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Less Than Jake Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |