We recently connected with Sppike Mike Muellenberg and have shared our conversation below.

Sppike Mike, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

When this idea came to me it was all about “am I ready to commit completely to this art.” 7 years later I’d have to say the apparent answer is yes. Risk? I mean we’re talking about a band made up of middle aged men with dad bods playing Spice Girls songs Sex Pistols style in DRAG. So Risk? Really? HAHAHAHHA Yeah. There’s been plenty of that. Like the time we took a risk to submit to America’s Got Talent. That was a risk. I sent a fan phone video of the band with the application and was contacted in a couple days. Telling us to show up at open auditions in Pasadena. We were escorted past the walk ons directly to the basement to perform for 8 of the producers sitting behind laptops. There were a few smiles and snickers as we set up to perform. We went into our acoustic 90 second cover of WannaBe and when we finished we were applauded by the producers. That’s the thing with Spice Pistols. We are all world class musicians. We’ve all been playing music all our lives. So it makes us truly unpredictable. Good entertainment can never be predictable. Risk is always necessary if you wish to move forward. Fear is the only element that can stand in the way.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

First I need to state that I’m a survivor. I nearly died in a auto accident where I was thrown from the vehicle and sustained a cerebral contusion ( bruised brain). It took me 9 months to learn how to talk again after that event. I’m a recovering addict. I got clean and sober at 32 years old. I grew up in a town that was known for partying and was a latch key kid. My parents divorced and separated when I was 13. My mother carried all the financial responsibilities of our home. And She worked long hard hours. I spent most of my time out of the house running amok. After I quit drinking and using I found that I was able to focus on my goals and achieve them. I’ve worked in the fastener industry and bought homes. I’ve returned to building classic cars and built a business. I’ve been playing music my entire life and built a band and brand that now tours internationally and play shows that relieve the participants of their stress and can bring them into the moment with us. Spice Pistols is that band. But we’re not a cover band. We do play our versions of Spice Girls and Sex Pistols songs. But we also write original songs from the perspective of both bands writing together. This allows us to create a show that includes skits and dialogue with the audience as well as extremely well played tunes.

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

To have the ability to bring an audience into the moment with us as we perform. Watching the emotional response to our production is golden and extremely validating. When I watch a audience member who’s clearly in a very casual state of mind there more for the interaction with others turn their attention to use directly. And then continue to hold their attention then I know I’m doing my job. I know I’ve cleared their mind of whatever ails them in that moment and given them a brake from reality just for that hour or so. I believe that’s what entertainment is supposed to be. A controlled distraction. One that validates our ability to take it or leave it. And when they choose to take it and it’s an enthusiastic acceptance in the moment. That’s the gold I seek.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Supporting art is critical to the growth of the human race in my opinion. The arts are the both the fertilizer and reward for dealing with life’s difficulties. The difficulties, or rather our feelings about the difficulties, are the fertilizer. And the reward is how we feel after accomplishing our goal with the art itself. And please understand that art is never perfect. It truly is in the eye of the beholder. Perfection is boring. It is the wobbles that we notate and identify with. The more we support artistic expression of any genre the more we are able to inventory ourselves and improve.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.spicepistols.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spicepistols/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/spicepistols
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/home
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjn9pGnhZQ_q6e7lqYuG0Ig

Image Credits
Images 1,6,7 and 8 from House Of Blue Anaheim by Spork. Image 2 @roberthaleimages.