Mico (band)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mico
Origin	Banff, Alberta
Genre(s)	Punk Rock, Shoegaze, emo, indie
Years active	1998 – 2007
Label(s)	G7 Welcoming Committee
Website	MySpace
Members
John Alan Stewart Todd Harkness Mark Fleischhaker Sonya Frebold Maya Ciring Troy Fleischhaker David Miles Patrick May
Former members
Sam Osland Jahmeel Russell Jeremy Gillespie Todd Lapp Cameron Brass

[edit] History

Formed in the late 1990's by John Stewart (of Red Fisher fame), Mico orginally existed as a 3-piece consisting of Todd Lapp (bass), Troy Fleischhaker (drums) and Stewart (guitar, vocals). All three founding members were at the time living in Banff, Alberta (Canada) and formed the band as a way to get free beer at the local establishments around the small resort town.

In 1999 the band relocated to Calgary, Alberta and in early 2000 added a second guitar player, Patrick May, formerly of the band Nine Miles to Morgan. This lineup recorded the 4 song ep "A Timpani of Failure of Defeat", a self released CD which is now long out of print. In the summer of 2000 Fleischhaker left the band temporarily and was replaced by Todd Harkness (formerly of Porter Hall and The Browns) on drums. This version of the band spent the better part of the year touring Western Canada, most notably with Samiam for a brief run of shows, and working on material for their debut full length.

Fleischhaker returned to the band in March of 2001 and Harkness moved over to third guitar and keyboard duties. This version of the band recorded and released the album "Standing Inside a Shadow" in the summer of 2001, which was released by Does Everyone Stare Records in North America and Boss Tuneage Records in the UK and Japan. Outtakes from this record made their way onto a split 8.5" vinyl record with fellow Calgary band First In Last Out. Only 300 copies were released and are hard to find as distribution was non existent on this release.

In 2002 the band toured behind Standing Inside a Shadow and also released a split 7" with The Milwaukees. This 7" was released on Does Everyone Stare, and features two unreleased songs, including a cover of The Smiths "There is a light that never goes out". During these sessions the band also record a cover of Shudder to Think's "White Page" for a STT tribute album released by Engineer Records.

In 2003 Lapp left the band and was replaced by Cameron Brass, also of the band Nine Miles to Morgan. The band signed to G7 Welcoming Committee and the album was released during the summer of 2003. A limited edition picture disc LP version was released in the fall of 2003 by Does Everyone Stare & Boss Tuneage.

2004 saw the band experience a period of inactivity as various members moved away or left the band. Stewart started working on the band's third full length "Our Living Language", playing the majority of the instruments himself, while most of the drums were handled by Troy's brother Mark Fleischhaker. Harkness and May played guitar on 3 songs each, and Troy Fleischhaker played drums on one track. The album was released digitally by G7 Welcoming Committee in 2006 and a short run of CDs was made for the band's tour in support of the album.

These days Stewart is the lead guitar player in The Black Halos and may or may not still be working on music for Mico. Harkness plays bass in Sheglank'd Shoulders and guitar for Jeffrey Caissie. May, Fleischhaker and Lapp are not currently active in playing music.