We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mike Severo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Mike, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

From my earliest memories, I have always loved creating mini-movies with a home video recorder, recording music, and integrating the two. Music. I LOVED it all. I LIVED it. All genres. I was a fan of everything from a young age, reggae to rock, funk to… the ambiguous. I was hooked, and by adolescence, I had made it my business to be familiar with every known genre, and sub-genre of music. I back-up DJ’d for my brother-in-law at college campuses as a teenager, played drums on studio sessions and performed with several bands, and, eventually formed a band of my own.

Mike, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My parents emigrated from Brazil to the United States shortly before I was born. My father joined the U.S. Army, making moving to new locations across the States and all over Europe a frequent life adjustment for me and my two sisters growing up.

A big part of my upbringing was experiencing new cultures, making new friends, and then packing up all of my belongings only to unpack them again at a new location. Eventually, however, my father’s last foreign tour ended in Germany, and we landed in the middle of Missouri. Moving from Frankfurt, Germany to Waynesville, Missouri was a major culture shock for my family and for me, a teenager beginning middle school. I adapted as quickly as I could, and fortunately made friends who shared interests in music.

I’ve hosted the entertainment segment “KC in 60” on the city’s Channel 2 for five years now. I’ve also had the pleasure of appearing in several regional and national TV commercial spots for companies such as Hallmark and AMC, been featured in a few music videos, and have worked as a studio drummer on several projects.

In addition, my wife of 3 years and I have begun the process of ramping up our horticulture business, which we hope to promote and help others with informative youtube videos on how to take care of nutritive and decorative plants. Eventually, we would love to have the time to include entertaining videos based on skit-type scenarios we have been planning over the past 8 years.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I moved to Kansas City, MO to pursue music on a larger scale. Things changed quickly. After working several months in a recording studio and learning the production side of the music business as an audio engineer, I built my own recording studio with the help and industry knowledge of my good friend Scott Vandruff. With a few years of sweat equity, Studio 902 was born. Recording fellow artists and bands eventually, led to the endeavor of producing a few music videos as well. Film and video production felt like a good fit and came naturally. Each project felt a bit more comfortable and got better. But, as you can imagine, local bands’ music videos don’t always keep the lights on. So, we, along with my now wife, Kalina, started producing and directing short films, and web and television commercials.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I think the most rewarding thing about any creative process is watching an idea ‘take shape’ and come to life – especially times when a concept becomes a collaboration and what we’ve done together surpasses what we might have accomplished individually.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @michaelsevero
• Facebook: facebook.com/mike.severo
• Twitter: @severomichael
• Youtube: youtube.com/@MikeSevero