Music
“I discovered skateboarding and punk rock music simultaneously in the fall of 1984. The first record I ever bought was Black Flag’s ‘My War‘ and the first show I ever saw was Black Flag at City Gardens in Trenton, New Jersey in October of ‘84 where my life was forever changed. I just knew when I saw Black Flag that whatever I did from that day forward, whatever I was going to do with the rest of my life, I was going to do it with intensity. I joined my first band, Resistance in 1985 and performed one show with them in New Brunswick, New Jersey, opening up for 7 Seconds and Agression before being kicked out of the band for being a ‘vagrant’ — I didn’t have a job– and for ’skateboarding too much.’”
“Jason Hampton and I formed Mike V & The Rats in 2002 with the intention of doing a band that sounded like the bands we liked when we were younger, bands like Suicidal Tendencies, Minor Threat and Black Flag. We recorded our first EP with Fletcher (Pennywise) and played shows all over the US and Canada as well as traveled to Sweden and did dates on Linkin Park’s 2004 Project Revolution Tour. The highlight for The Rats was gigging with Greg Ginn all over Southern California and then being asked by him to open the Black Flag Reunion Shows at the Hollywood Palladium and at Alex’s Bar in Long Beach in 2003 where I also joined Black Flag on stage as a guest vocalist doing the “My War” record in its entirety 3 nights in a row.”
“In 2005 Jason and I disbanded The Rats and reformed as Revolution Mother. In 2007 we released ‘Glory Bound’ which was produced by Mudrock and Andy Johns and we did the entire Vans Wapred Tour playing 2 and sometimes 3 sets a day. From there we toured Europe with Funeral For A Friend, came back to the States and did shows opening for Social Distortion and Bad Religion and then did a US Tour with Tiger Army. We played the first Musink Festival, gigged with Danzig, scored a song for the film ‘The Hangover‘ and continued to tour hard through the summer of 2009. It was a good run with Revolution Mother but after two full length records and four straight years on the road, I felt like it had run its course and I creatively needed and wanted to do something else: Mike Vallely / By The Sword.”
– Mike V
Mike Vallely / By The Sword (2010)
For his new band, Mike Vallely / By The Sword, Mike V revisits and then builds upon the sounds and influences of his previous bands Revolution Mother and Mike V & The Rats, as well as pays tribute to the band that forever changed his life at the age of fourteen, Black Flag (whom Mike V himself joined some twenty years later as a guest vocalist when they reunited for 3 shows in 2003). Serving as a musical culmination of all things Mike V, Mike Vallely / By The Sword hits the ground running in 2010 opening up for The Cult at the Musink Tattoo and Music Festival at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, CA on Feb. 19, where they will be performing their Black Flag tribute set “I’ve Heard It Before” which focuses on Black Flag tracks from The First Four Years and Damaged.
Revolution Mother (2005 — 2009)
ROLLIN’ WITH THA MUTHA
Release Date: July 7, 2009
Ferret Records
Produced by Fred Archambault
Track list: 1. Rollin’ With Tha Mutha 2. MOFO 3. Killin’ Machine 4. Born To Rock N Roll 5. The Snake 6. Night Ride
7. Ride The Sky 8. Hit List 9. Runaway Train 10. Time Machine 11. Crossroader
THE HANGOVER: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Release Date: June 9, 2009
Watertower Music
Produced by George Drakoulias
Track list: 11. Ride The Sky II
VIVA LA BANDS: Volume Two
Release Date: September 4, 2007
Ferret Records
Produced by Mudrock
Track list: 16. Come On
GLORY BOUND
Release Date: June 26, 2007
Cement Shoes Records
Produced by Mudrock & Andy Johns
Track list: 1. Come On 2. Above The Crawl 3. Switchblades & Urethane 4. Bullet 5. Burning From Inside 6. Do Or Die 7. The Real Deal 8. The Accuser 9. Hole In The Sky 10. Who I Am 11. Roll Tonight
ENJOY THE RIDE
Release Date: August 8, 2006
MVI
Produced by Revolution Mother
Track list: 1. Goodbye 2. Second Thoughts 3. Bullet 4. Gravity 5. Never Die
Mike V & The Rats (2002 –2005)
SESSIONS: Snoisses Compilation
Release Date: June 3, 2003
Sessions Records
Produced by Paul Stebner & Mike V And The Rats
Track list: 3. Dehumanized
THE DAYS
Release Date: 2003
MVI
Produced by Paul Stebner & Mike V And The Rats
Track list: 1. Police Story 2. The Days 3. Vendetta
SELF TITLED
Release Date: 2002
Indecision Records
Produced by Mike V And The Rats
Track list: 1. Viewpoint 2. Another City 3. Never Give Up 4. The War 5. The Stand
FIRST 3 SONGS
Release Date: 2002
MVI
Produced by Fletcher Dragge
Track list: 1. Never Give Up 2. The War 3. Step Back
A hundred years from now, Mike Vallely (also known as Mike V) will be viewed as one of skateboarding's pioneers. He'll be remembered as a burly, glue-footed, hella-pop artist. An ATV ruler, a poet, and a fighter's fighter. An iconoclast among icons.
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