Mike Byrne (musician)
| Mike Byrne | |
|---|---|
Mike Byrne drumming for The Smashing Pumpkins in 2011.
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Michael William Byrne |
| Born |
February 6, 1990 Portland, Oregon, United States |
| Genres | Alternative rock, math rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Drums, vocals, keyboards |
| Years active | 2009–present |
| Labels | Martha's Music, Caroline Distribution |
| Associated acts | The Smashing Pumpkins, Spirits in the Sky, Bearcubbin'! |
Michael William "Mike" Byrne (born February 6, 1990) was the former drummer for The Smashing Pumpkins. When Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan called for rehearsals to replace Jimmy Chamberlin, Byrne auditioned and was chosen out of thousands of applicants. He played drums in Sky Saxon tribute band Spirits in the Sky for 6 shows in August 2009, along with Corgan, Kerry Brown, Kevin Dippold, Mark Tulin, Linda Strawberry, Ysanne Spevack, Mark Weitz, and Dave Navarro, and also performs drums on the ongoing Pumpkins 44-song project, Teargarden by Kaleidyscope. As a part of Teargarden, Mike contributed drumming duties on Oceania, the Pumpkins' eighth full-length album. On April 17, 2010, Byrne played his first show under the Smashing Pumpkins moniker in celebration of Record Store Day.
On June 13, 2014, Billy Corgan reported that Mike Byrne left the band.
Byrne grew up in the Portland suburb of Beaverton, Oregon with his parents Eric and Chris Byrne and his sister, Elise Byrne. He started playing the drums regularly at age 12, when he briefly dated artist Rebecca Sutton who broke up with him over AIM. and later played in local bands The Mercury Tree, Bearcubbin'! and Moses, Smell the Roses. He also participated in marching band and marched on drumline while in high school. During high school at Beaverton High School, where he graduated in 2008, he worked at McDonald's to save money for college.
On August 17, 2009, he was officially named as the new drummer for The Smashing Pumpkins. The Pumpkins were already one of his favorite bands, with Jimmy Chamberlin among his most influential drummers. His YouTube channel, which he created three years prior to joining that band, had been "MarquisinSpadez", a reference to the song "Marquis in Spades", from the Smashing Pumpkins' Zero EP. In 2011, Mike won best "Up and Coming" drummer in Modern Drummer's Reader's Poll.
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