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Local trio The Micks finds inspiration in life, make ‘magic’
Chelsea Van Baalen
The Advocate
On a Friday night in February, when The Micks took the stage in a half-filled warehouse in northeast Portland, their first song was completely impromptu.
“It was just that magic that happened,” drummer Jon Nylox said. “It was fate. We only practiced twice before that show. It wasn’t official until Friday.” The Micks chose an instrumental set for their first gig after forming a mere two weeks prior.
The trio formed based on “similarities beyond music” and the fact that “personalities just mix. People are just subdued, mellow,” according to Michael Morse.
The Micks are a Portland band composed of Nylox and twins Michael and James Morse. Aside from being in the band, all three are students at Mt. Hood Community College. Nylox studies culinary arts in the culinary/catering program, while James takes courses in business and psychology. Michael is currently studying social psychology. Michael is temporarily on bass, James plays guitar, and Nylox plays drums. The band lacks a vocalist, James and Michael plan to split the duty. The band is also seeking a new bassist, according to Michael, because “everybody wants me to jump on guitar.”
Their name came from the band’s Irish heritage, mick being slang for an Irish person. However, according to Michael the band will probably pick a different name later. At the moment, the band is focusing on writing songs.
“We all contribute a little piece of the puzzle,” Nylox said of the songwriting. Michael said, “We all write the songs. We take care of each other’s weaknesses by our strengths.”
One of these strengths, according to Michael, is the ability to sense what’s going on in society.
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“Maybe that we’re in touch with what’s going on. Maybe because we care. You feel a sense of sadness because no one’s talking about your life. Somebody’s gotta stand up. In hard times, society reverts back to what it needs to survive,” Michael said. The hard times, Michael adds, include the current economic situation in the United States today.
Given this situation, Michael said the band feels “it’s more important to leave stuff behind instead of take, take, take.”
This goal overshadows the idea of making money in the music industry.
“None of us are in it for money,” Michael said.
Nylox said, “The ultimate goal is to inspire. To inspire people. We live in a time where we have to say something, we have all this opportunity and all this happening. If we don’t say something, who will?”
This is a far cry from the trio’s former band, Alpha Nation, based out of Tacoma, Wash. The group was together for two years and recorded demos.
“It was just too constraining. They (the other two band members) wanted what they wanted and they weren’t going to listen to anyone else,” Nylox said of Alpha Nation’s break-up.
According to Michael, the trio was ready “to start saying more” in a lyrical sense as well.
This includes talking about societal ills, something the band feels is lacking from mainstream music.
“People get ostracized for stating their opinion. What can you say and get away with, without sounding like this radical,” Michael said.
This means following the path of “the ones that took the shots” because, according to Michael, these are the ones remembered.
Some of these remembered artists are among the band’s influences, such as Bob Marley and Neil Young.
Both Michael and James remember their father playing vinyl records for them as they were growing up.
“All we had was music,” James said, explaining that the brothers would “learn through music” while “he (their dad) played vinyl. That has more of a resonance with me now as an older man.” Both Michael and James are 25 years old while Nylox is 29 years old.
Nylox had his own musical background, based primarily in jazz and big band.
“In my family, music was mandatory, it wasn’t an option. Back then I didn’t understand that. I wanted to play baseball (but) now I understand that,” Nylox said. His father was a musician, allowing Nylox to play with bands such as the Danny Herman Big Band as well as several other acts.
Michael said these influences blend. The band doesn’t really define itself by any one style but, their sound can be described as rock. With finding creative influences, the music itself isn’t what inspires the band.
“I think what inspires us is life,” Michael said. “If you’re going to write music, you’re going to have to write something that touches people.”
As The Micks continue to work on establishing a fan base and making it in the music scene, James said, “Hopefully someone listens to us.”
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