Mike Mills

Michael Edward "Mike" Mills (born December 17, 1958) is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock band R.E.M. Though known primarily as a bass guitarist, backing vocalist, and pianist, his musical repertoire also includes keyboards, guitar, and percussion instruments. He contributed to a majority of the band's musical compositions.

Early life

Michael Edward Mills was born in Orange County, California and moved to Macon, Georgia when he was 10 years old. Mills met Bill Berry, who would later be his bandmate in R.E.M., in Macon.

Mills and Bill Berry started out in bands together. Early projects included the band Shadowfax (later called The Back Door Band).

Mills attended the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, which is where R.E.M. formed.

Career

Mills is credited with being the chief composer behind many of R.E.M.'s songs, including "Nightswimming", "Find the River", "At My Most Beautiful", "Why Not Smile", "Let Me In", "Wendell Gee", "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville", "Beat a Drum", "Be Mine" and "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?". In particular, R.E.M.'s 2004 album Around the Sun was heavily shaped by Mills' piano and keyboard contributions.

Michael Mills (disambiguation)

Michael Mills was an Irish ombudsman and journalist.

Michael Mills may also refer to:

Mike Mills (director)

Michael C. "Mike" Mills (born March 20, 1966) is an American film and music video director and graphic designer. He is perhaps best known for his independent films Thumbsucker and Beginners.

Early life

Mills was born in Berkeley, California. He graduated from Cooper Union in Lower Manhattan, New York City. His mother died of brain cancer in 1999. A week after she died his father Paul came out as gay at the age of 75 and after 44 years of marriage. Five years later his father died of lung cancer. His father was an art historian and museum director.

Career

Mike Mills has created music videos for such musical acts as Moby, Yoko Ono and Air. Air named the fifth song on their album Talkie Walkie after Mills.

He has also worked as a graphic designer on promotional material and album covers for such acts as Beastie Boys, Beck, Sonic Youth, and Ol' Dirty Bastard. In addition he has created graphics for X-Girl, Marc Jacobs, and currently produces his own line of posters and fabrics called Humans by Mike Mills.