I Was A Rockstar Once

I just unearthed my band bio from 2003, when I was about to debut as "Melvin" at the NXNE music festival. NOW Weekly called it the "Intimate, warm, fuzz pop solo project of Toronto's Michael Wickware, featuring other ex-members of Heater in the live band." Take a walk down memory with me...

It was quiet reading time for my grade four class at Beverly Glen Junior Public School in Scarborough, and something weird was going on. Mrs. Wakely was taking kids out of the room, one at a time, and bringing them back. Where was she taking them? We all wondered. But there was no talking during quiet reading time and the chosen ones were too proud of their little secrets to blab. So they sat poker-faced while the rest of us squirmed, dying to know whether to be scared or not.

“Michael Wickware, come with me.” Dang! I straggled behind Mrs. Wakely on the way to the Special Activities Room, where certain kids ate lunch and where they kept the piano that no one hardly ever used. But this time, there was a lady at the piano. She played a note, and then a second note, and then asked me which one was higher in pitch. Whatever I said, I guess I was right, because the next day I was in the Beverly Glen Band.

When I showed up late for the first practice, most of the girls had already been assigned clarinets and flutes. The boys had already fought over the drums. And big, queer Mr. Story was walking towards me with a huge brass tuba. The tuba ended up being a blessing—I was the only kid who didn’t have to practice at home since I couldn’t carry the thing that far. I played the tuba for four years, and I still get shivers thinking about the bass line to I’ve Got Rhythm.

My first edting suite

In high school, I replaced my interest in the tuba with an interest in sleeping, smoking pot, and editing songs using a Fisher dual tape deck. I used only the pause button, and became weirdly obsessed with re-editing songs by The Art of Noise and practically the whole album It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.

After a while, I figured out a way to add overdubs with a second tape deck so I started putting raps over the beats I edited. I also got a Radio Shack credit card (those fools—I was only 16) and “bought” a mixer. I managed to record around a dozen tracks before the ‘Shack took it back. I also performed live one time at the Dr. Norman Bethune Collegiate Institute spring dance of 1989. I even had two back-up dancers.

Guitar of fate

In 1994, something terrible happened. One Friday night, my friend and roommate Craig had a car accident on the way to the beer store and died.

The experience was god-awful, however, I inherited the Consumers Distributing guitar his parents had bought him one Christmas years before. I moved back home and played his guitar completely out of tune every day for months until someone showed me how to tune it. Craig would be pretty freaked out now.

At a 1995 New Years party, my friend Larry, whose band, Sleepwalker's Union, I had seen at the Spadina Hotel, was drunk and asked if I wanted to play bass, since he knew I had a Consumers Distributing guitar. I figured the bass was like a tuba/guitar mix, so I said yes and rented one the next day.

I stunk so bad at the first gig, the drummer quit. But we got a new drummer and recorded a three-song demo that still sounds good now. We had some good times—got on the 102.1 New Rock CD, played at the Molson Indy and eventually pressed an album called Lighter, Flicker, Smoke and Fade.

Heater's debut album, The Gas Pedal

After a few years with the Sleepwalkers, it was time to do my own thing. I had a four-track at home, a lot of songs recorded (same guitar), and my drummer/producer friend, Tim Branton, who was eager to start something new together.

We formed a band called Heater, rented a farmhouse up north and recorded 12 songs, mostly live in the living room. The line-up was me singing and playing rythmn guitar, Tim on drums, the junkshop genius David McKinnon on lead guitar, and Blitz on bass. We also had the legendary Joao Carvalho with us to turn the knobs. That album, The Gas Pedal, led to some life-changing experiences.

For example, a New York entertainment lawyer who also represented Liv Tyler and Jeff Buckley (RIP) and whose dad worked for The Beatles signed us up almost immediately. Our first gig ever was in front of label reps from Sony and DreamWorks at New York’s famous Mercury Lounge. The problem was it was our first gig ever, the labels were not impressed, and the fancy attorney—who had schmoozed us in his upper-East side office mere days before—faxed us a Letter of Release.

No matter, the Heat forged ahead. We put out an EP called Extended Play, shot a video with director Jeff Renfroe, which was in rotation on MuchMusic, played in LA, New York, Boston and all over Ontario, got to #1 on the Waterloo college chart (#37 in Canada), and had a lot of fun. For this go-round, the line-up was me, Tim Branton on drums, the virtuous virtuoso Sean Kelly on lead guitar, Jordan Michael Stewart on bass, and Craig McConnell laying down some keyboards and production.

Heater backstage at Ted's Wrecking Yard with MuchMusic's Bradford How

We were kicking a fair bit of ass until mid-way through recording our third CD, to be called Lifestyles, in late 2000. We were slowly falling prey to band cliches like squabbling and mutiny against the supposed songwriter/visionary. The spirit was getting lost and it wasn’t fun anymore.

So I went home and kept recording on my own. I gave my friends and family my first solo album, It’s Christmas!, in December 2000. I made “Melvin” my legal stage name since Michael Wickware was already taken.

My 2003 album with Lil' Mel on the cover

My new release, Dog Toy, is taken from the 60 or so songs I’ve recorded this year.

I’ve got a new live band (also named Melvin) and we are practicing the songs right now. I also hooked up with the yarn manifestation of my alter-ego, Lil’ Mel. He helps me make important decisions, deals with band politics, and lends back-up vocals here and there. He also answers most of the fan mail.

Thanks for the support. I hope to see you at our first show!