We were lucky to catch up with Michael Rochelle recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Michael, thanks for joining us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

I have been “involved” with music in one way or another, since I was a kid. Choirs, school bands, etc. But I never really got into playing in bands and making my own music and recording until I was in my mid to late twenties and living in New York. I wish I had started out writing songs even before that so my music would already be out in the world. I could’ve been already established and maybe I would have connected with some of the people I’ve been influenced by. Maybe met someone who could have furthered my musical career. Now I’m playing catch-up. Maybe I’d have even greater musical knowledge and experience now. Of course, the Catch-22 is that they didn’t have a lot of the music gear and techniques back then that they have now.

Michael, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My first instrument was the drums. Well, actually pots and pans and bed pillows. It wasn’t until I got into about fifth grade or so that I actually got to play a drum and that was in my grade school drum corps. I went to a military boarding school and the drum corps would practice in the evenings during study hall and I would tap along on my desk with 2 pencils. At some point somebody suggested that I ought to just go ahead and join the drum corps since I could play all their cadences already. So, I did. I never had my own drum kit until I moved away from home in the mid 70s and got my own place in Queens. I never took any formal lessons on any instruments. I learned how to play a few things on guitar and keyboards and while I was developing my own music style I started writing poems which developed into song lyrics. I could always sing and one day I met another musician at work and we started hanging out and playing music. I played percussion or drums and we both sang and one day formed a band. One day he up and quit and I became the lead vocalist/drummer. I met other musicians at work and a guitar player friend of mine came to see me play a gig at a little club. I guess he liked it because he asked if I wouldn’t mind doing a few gigs with him. Eventually I ended up joining his band fulltime and we formed a heavy metal trio with me on drums and vocals.
Years later that band morphed into a Blues/Rock band and we’ve been together pretty much ever since (some 30 plus) years with few personnel changes in all that time. With that band I’ve had some great gigs, been inducted into the NY/NJ Blues Hall Of Fame, and twice represented the Jersey Shore down in Memphis at the International Blues Challenge.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I’ve been playing music for a long time now and I’ve played in big venues, small dives, and even backyards. Doesn’t matter the venue because I give my all at every gig. I’ve had people come up to me and say even though there was barely anybody in the place, we played like we were playing to a sold out arena. That’s what it’s all about. Giving people a great show. I’ve played with a broken ankle. I’ve played when I didn’t feel well. I’ve played for pennies and I’ve played places that pay pretty well. Even when we lost a long time member suddenly, we’ve carried on and kept his memories in our hearts as we continued on without him at a super important gig. People ask me, “Rev, why do you do gigs that require long hours of performance for little or no pay?” I do it for the love of music. It’s a very powerful thing.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Since the Pandemic artists have really struggled. People are still afraid to go out and see bands in crowded little venues. That’s understandable but if they take precautions they can still get out and enjoy some live entertainment. There’s a lot of local bands out there and some are really good. People will spend hundreds of dollars to to see some mega band play in a huge venue where they probably won’t even get good seats and they have to travel for hours to get to the venue. Yet, there are plenty of great local bands people could go see and support. All these local bands spend many hours learning instruments and songs, trying to book venues that don’t even pay that much, schlepping their own equipment around, setting them up and breaking them down again after having played for hours. We play at venues that don’t even charge and admission fee a lot of times we play benefits for free. We put in a lot more work into putting on a show than people are aware of. If a friend invites you to come hear them play somewhere, go! You’ll enjoy yourselves and the band will too.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://shadetreemechanicsband.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shadetreemechanicsband/
• Other: https://www.reverbnation.com/shadetreemechanics