Michael Hacker

It seems that I’ve been yutzing away on a guitar since sometime in the early 80s… I can’t remember exactly when I started, though, so don’t bother asking. I’ll probably just say something sarcastic, anyway.

My tastes run the gamut from 1960s ~ 1980s rock, folk, jazz, j-pop, and even some classical. But I love the classic 70s rock, à la Boston, Kansas, Queen, Meatloaf, etc. My primary playing / songwriting influences are The Beatles (duh), Queen, Ty Tabor (of King’s X fame), Nuno Bettencourt (formerly of Extreme, currently of DramaGods), Tommy Emmanuel, Edward Van Halen, Frank Zappa, and Indigo Girls. In other words, pretty much a little of everything.

I had my first experience recording in the mid 80s in my buddy Joel’s basement. My friend Dave and I (well, mostly Dave) built a makeshift multitrack recording system out of 2 cheap portable cassette recorders, some wires, a few cheap (there’s that word again) microphones, and a 2-channel mixer Dave bought from Radio Shack. Dave and Joel played keyboards and I played a cheapie loaner guitar that had microphones for pickups. I probably still have a tape hiding around here somewhere (which is where it will stay).

I eventually graduated to a Fostex 4-track and entry-level Roland drum machine sometime in the late 80s while living in beautiful Monterey, CA. Now I have a Mac Octo-core running Pro Tools. Neat, eh?

After a brief 10 year hiatus in Japan, I now find myself in sunny Arizona. I have a small digital project studio in my home, which is where I record and produce all of the things you will be hearing here. In addition, I also collaborate with other local recording folks and musicians.

In additional to all this, I am the Founder of Retune Phoenix, a community effort to Retune, Refresh, and Revitalize the Phoenix, Arizona Music Scene. For more details, check out our website: http://retunephoenix.org/