Mike's Music Bio

Bassood was my first band, a high school venture that needed a new bassist. I did not play music at all - yet; but their guitarist, Joe had faith in me, and taught me some fundamentals. Soon I was adding a few bass notes beyond the distortion-laced rhythm chords, and even inserting a little tiny personal flair into Jim's songs. Playing shows with Bassood was amazing - we sounded so huge, with Jim's singing, Al's drumming...it was a very fun time.

Soon after, I began playing guitar, and experimenting with more harmonious sounds. I became intrigued with simply acoustic instruments and the base fundamentals, free of distortion and power chord prisons. After unsuccessfully attempting to insert such development into Bassood, I became frustrated and depressed. Soon I came to the realization that even if this were Metallica - even if we had legions of fans and were making millions...it still wouldn't be fun. And if it wasn't fun even with that incentive, then I couldn't be part of it anymore (let alone NOT having legions of fans, and not making any money whatsoever).

Bassood had an original independent CD released while we were in high school. Jim and Joe were doing studio work on a second such project when I quit the band. The drummer, Al Bilo, is the best I have ever played with, and the two of us ended up in many future projects and collaborations. I have played with Joe Mageary now and then as well, and still think he is a wondrous musical force. Joe and Jim were previously in the Chaos Junkies together (www.chaosjunkies.com), and played such Boston venues as The Paradise. They are now performing together as Milquetoast at venues such as the Lizard Lounge.

Other places to see Joe and/or Jim:
www.myspace.com/milquetoastetc
www.reverbnation.com/milquetoast
www.myspace.com/forcefedliesrock

Fred Gnade

Time period: 1998 (roughly one week)

Members: Matthias Moretti, Joe Mageary, Randy LaGasse, Michael Tidd (bass)

Name based on: Generous with Pianos

Notable Shows: Exactly one - but i forget where it was

In my search for expressive avenues other than Bassood, I joined as bassist for this one-week project. I can't really remember anything that happened, but we played exactly one show.

DaleRun

Time period: 1999

Members: Paul Monaco, Matt Guminski, Ben Fazio Carter, Mike Van Breta / Justin Downs, Michael Tidd (guitar/vocals)

Name based on: Late night trips to the only open facility in Georgetown, Richdale (the 'DALE!). Usually to get hot chocolate and sugary items, for creative inspiration.

Notable Shows: Ben Faz's basement.

Notable Songs: Everyone, Master of Memories, cover of Lit

As I began writing songs on guitar, I joined in with DaleRun. It was a great side project and way to actually accomplish some tame, harmonious, ear-friendly music. It also gave me a chance to attempt vocals for the first time, despite Ben's mother objecting to our lyrics ("You're gonna do WHAT?!").

We never got to a point of cohesion where we could take our act out of the basement, but it was fun nonetheless. Good songwriting experience. What did Ben do?

SocialTea

Time period: 2000

Members: Al Bilo, Matt Guminski, Pablo Picker, Michael Tidd (guitar/vocals)

Name based on: Those annoyingly plain cookies my best friend Jen used to eat.

Notable Shows: GHS Battle of the Bands

Notable Songs: Free, #3, DMB covers

While in my second semester at UMass Amherst, I began jamming regularly with some folks, primarily Pablo, who was an extremely good musician. He had a natural charisma, voice, and talent that I really looked up to. At first we would write riffs together - his rhythm guitar and my lead. Then we incorporated some vocal harmonies, and soon we felt it was something too good to keep to ourselves. I hastily got Al and Matt to join in, and soon the four of us were practicing and playing a show out of the blue.

The show was not a stellar success - it was my first time singing in public, and we really only practiced about two hours total beforehand. But it was fun, and the first time songs that I had written were played and sung out loud for others to hear. The support of my friends at the time was amazing.

Strange Brew, a cover band made up of gentlemen 40 and up, won the contest. Damn you, Corey Lynch's dad!

Pablo ended up moving to the more hippy-ish sector of UMass the next year, and I started to realize our styles would inevitably go seperate ways. I jammed with him on bass once or twice more, but mostly lost contact, as I dropped out of UMass after my second year.

Pablo can be seen playing with his band Santiago Treats in the Boston area. I highly advise checking him out: http://www.pablosound.com/

Empty Orchard

Time period: 2001 - 2002

Members: Al Bilo (drums), Matt Guminski (bass), Chris Hodges (lead guitar), Keith Willis (harmonica/saxophone/percussion/vocals), Michael Tidd (guitar/vocals)

Name based on: A Biblical verse (not really).

Notable Shows: St. Joseph's College, Maine; Ben Faz's Basement (again?!)

Notable Songs: Dragonfly, Farmer's Daughter, Vanity's Shield

EO was my favorite creation. Finally my songwriting was beginning to mature, and I had assembled musicians diverse and talented enough to really make it successful. After working to get my tunes together - verses, chorus, bridges, working out solos and spaces for improvisation - finally I had the guts to show some of the tunes I had been developing to Keith and Chris during a jam one day. I liked jamming and all, but the words and lyrics were always an intricate part of songs to me. Riffs and all were great, but...without that added dimension, I was just playing along.

I played them a few pieces of some songs, most notably Farmer's Daughter, and the were really impressed, enough so to agree to form a band. Matt Guminski, who I had written some tunes with from the Dalerun days, and was always happy and eager to play bass with us, joined up on bass, and then we had a five-piece. Keith would play harmonica, which he was phenominal at, or sometimes saxophone, which he was less phenominal at, or contribute backup vocals as well. I looked around for another singer for awhile, so I could just be rhythm guitar...but we never found the right person, so I was stuck singing. That was probably our biggest weakness - I had some range and a decent ear, but no real vocal strength, or raw power. Most of the songs I would write and compose, only to find they weren't even in a key I could easily reach.

Empty Orchard played some shows around the area, most notably St Joseph's College in Maine. However, I was preoccupied with my *strained* relationship, which I had left college to maintain, and I never really got everyone to focus on the music as much as we should've. We had late sessions in Salem writing songs and rehearsing pieces, and we really got some good, tight music down, with good lyrics and riffs people could groove to. We also had a heck of a range - DMB-sounding tunes, darker Days of the New sounds, folkish acoustic, even some oddball jazzy instrumentals. It was the beginning of some great musical innovations, and a time during which we all grew together. It also gave me a lot more courage and belief in my own words and music, which continues to effect me today.

The Ivy Street Project

Time period: 2003

Members: Al Bilo (drums), Chris Hodges (guitar), Keith Willis (harmonica/saxophone), Michael Tidd (bass)

Name based on: Well, we needed a project-name, and we happened to steal this street sign.

Notable Shows: Drew University, NJ

Notable Songs: Traffic Jam, 495, Jabberwocky, Low Rider cover

When Matt left the area for over a month, the rest of Empty Orchard decided to keep jamming, perhaps with a more sturdy, progressive, instrumental base. I had led the band for a while with vocals, so I decided to hop back on bass at everyone's urging, and see where the project went. Soon we were creating all sorts of new funk sounds, and even working with time changes and stops. This new project seemed a bit more interesting than EO had become, so I let EO slip away while balancing school, work, and the psycho girlfriend.

Ivy Street led to a whole new type of gigging - paid shows. Never before had I been paid anything more than perhaps a free soda to perform. Now we were driving several states away to play our funky hearts out, and making hundreds of dollars in the process.

More Weight

Time period: 2003

Members: Al Bilo (drums), Chris Hodges (guitar), Michael Tidd (bass)

Name based on: The Giles Corey quote from The Crucible.

Notable Shows: Fitchburg State College

Notable Songs: Traffic Jam

With the sudden allien abduction of Keith Willis, the three remaining EO members soldiered on. We continued stretching our musical boundaries and developing more and more intricate arrangements, while landing still more paid shows. This included a stint at Fitchburg State College, courtesy of Joseph F. Mageary.

Soon, however, I began a new full-time corporate job, and experienced a heart-wrenching breakup after 5 loyal years of servitude. This combination of factors, along with Chris's abduction by the same group of marauding aliens, left More Weight more or less weightless.

Various Reflections on Ped

Time period: 2005

Members: Al Bilo (drums), Jon Meo (percussion), Rob Alderman (guitar), Michael Tidd (bass)

Name based on: Another kid from high school, often the subject of song names.

Notable Shows: Jon's parent's house, Jon's cousin's house

Notable Songs: Traffic Jam, Jesus Children cover, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen cover

The JAR trio invited me to join back up as a master bassist earlier this year, and we found a sudden new focus to our efforts. Some local parties and events became our new experimental forum.

The project was mostly on hold while began travelling to Florida for work in 2005, and would resume on the weekends when I was back and available to jam. Eventually, as I starting making plans to relocate to Orlando, I had to stop playing with the guys. Al and Rob, and even Jon still play occasionally. I only see Al when I visit back up north every 6 months or so.

Infrared Audio

Time period: July 2008 - July 2011

Members: Ron Ferrante (guitar) ,Michael Tidd (bass) | Several ex-drummers (Scott Bloom, Dave Wooten)

After living in Charlotte for 9 months or so, I got restless and started thinking about joining a band again. I found these two chaps on Craiglist, and listened to Ron's tunes; he's a very accomplished guitarist (studied under Al DiMeola, toured with several bands, been listed in Billboard), and his tunes were definitely interesting. I tried out with them on bass and joined up.

Bone-Crushing Pigs

Time period: late 2009 - current

Members: Scott David Kelly (guitar/vocals) ,Michael Tidd (bass/vocals), Joe Pompeo (guitar/vocals), Tony Kline (drums/vocals?)

A second Craigslist venture - I was looking for an opportunity to increase my bassplaying, something to push me into better musicianship, and maybe have a bit more interesting tunes than my other 4/4, radio friendly projects. Also, the urge to revisit my old Ivy Street bass tunes was heating up.

Enter a few Math professors and progressive rock fans looking for a new bassist, and I suddenly had all the challenge I could want - 7/8 riffs, three-part harmonies, time changes, modulation, and chordal note rotations while singing about mathematics theory. Wow.

Check us out at www.bonecrushingpigs.com!