Mike Park

Mike Park
Live at Arts at Mark's Garage, Honolulu, HI
Background information
Genres	Ska, Punk rock, Indie
Occupations	Musician, Songwriter, Producer, Label Owner
Instruments	Vocals, Guitar, Saxophone
Years active	1985–present
Labels	Asian Man Dill Dr. Strange Simple Stereo Sub City Suburban Home
Associated acts	The Chinkees The Bruce Lee Band Skankin' Pickle Shaken 69 Rx Bandits Less Than Jake Psychiatric Disorder
Website	Official Site

Mike Park is a Korean American musician and progressive activist. His musical ventures include Skankin' Pickle for whom he both played the saxophone and sang, The Chinkees, The Bruce Lee Band, and most recently an acoustic solo project under his own name. After his time with Skankin' Pickle he went on to found Asian Man Records, a label which he has run out of his garage in California since 1996 with only help from his parents and friends.^[1] Asian Man Records supports mostly ska and punk bands. Park will support any band as long as it is "anti-racist, anti-sexist, and anti-prejudice".^{[citation needed]} Park has used Asian Man Records to release his own music, in addition to providing a start for smaller bands to allow them to grow, including Less Than Jake, Alkaline Trio, and The Lawrence Arms. In 1999 he formed the Plea for Peace Foundation an organization whose aim is "to promote the ideas of peace through the power of music", something which Park has been trying to do with his own bands and with the help of other groups.^{[citation needed]}

Park was the impetus behind the Spring 1998 "Ska Against Racism" tour. The goal of the tour was to promote awareness about racism and raise money for anti-racism organisations such as the Museum of Tolerance. The national tour included The Toasters, Less Than Jake, the Blue Meanies, Mustard Plug, Five Iron Frenzy, MU330, Kemuri, and Mike Park himself.^[2]

Personal life

Park majored in music in college.^[3]

Mike finished a European tour as of March 2008 and is currently^[when?] planning on a North American tour with Chris "Sundowner" McCaughan. His first child, Maggie Elizabeth, was born on 17 November 2006, weighing 6.46 lbs. He is a Minister of the Universal Life Church.^[4] His second child, Moses Young Park, was born on October 15, 2008 at 5:30 AM.

Discography

Solo

• Michael Park (Asian Man, 2001)
• For the Love of Music (Sub City, 2003)
• North Hangook Falling (Sub City, 2005)
• Mike Park 7 Inch and Art Print (Simple Stereo, 2008)
• Beans & Toast (2008)
• Mike Park/O Pioneers!!! split 7″ (Suburban Home, 2009)
• Smile (Asian Man, 2011)

With 'Skankin' Pickle'

Year	Title	Label
1991	Skafunkrastapunk	Dill
1992	Skankin' Pickle Fever	Dill
1994	Sing Along With Skankin' Pickle	Dill Records
1996	Live	Dill
1996	Green Album	Dr. Strange

With 'The Chinkees'

• The Chinkees Are Coming CD
• Karaoke with the Chinkees 7"
• Peace Through Music CD
• Present Day Memories Split CD with Lawrence Arms (out of print)
• Searching for a Brighter Future CD

With 'The Bruce Lee Band'

Year	Title	Label
1997	The Bruce Lee Band	Asian Man
2005	Beautiful World EP	Asian Man

References

1. ^ Inoue, Todd (January 1998). "Secret Asian Man". Metroactive. http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/01.15.98/records1-9802.html. Retrieved 2010-05-13. 
2. ^ Steininger, Alex (April 1998). "Ska Against Racism". In Music We Trust. http://www.inmusicwetrust.com/articles/07f04.html. Retrieved 2007-02-17. 
3. ^ http://koreanpop.org/?p=23
4. ^ Mike Park

External links

• Asian Man Records
• Secret Asian Man
• Official Site
• Simple Stereo Official Site - with information on the Mike Park 7 Inch
• Plea For Peace Official Site
• Interview by Sound Scene Revolution (Podcast)
• Interview by Tom Bastian of decapolis.com (2000)
• Interview by Josh Snider and Jonny Havoc on BigSmileMagazine.com
• Album Review of "North Hangook Falling" on BigSmileMagazine.com

Persondata
Name	Park, Mike
Alternative names
Short description	musician, activist
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death