Mike Byrne (musician)

Mike Byrne
Mike Byrne drumming for The Smashing Pumpkins in 2010
Background information
Born	February 6, 1990 (1990-02-06) (age 21) Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Genres	Alternative rock
Occupations	Musician
Instruments	Drums, vocals
Years active	2009–present
Labels	Independent
Associated acts	Smashing Pumpkins Spirits in the Sky

Michael William Byrne (born February 6, 1990) is the 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 will perform drums on the new Pumpkins album, Teargarden by Kaleidyscope. On April 17, 2010, Byrne played his first show under the Smashing Pumpkins moniker in celebration of Record Store Day.^[1]

Early life

Byrne grew up in the Portland suburb of Beaverton, Oregon with his parents Eric and Chris Byrne and his sister, Elise Byrne.^[2] He started playing the drums regularly at age 12^[2] and later played in local bands The Mercury Tree, Bearcubbin'! and Moses, Smell the Roses. He also participated in marching band throughout high school.^[3] During high school at Beaverton High School, where he graduated in 2008, he worked at McDonald's to save money for college.^[2]

The Smashing Pumpkins

On August 17, 2009, he was officially named as the new drummer for The Smashing Pumpkins.^[2][3] 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.^[4] In 2011, Mike won best "Up and Coming" drummer in Modern Drummer's Reader's Poll.^[5]

Musical influences

Byrne cites some of his influences as The Smashing Pumpkins, The Cure, Maserati, Maps and Atlases, and Pelican and enjoys post-rock and math rock.^[6]

References

1. ^ "Watch: Smashing Pumpkins v3.5 on Record Store Day". http://consequenceofsound.net/2010/04/19/watch-smashing-pumpkins-v3-5-on-record-store-day. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d} White, Ryan (September 17, 2009). "Beaverton 19-year-old goes from McDonald's employee to Smashing Pumpkins drummer". The Oregonian. http://www.oregonlive.com/music/index.ssf/2009/09/beaverton_19yearold_goes_from.html. Retrieved 2009-09-18. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Kreps, Daniel (August 18, 2009). "Rock & Roll Daily: Smashing Pumpkins’ Drummer Announced, Corgan Hints At Album". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/08/18/smashing-pumpkins-drummer-announced-corgan-hints-at-album/. ^{[dead link]}
4. ^ Mike Byrne's YouTube account.
5. ^ "2011 Modern Drummer Readers Poll". Vater Percussion. http://www.vater.com/vaternews/post/2011-Modern-Drummer-Readers-Poll.aspx. Retrieved 8 June 2011. 
6. ^ "Musicfest NW: Q&A with Beaverton local Mike Byrne, Smashing Pumpkins drummer". http://www.oregonlive.com/music/index.ssf/2010/09/qa_with_beaverton_local_mike_b.html. 

External links

• Smashing Pumpkins’ “Drummer of the Future” May Be 19 Years Old – Rolling Stone

Persondata
Name	Byrne, Mike
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	February 6, 1990
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death