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Bio
- About Mike Nagoda
It is a dark, bleak, night. The air is wrought with tension and in the background, Parliament Hill burns to ashes in the night sky. Canada has been seized by martial law, betrayed by a group of corrupt politicians intent on solidifying their rule. Somewhere, in the midst of all this, a voice is heard, lamenting the trials and plights of a nation consumed by chaos. This brooding landscape sets the scene for Mike Nagoda’s debut album, Parliament. Inspired by post apocalyptic science fiction, this album is Mike’s answer to the genre that has intrigued many across the globe for years. Dissatisfied with leaving the chaos and despair solely to the Americans and the British, he figured it was high time to plunge his own country into madness.
It’s the sound of slide guitar that tells this story, that unique sound of metal on metal, steel on steel, told with the raw, emotional power of the Blues. But this isn’t just any traditional Blues album with a slide guitar on it. This is the Blues mixed in with Jazz, Country and Hard Rock, played with not just one slide, but two. Mike’s unique style of Double Slide Guitar is done by only a handful of musicians across the world. Created by Mike’s friend and mentor Brian Cober, the use of two slides allows the player to express themselves freely, no longer limited by traditional single slide playing. The second slide, placed on the thumb and able to cover two extra strings, allows the guitarist to play chords and licks usually not heard in an open tuning. The player is no longer limited to just major chords: now they can play minor chords, sevenths, diminished or any other sort of advanced chords commonly heard in music such as Jazz.
Unable to play guitar like most people because of his disability of Cerebral Palsy, Mike struggled for years to be able to play. Undeterred by those who said he’d never be able to do it and determined to find some way of expressing himself on the instrument he loved, it was the double slides that finally allowed Mike to express himself freely and realise his dream. Originally trained on Classical piano from the age of six, it was a struggle to even find a teacher who’d take him on. But in the end he persevered, learning both guitar and piano. Parliament is a melting pot for musical diversity, paying homage to both the great concept albums of the 1970s that inspired Mike growing up and the generations of Blues musicians who continue to inspire him today. Parliament is the culmination of years of struggle against adversity, representing not only Mike’s dedication to his craft but also his love of music.
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News
- June 22nd 2015
Hello Everybody
This week marks the beginning of Pride Week here in Toronto, and June has historically been designated as Pride Month in many countries. In recent years I have come to support more and more the cause for full inclusion and equality of LGBT people in all aspects of society. After quite a long time of giving the matter some thought, there is something I wish to share with you all about myself, something which I can no longer hide if I’m to live a happy and full life:
I’m Gay and Polyamorous, and today is the day I come out and say no more to being closeted!
This has been a very difficult journey for me to be on, and if you’d asked me three years ago if I’d ever say those words, I would have denied it and laughed, but then again, three years ago I was a very different person. If you’ve got the time I’d like to share my story with you, so I’ll start at the beginning.
I grew up in a fairly religious household, so the idea of me being attracted to guys was a big no no. I repressed my feelings for men for years, but at the age of 16 I thought I was Bisexual, and I personally identified that way in private for many years, but never acted on my feelings due to my religious upbringing.
When I met the woman I would marry and fall in love with, Nicole, I still identified as being Bi, but a few months before the wedding happened I realized that I could not be in a traditional monogamous marriage with her. Rather than cheat and ruin the relationship, I came to Nicole and told her I needed an open marriage to explore my feelings with men (she knew before we dated that I was attracted to guys). It was around this time that we both discovered the idea of Polyamory/open relationships, the idea of people having multiple committed relationships with each other, where everyone knows about everyone else, rules are agreed to, and everything is above board. Nicole and I decided that a Poly arrangement where I could date and find a guy to be in a committed relationship with in addition to being with her was the right way to go, and so we got married with this framework in mind.
A few months after the wedding I fell in love with my first boyfriend. We’re no longer together, but regardless of that, that’s when the light bulb went on and everything clicked for me. I knew I was Gay. There was nothing more I wanted than to have a man in my life who loved me fully and completely, there was no denying it any longer, but I still was afraid that Nicole would leave me. I now realized that I was in a mixed orientation relationship, where one partner is LGBT and the other is straight. Statistics for these types of relationships are usually pretty grim: most end in divorce and a whole lot of pain, but there are some couples who thankfully make it work for them.
I’m happy to say that Nicole and I are one of those couples and that when I came out to Nicole as a Gay man, she did not leave me. Instead, she stuck by me and our love for each other deepened and grew and I can definitely say that we love each other more now than the day we got married. We are not separating, and although we are not divorcing, it seems more authentic for us to think of each other as partners or life partners than husband and wife, given what I now know about my sexual orientation. For us, even though spiritually speaking the marriage is over, our relationship is not and will continue to deepen and grow as the years go by. Nicole has been there for me every step of the way, encouraging me to date wonderful men and be myself, to come out slowly to my close friends and family, and now, finally, to all of you. I could not have done any of this without Nicole’s help: she is the most amazing and remarkable woman I have ever met and has been incredibly brave throughout all of this. Where many women would have left, she stuck by me and encouraged me to be happy and be myself. I could not have asked for a better life partner, and regardless of my orientation, I am proud to be with her and even more proud of her for the integrity and bravery she’s shown throughout all of this. I love her more than ever and will be with her until the day I die. It doesn’t matter how many guys I swoon over, that will never change.
I want to simply say that I am happier now than I’ve ever been. I am now in a wonderful Polyamorous relationship with Nicole and my amazing boyfriend, Duncan, who I’ve been seeing now for about the past eight months. Both of them are amazing people and I consider myself fortunate to be in such a wonderful relationship with such an incredible woman and such a great guy. I love them both so much!
In the coming months, I’ll be working on my second album and beginning to produce Blues songs with LGBT subject matter. I’m not sure if that’s ever been done before, but I’m always one for breaking new ground. I hope to be playing some of these new tunes at the Pride London Festival on July 25th, so for those of you who can make it out, I encourage you to come out and show your pride! I especially want to thank Louis Marks and all the good folks over at Ropeadope Records for supporting me and the direction I’m taking my music and sticking by me. It is almost unheard of for a record label to support a Gay male artist and allow them to express their journey through their art (many are closeted or get dropped by the label), and so I am incredibly grateful to them for the incredible support they’ve given me. I also want to thank all of my fans for your continued support of my music, as I can’t do any of what I do without you. I hope that you’ll continue to support me now that I’ve come out and come with me on this journey as I take my music in a new and virtually unexplored direction for Blues music.
Lastly, I want to thank all my friends and family who have shown me love and support through what has been a very challenging time: the love and support you have all shown me has been incredible and I thank you all for your love and understanding. I want to finish by wishing you all a Happy Pride: I will be joining with the rest of my great big LGBT and Poly family members in the festivities this week as I have in the past. This year I’m happy to say I’ll finally be able to do it after finally having come out from the dark and into the light, as a happy and Proud Gay Poly man. Thank you to all of you for your love and support. I have never been happier and prouder to be myself than I am now. Happy Pride, and enjoy the rest of the week!
Mike
May 6th 2014
Today is album release day folks! After two years in the making, Parliament is being released today on Ropeadope Records, and I'm so very proud of it! In honour of the album's release today, I'm sharing some thoughts and memories of making the album.
I started writing the material for what would become Parliament around late 2010, with most of the material being written during 2011. During that year I got addicted to a computer game called Fallout 3, which is a game set in a post apocalyptic version of the United States. I really got immersed in the whole post apocalyptic genre, and playing Fallout so much got me thinking, ‘Why is it that all the post apocalyptic sci-fi settings are set either in the US, or the UK? Why has nobody done a post apocalyptic Canada yet?’
I grew up listening to, a lot of progressive rock from the seventies. Most of my teenage years were spent listening to Pink Floyd records, so I really loved the idea of concept albums. I think when I heard The Wall for the first time it must have made a tremendous impact on me, because I’ve never been good at writing lyrics for individual songs. I find the idea of writing lyrics for a few stanzas or verses to be way too limiting. So when I started thinking about what the album was going to be about, I put two and two together and thought, ‘Man, I should totally do a concept album based around the idea of post apocalyptic Canada, but do it as a Blues album instead!’. I kind of have this thing about doing stuff no one’s ever done before: I really, really like to push boundaries with my music, I find that sticking to one thing or one genre all the time is really boring and confining. When I write, I’m all about freedom, both musically and lyrically. I want the ability to play whatever, whenever, however I see fit, and I think Parliament captures that so well. While it’s primarily a Blues album, it takes from so many other genres like Jazz, Hard Rock, Progressive Rock and Country. I wanted this album to be an album for anyone who loves music, not just for somebody who only likes Blues.
Making the album was so frantic, but I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. I’d booked studio time for the end of February and the whole month of March in 2012, but I didn’t have a full band! The bass player we were supposed to get had to drop out, so I emailed D’Arcy Cain frantically asking him if he’d do it. Thankfully he said yes! We had five weeks to go before we went in to the studio, and only three days to record the bed tracks live off the floor! Steve Shaw didn’t have his drum parts arranged, D’Arcy didn’t have any bass lines worked out: all we had was some demos of me playing acoustic guitar and singing. That’s it. We’d never played with each other before either! Five weeks were spent frantically, hastily pulling drum parts, bass parts, guitar parts together. Even when we went into the studio on day one, we weren’t sure if it was going to work! But later that night when we heard playback of just the drums and bass for the first track on the album, The Victor’s Hymn, we were smiling and remarking on how good everything was sounding. I knew then that we’d made something special together, and the next two days proved that. Nathan Beaupre, our engineer and co-producer, somehow, managed to coax such great performances out of us, turning that frantic energy into something really awesome! People who’ve heard the album say to me, ‘It sounds live, so full of energy, like you’re there in the room playing!’ and that’s because it’s true! We took that frantic energy, that nervousness and desperation and pure blind faith that we could pull it off, and made something utterly fantastic out of it!
When D’Arcy and Steve finished their parts that weekend, I was left for a month to finish up the album, along with some special guests. Liam Ward, who plays harmonica on the record, actually lives overseas in the UK. I met him when he was living here in Canada for a bit, and was totally blown away by his playing. Nathan Beaupre and I weren’t sure if it was going to work out or not with him recording for us overseas, but thankfully he gave us some amazing performances! Rory Endrizzi, who’s been a friend of mine for a long time, played some beautiful alto sax and I was very, very fortunate to have him play on the record. His tone is impeccable! Brian Cober, who invented Double Slide Guitar and has acted as my mentor, said yes to recording in a heartbeat, doing the leads in the second half of Running Man. I think we were both so thrilled at having two Double Slide players on a record for the first time! For us, it was something historic, because keep in mind until I decided to start playing that way, nobody had played Double Slide since Brian! I think he was just really proud that someone’s carrying the torch so to speak, and I’m very proud and honoured to be doing it.
So I was holed up in the studio for a month, having the time of my life, recording guitars, keyboards and vocals. I wanted the record to be different in sound because I was going for a heavier, grittier sound with the Double Slide. Brian was always more of a pure Blues player, whereas I wanted to bring in my rock and metal influences. The reason you hear me playing with distortion or a wah wah pedal in some spots is because I was very influenced early on by Robert Randolph. When I heard him play Pedal Steel with a distortion pedal and a wah wah tone, it changed my whole life, I had no idea you could do that with a slide! So I wanted to take that influence, mix it with my Chicago and Delta Blues style and the Jazz influences in my rhythm playing, and create something entirely new with the Double Slide sound, something no one had ever heard before. I realized I could do so much with this technique that I might as well not limit myself to playing in one idiom or style.
Throughout the whole recording process I just remember telling myself, ‘I’ve got to pull through with this, I’ve got to make it!’ because music was the one thing I did really, really well. When you have a physical disability, it makes it difficult to get a career a lot of the time, because you can’t work in things like trades or construction like a lot of guys do. I was determined to make it with this record, it was that blind faith in myself, that I knew I had something special in me and that it was going to pull me through that’s the reason for all the passion and energy on this record. I put everything I had into Parliament, and it shows! I think it’s the most accurate and honest representation of who I am, both as a person and a musician, and I’m just so incredibly proud of what I’ve accomplished with it.
When I got signed to Ropeadope last year, it was a complete surprise: I wasn't expecting to get signed, at least not on the back of my first record, but I'm so very grateful for the label to have taken a chance on me and for each and every one of my fans who has supported me in my music throughout the years. I couldn't have gotten this far without any of you. I hope you all enjoy the album, and please, if you like what you hear, share it with your friends. It has been, and will continue to be, an incredible journey. Thank you all so much!
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In The Greater Toronto Area (GTA)
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Mike Nagoda
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Lyrics
Parliament
The Victor’s Hymn
In summer’s heat
In winter’s cold
I take the young
I take the old
The newborn’s cry
Is like poison to my ears
But upon that final breath
My name is revered
I am immortal
I am eternal
And by your votes
You’ve called my name
With bloodied ballots
And tongues of men
Thick words are wrought
The Hymn begins
The auger’s eye
Has seen all that I bring
He speaks the words
And chants again
You bade me once
Now I come again
The portents known
To every man
Upon the hilltop
Where poppies once lay
I raise my blade
And ride again
A pale horse rides
Bid me welcome again
---
Parliament Got Bombed
Hold the presses
Have you heard the news
Coming on down from the Hill now?
6 PM, and a tragedy’s struck
And nobody knows what to do now
The distinguished Member
From the southern riding
Well he bombed the whole place to Hell
Confused and distraught
In the middle of confrontation
He pushed the button
‘Whole place fell
Parliament got bombed tonight
And now the nation’s alight
The people run in fright
Yeah Parliament’s been bombed tonight
And in the aftermath
Five hours in the present
The press has no more words to say
Loss of Dogma
Has lead to moral decay
But at least we all still got Faith
And as the ashes get hit by the moonlight
The crowd does gather and declare:
That we are strong,
Completely united
And the sulfur rises up through the air
Oh Parliament got bombed tonight
And now the nation’s alight
The people stand to fight
‘Cause Parliament’s been bombed tonight
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Path of Needles
Went down that path of needles
Walked until my feet bled
Saw the signposts and the people
Went on up to the city ahead
I came onto its black burned gates
Saw the sight before my eyes
I knew then it was too late
So I shook my head and began to cry
Well we’ve all been conned so very long
By the Left and the Right
And folks are wondering why we’re dead inside
You’ll rock the vote, you’ll make a change
Well it’s all just a lie
But I hope that we can get through the night
At the crack of dawn the very next day
Well I found the rifle between my eyes
The Boys in Green had come to stay
So I got on up and passed them by
Blue Chip, Green Chip, Orange, Red
We rolled the dice and cracked a smile
But we weren’t laughing very long
When they took our rights and hung ‘em high!
Well we’ve all been conned so very long
By the Left and the Right
And folks are wondering why we’re dead inside
You’ll rock the vote, you’ll make a change
Well it’s all just a lie
But I hope that we can get through the night
Went down that path of needles
Walked until our hearts bled
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Running Man
You go to the cinema
See the bodies fill the seats
Caught up in claustrophobia
You can’t get no relief
While driving on the motorway
Tanks and dead men pass you by
Saw their photos on the front page
You wish you were so high
Is there any solitude
For those of us who’ve lived the lie
Kept warm by our bedsides
And shrouded from the night?
Is there any hope left
For a country left to die?
Knowing no answers
We ran straight through the night
Pulitzer ink and muddied tracks
Fill your mind with unwanted facts
You only wanted to just pull back
And take a look at those snowshoe tracks
You read through the magazines
Glossy photos, a life too clean
Mountains of green and copper gleam
Too much silver for the screen
Is there any hope left
For a crypt now shrouded in lies
Cared over by vermin
And kept from our sight?
Is there redemption
For a people left to die?
Knowing no answers
I ran right straight through the night
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Radio Waves
In the darkness of the forest
In the shelter of the night
I picked up signals to my relief
My short wave had come upon
A once abandoned station
That confirmed both my fears and beliefs
You cry for freedom?
It’s been a long time
You thirst for justice?
It’s been a long time
By the light of the moon
We have learned the hidden truth
Backdoor deals and setups
Reeled the catch in, made us fools
When the bomb went off
And the Hill burst into flame
How could we have known
That we’d been played once again?
A conspiracy unmasked
Backed by many politicians
But the signal is now suddenly cut
In the darkness of the night
I know that I have to fight
And pay with every drop of my blood
I cry for freedom
I know it’s my time
I thirst for justice
I know it’s my time
By the light of the moon
I have learned the secret truth
Backdoor deals and setups
Won’t make me a fool
When the bomb goes off
And the Hill bursts into flame
Then they’ll know
That two can play the game
---
Black smoke across the 401
Piles of bodies soaked by the sun
A drenched stench rises on the highway
A rotting tomb in a blood soaked haze
Toronto is burning to dust in the ground
Legalized chaos, no order is found
Gerrard is on fire and Queen is in flames
The hopeless now wonder who is to blame
But now I’m riding fast with the wind
Upon the Hill I have justice to bring
Ottawa will hear the downtrodden sing
I hear news that Quebec is no more
Swallowed up in treachery, sold like a whore
Masses of people now unwilling slaves
Soon to labour and sleep in their graves
B.C. is lost, the Maritimes are drowned
The Prairies are chaff and the North can’t be found
Alberta’s a warzone, Montreal is the same
And at Nunavut they douse old in flame
I swear I won’t be taken to your “summer camps”
Where you process the young as meat for the fold
I swear you won’t take me in now
I’ll burn you alive, let the legends be told
I am this country’s Messiah
I am the bringer of righteous flame
I am the Great North’s salvation
I’ll see your Parliament burn
I’ll see the Hill in flames
In principio erat nihil
Nihil sed sanguinis
Et ex sanguine venit Redemptor
Redemptor Aquilonis
Ecce, ecce, gloria nobis
Ecce, ecce. Aquilonis
Ecce, ecce, mors tyrannis
Ecce, ecce, Aquilonis
Ecce, ecce, salus nobis
Ecce, ecce!
Ecce homo!
In the beginning there was nothing
Nothing but blood
And from [that] blood came the Redeemer
The Redeeemer of the North
Behold, behold, our glory
Behold, behold, the North
Behold, behold, death for the tyrants
Behold, behold, the North
Behold, behold, our salvation
Behold, behold!
Behold the man!
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In Memoria
Saw the Generals on the Hill
Behind walls and chalk white lines
The boundaries laid, the war raged on
We passed the time
In summer the heat took our young
In winter the Boys took our old
All gone and lost forever
We watched the cards began to fold
With a watchful eye
I crept up to the Hill
Eyed the sentries
And enacted my will
A cloud of smoke
A crack to the neck
I slipped in and caused outright havoc
Bodies dropped to the floor
As blood ran down my face
The sweat clouding my vision
I kept on moving at a steady pace
A flash to the neck
Another one dropped
I smiled, sweating,
Smelling sweet, sweet rot
Kicked in the doors
And the Members rose to their feet
A mob of conspirators
Every eye I did meet
I raised my bloodied hand
Which held that crimson blade
Broke their silence
And set the chamber aflame
When the cock had crowed, O Peter,
Did you know whom you had denied?
When you kissed that cheek, O Judas,
Did you know whom you had betrayed?
Never lost, in memoria, never lost, in nostra memoria,
We expose your crimes and find you wanting
Ego sum primordium universitatis
Et ego sum mors universitatis
Eram ibi in principio,
Despectans omnia oculo caeco temporis
Amixi vos, pavi vos et perlui vos
Et hoc modo vos mihi vestras gratias agetis?
Ardete, ardete cum cetero mundi!
Ardete ignibus gelatoris Gehennae
Et scite, nunc, me esse vestrum Deum!
I am the birth of the universe
And I am the death of the universe
I was there in the beginning,
Surveying all with the blind eye of time
I clothed you, fed you and bathed you
And this is how you show your thanks?
Burn, burn with the rest of the world!
Burn with the frozen fires of Gehenna
And know, now, that I am your God!
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Parliament Got Bombed (Reprise)
Rideau Hall is burning
And Parliament’s in flames
Smoke is dancing in the air
Seems I’ve won the game
And the Members lie in state tonight
All pawns in my game
Took ‘em down with a blessed touch
Now they’re all wreathed in flame
Parliament got bombed tonight
Now we’ve won back our rights
Yeah the nation’s alight
Parliament got bombed tonight
And there’s fire burning my body
And smoke all in my eyes
And there’s blood all around me
I know it’s my time
I am now a witness
As I look down from the sky
The sight now unfolding
Before my very eyes
But the people are in shambles
Seems I’ve caused them too much pain
I see that pale horse on the hilltop
And I know who’s won the game
Parliament got bombed tonight
Now we’ve lost all our rights
Now the nation’s alight
Yeah Parliament got bombed tonight
Parliament got bombed tonight
Yeah and now we’ve lost all our rights
Parliament got bombed tonight
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Tweets
- Launching my #crowdfunding campaign for my next record #OutsideTheBox on Monday! If you're interested in supporting, DM me! #Blues #LGBT
- Really excited to announce that I'm working with award winning producer @chrisbirkett12 for my next project! https://t.co/kaaQoj1yrL #stoked
- Bringing some smoking #Blues to @120Diner tonight, filling in for @chrisbirkett12 while he's away! Come on out! #LGBT #livemusic #slideparty
- Today: Toronto, Canada - Aug 30 at 120 Diner https://t.co/HGO1OUv5wP
- Playing @120Diner tomorrow night, subbing in for @chrisbirkett12 and bringing some great electric #Blues to the venue! 10 pm, PWYC. #LGBT
- Tomorrow: Toronto, Canada - Aug 30 at 120 Diner https://t.co/FMN3tp1HRl
- This coming Tuesday I am going to be melting faces @120Diner- 10 pm, PWYC. Y'all should come! #LGBT $Blues #facemelt #livemusic
- Honoured to be subbing in for @chrisbirkett12 next Tuesday for the #indietuesdays gig @120Diner. Gonna be bringing some #LGBT #120Blues!
- Just Announced: Toronto, Canada - Aug 30 at 120 Diner https://t.co/K7ualMd9cx
- 1963 yamaki 12 string acoustic. This was my dad's before he passed it on to me. It's since been… https://t.co/dBFSfysDxR
- My black g & l tribute as at, MFD pickups scream!!! https://t.co/IiNucNyWVf
- Pedal setup from r to l: ibanez ts9 tube screamer, Dunlop crybaby wah wah, xotic sp compressor https://t.co/v8lTvfqjra
- My two teles, double trouble! @ Toronto, Ontario https://t.co/mLpCK8EONx
- Playing the back room of @TheCameronHouse tonight with @TheACRevue! $5 cover, doors @ 9, on @ 10! Come on out! #LGBT #Blues #livemusic #go
- Today: Toronto, Canada - Jul 30 at Cameron House https://t.co/pLaYGA6ydJ
- Playing @TheCameronHouse supporting @TheACRevue this Saturday in the backroom (shenanigans are sure to ensue)- $5, on @ 10. #Blues #LGBT
- Today: London, Canada - Jul 23 at Pride London 2016 https://t.co/fnuTciJUCt
- Playing @prideldnfest today, on @ 530! Come on out and Celebrate #Pride with me! #Pride2016 #LGBT #Blues #livemusic
- This Weekend: London, Canada - Jul 23 at Pride London 2016 https://t.co/ZumJo6teHr
- Playing @prideldnfest this Saturday, on @ 530! @KrisandDee are headlining! That's 2 great reasons to come! #Free #PrideinLondon #LGBT #Blues
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