Byron Bay’s Mt Warning will mess with your heart. Trust me. With the release of his latest EP Petrified Heart so close you can almost hear it, Mikey Bee has embarked on a solo expedition into the world of crooning. He takes what it means to be a multi-instrumentalist and shoves it right in your face, making, performing and producing all the music on the forthcoming release himself.
What’s more is that the songs are freaking lush. I’m talking rainforest levels. Leaving his country town of Shepparton at age 16 to pursue his music career, notions of home still cut through his sound like a razor.
Scale the impeccable heights of MT Warning. Mikey Bee shows up the most seasoned of crooners with his impeccable talent and knack for innovative production.
MT Warning is a seasoned act that Mikey has been cultivating since 2012. Previously working with filmmaker and producer Taylor Steele, the pair released a thoughtfully faultless 11-track record, Midnight Set last year. It featured the acclaimed single Sinking Sun, enducing the soul-cradling sounds similar to that of Avett Brothers and Ben Harper. The release afforded the pair all kinds of shows all over the world including Splendour In The Grass, Laneway, SXSW as well as UK’s Field Day.
His live show is nothing to sniff at either. I was lucky enough to head along to a preview of the EP’s title track at 301 Studios, one of the most prestigious recording studios in Sydney, if not the country. Working out of his garage in his Byron Bay home, Mikey clutched onto that concept, brought it to the studio, and played in a super stripped-back loading dock. He said “It’s nice to turn a shed into a safe haven”, and it showed. His performance was comfortable, laid back and extremely moving.
He played with a plethora of pedals as well as a sample pad he triggers with his foot. Looking around the room would have been more than validating to him since there was not a face unsmiling. He warmed the audience with a few other bittersweet sounding tracks, saying “The thing I love most about music is how it can sound so sad but make you so happy”. Dotted with moaning guitar solos on one that he can magically turn into a bass, this guy does it all – the production and the entire live element.
Emotive and evocative, Mt Warning is fated to drop something very special, very soon. It’s almost too perfect that he’s named after a natural wonder that is over 1000 meters tall because his music conjures something that is larger than life itself. Petrified Heart will be available to purchase on iTunes.
