Michael Hensen (from an Eagles Nest performance)
– ONE OF THE BEST NEW ACOUSTIC AND UKULELE ARTISTS OUT THERE, GO SEE A SHOW!
MICHAEL HENSEN BAND
Music has been much more then pain, its been life.
Pain, Suffering, Curve Balls and Excessive competition have all been a part of the role music has played in my life. More often then not things have not exactly gone the way I’ve envisioned, but maybe its been for my good, or at least I hope so. From the beginning music was a big dream for me. It was just a spark when it all started, driving around in the back of my parents station wagon with a tape recorder in my lap. Both my Mother and my Father have always loved music and dancing.
For me it was a way to connect with the things around me and started me dreaming early on. I loved listening to best of the 80’s tapes, while my mother and father listened current radio hits and mostly 60’s and 70’s music which I also began to listen to and make a part of my musical threads. Bands like the Beatles, Simon and Garfunkle, Rod Stewart and Mowtown’s greatest help to shape the foundation. Even artists like Captain and Tenelle and Led Zepplin all played a part in sculpting my early background.
At some point later I began taking a personal interest in music during school, and even dancing as I played Alto Sax for 4 years and made break dancing a part of my daily routine. It wasn’t too much later that I started playing guitar, writing music, and recording my first demo’s on a Tascam 4 track recorder. I used to lay down both acoustic and electric guitars with my own percussion efforts like tambourine and slapping on boxes and pots. However, if you back up a bit, its to be noted I was also getting into the beginnings of digital music having some of the first compressed digital files on my Commodore 64.
I remember playing Billy Idol’s – Flesh for Fantasy on my C-64 and couldn’t believe I had an amazing 20 secs of digital audio on my computer. It was just a little after that, that I began diving into a program called Cakewalk by Twelve Tone Systems. From that point I was now hooked on home studio recordings and taking it to new levels.
Over the years I followed a variety of digital recording systems and software only to eventually land on a piece of software that has been a mainstay in my digital audio production efforts. Fruity Loops (Studio), or now what is known as FL Studio 20 was the key to me producing and creating my own full length songs. It eventually became the focus of my digital recording studio in 2004-2005 called Digital One Studios where we created, engineered and mixed Hip Hop, Modern Rock, R&B and even acoustic pop style tunes.
Shortly after in 2010 and 2011 I eventually landed placements with MTV Networks for MTV Cribs episodes. This would be my first real introduction into Television network credits. I felt like I had finally broken the mold and thought I was so close to making it in music. Little did I know, the journey was about to take a turn for a long and tumultuous ride that still to this day contains quite a bit of hardship. Even keeping my practically homeless at times.
Reflecting back to 1998 and 1999, I remember was doing mostly modern rock music with a post 90’s flair. I even made a trip to New York City to pitch a demo to over 10 major record labels. I dropped off packages at Sony, Warner Bro’s, Atlantic Records, Reprise, and many others. I even was sent a letter by Craig Kallman of Atlantic Records who at the time was interested in hearing more of my music. But by fate somehow, I missed the potential record deal and that forced me to take the indie music route. I spent many years after submitting to demo and record label opportunities only to be put back in the mix of my local music scene time and time again. Most of that time I spent just trying to get bar owners to give me a shot at just making a local living as a performer.
To this day, I still feel it has been not only a struggle but a real battle making people see the value of my musical efforts. It actually has made me sometimes bitter, and a person I hardly sometimes recognize. That said, its no wonder that you might encounter a variety of personalities and musical styles when you listen to my performance and production.
In spite of all the hardships, its come to make me extremely diverse in music and that is what you will hear when you come to a Michael Hensen show. I am hoping for the future to bring me success with the upcoming release of my 5th CD effort, but you’ll just have to wait and see where we go next on this musical circus ride.
Thank you so much for getting to know a little bit about me as an artist, and I hope to see you at a show soon. My sincerest gratitude for your support and time. I hope to bring you a new level of entertainment that goes beyond your expectations.
God Bless,
-Michael
MUSIC CLASSIFICATION: Modern Rock music, with inspirational lyrics and some Christian music themes. Touted as Modern Rock for your soul. Sounds like: Maroon 5, Staind, Live, STP, Pearl Jam, Shinedown, OLP, Lifehouse, and Switchfoot.