Mikko Paananen

Migé
Birth name	Mikko Henrik Julius Paananen
Born	19 December 1974 (1974-12-19) (age 36)
Origin	Helsinki, Finland
Genres	Alternative rock
Occupations	Musician
Instruments	Bass guitar, double bass
Years active	1983–present
Labels	Sire Records
Associated acts	HIM, Daniel Lioneye
Website	www.heartagram.com

Mikko Henrik Julius Paananen (born 19 December 1974), better known as Migé or Migé Amour, is the current and founding bassist of the rock band HIM.^[1]

History

Paananen was born in Helsinki, Finland on 19 December 1974. He lived in Oulunkylä until he was 13 years of age, when his parents divorced and his father moved elsewhere. The family then moved to Tuusula, about 30 km north of Helsinki.

Paananen grew up in an artistic family and by his father music took his heart. When with his father, he was always in places that were surrounded with different instruments. The instruments acted as toys for Paananen and he spent a lot of time with them. Paananen thinks that the reason he picked up the music was for his relatives. The musicians were cooler in the eyes of a young Paananen. His father listened to classical music and mother listened to "Fucking Operettas".

According to an interview Ville Valo had in german gothic magazine Sonic Seducer, Paananen is planning to release a solo album in 2011 which Valo will be mixing.

Equipment

Mige currently uses vintage Fender Jazz basses with Basslines pickups. For parts of Venus Doom, he used a Hamer Chaparral 12-string bass. In the past he has used Fender Precision Basses, Gibson Thunderbirds and Rickenbackers. He currently uses Mesa/Boogie Bass 400+ amplifiers with Mesa/Boogie 4x10 and 2x15 cabinets. He has used Ampeg SVT amplifiers and cabinets in the past. He uses Dunlop bass strings, Dunlop Bass Wahs and T-Rex Distortion Pedals.

Aliases

• Migé (formerly Migé Amour)
• Bad Bad Mizee (only seen on one Viva La Bam episode)
• Michael Eros (his nickname in Daniel Lioneye)
• Sad Sad Mizee (only said on one Radio Bam episode)

References

1. ^ Borges, Mario Mesquita. "H.I.M.". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/him-p429256/biography. Retrieved 24 August 2011.