Mike Meusel

The Biography At the age of seventeen, Michael picked up his first bass guitar and after only 3 months of playing became the bassist/saxophonist and lead singer of the teen sensation "Running On Empty". After recording 2 albums of original material with the band, it was time to move on. Intrigued by jazz music, Michael attended the Kincardine Jazz Festival in 2001 and 2002. During this time, he was exposed to clinics and masterclasses by toronto musicians such as Alex Dean, Mike Malone, Dave McMurdo, Lorne Lofsky and Lisa Martinelli. This opened up a world of music that Michael was completely unexposed to and greatly infuenced his decision to attend Humber College and study music.In 2002, Michael attended Humber College in Toronto, Ontario. Being immersed in the Jazz idiom, he decided playing only bass guitar was not enough and purchased his first upright bass. He has studied under musicians such as Neil Swainson, Mike Downes, Pat Collins, Andrew Steward, Alex Hamilton, Phil Murphy and Jack Hayter.In 2006 Michael played a 3 month residency as part of the Angela Scappatura trio in the Lobster bar of the Island Shangri-la Hotel in Hong Kong. In 2007 he attained his Humber College diploma and was immediately contracted for five months to perform with the Rachelle Courtney Quartet on board the Celebrity Mercury as it did it's maiden voyage of Hawaii, French Polynesia, New Zealand and Australia.Today, Michael composes and arranges for the funk/dance band The Disease, and can be seen performing around toronto with band such as Parkside Drive (Top 40), Pure Finesse (Funk-Art Rock), Replay(Top 40) and Ultra Magnus (Afro-beat).