You’ve seen him on tour with O.A.R. and he has also played with Pink, Train, and Jewel. New York-based singer/songwriter Mikel Paris also does extensive solo work and has developed the art of guitar drumming. He has also created TuneTrek, a travel and music show that he’ll be pitching to networks soon. He also talks about the time that he spent with Broadway’s Stomp.
“Sometimes I’m successful and sometimes I’m not, and I take the failures with as much weight as the success.”
“I realized relatively quickly that I didn’t have the discipline to be a professional classical pianist.”
“It was an opportunity for me to stretch out of classical and to really embrace that freedom and the improvisation, which became a real foundation for my musical language, as a whole, incorporating that feeling of spontaneity and… I feel like I’ve become pretty successful at doing that.”
“Part of what I always wanted to do as a writer, as a musician, was, inspire people to move… I’m not trying to create moves to music, I’m allowing the music to move me.”
“I battled the whole ‘music is a business’ concept for a while, for too long. I just wanted to play. I didn’t want to be a businessman. I wanted to just be a musician.”
“For me also, just as a global statement, it’s really become about partnerships... It’s been about these handshake relationships where, I’m gonna help spread your brand and thank you for the product, because that’s allowing me to do my solo stuff.”
“One of the most exciting moments that I’ve had with (O.A.R.), as far as guests sitting in with us, was this performance in Park City (Utah) (Sundance Festival), we had Vernon Reid from Living Colour… and John Popper from Blues Traveler… They both sat in with us that night…. Hanging with them after the show in the green room area… realizing how absolutely fortunate I am to be able to actually just meet these people on a relatively similar playing field… to be able to just stand there and talk with them as relative equals, professional musicians doing their thing, that moment stands out huge for me.”
"Work it Out"
"Great Unknown"