Even though Mike Bankhead began making music a little later than he would have liked, it didn’t stop him from dedicating a lot of time and effort to the art form for over two decades. From Dayton, Ohio, the songwriter and recording academy member has long been releasing albums for fans of rock music and many of its subgenres. In addition to the music, Mike also runs the You Could Be My Aramis Podcast, where he interviews musicians about their latest releases and the inspiration behind their songs.

Mike also sees art as a necessary tool to reflect cultural events and history. A few years ago, he embarked on the multimedia project I AM Experienced, which reflects on black artistry in the music industry. The project contains original songs, essays, poems, and guest pieces reflecting on the black experience in the music industry and addressing a lot of the injustices that still exist.

Mike is a firm believer in physical media and still gets a lot of his art pressed on CD. There’s a terrific array of topics we discuss in today’s podcast episode. Some of them include the following: What are the true benefits of being a Recording Academy member? What’s it like being a black music journalist/artist in today’s age? How much time goes into making every album and song? Where do you pull inspiration from? This conversation will feel like a cool hang between friends, and that’s because it is.

CHECK OUT MIKE BANKHEAD’S WEBSITE HERE

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