Caliber

"When exploring Michael Elm (Caliber), one phrase comes to mind: infinite potential."
-Pulse Magazine
Mike Elm (a.k.a. Caliber) has never once doubted that music would be a part of him forever. From an early career as a musician and journalist to his introduction into the Chicago music scene, Mike has strived and struggled and succeeded in making sure that music would be his life. Combining sounds from a classically-geared adolescence with the influence of all electronic movements over the decades, Caliber stands with few others as a creator of something new; pulling trance, electro and house into a progressive sound that’s none of the above. Caliber stands in line to be one of the future leaders of the next electronic music generation.
Caliber’s story begins with a gift and an accident; a brand new 1988 Casio keyboard when Mike was two, and an unlabeled mix-tape of house music he found when he was 8. From these two items, he would build his future up by learning every instrument he could come across and secretly jamming to the thumping-beats of underground house and 90’s dance hits in his bedroom. He had no idea where those beats would take him, but sitting on his floor and plucking out cheap analog noises, Mike knew that music was all he would ever need.
In 1999, Mike put electronic music on the side to pick up a guitar and join a band, which would lead to a world of experience and young success in the music business. Mike continued to listen to the works of John Digweed, Sasha, Paul Oakenfold and various other artists, which influenced how he learned to compose and how his music was able to evoke a crowd in such a unique way within the rock genre. While playing shows and tours in Minneapolis and throughout the Midwest, Mike also worked as a free-lance photojournalist for music websites and several publications. Mike made fast friends with up-and-coming artists like The Used, Thursday, and My Chemical Romance. He got first hand experience of every up and down within the music industry, and he took that knowledge with him when he left the band to dust off his love for dance music in 2004.
Soon after, Mike relocated to Chicago with a bedroom set and sixty bucks in his pocket. After a few short months and an untimely accident surrounding his rented home, Mike found himself alone and virtually homeless in a new and foreign place. With a suitcase strapped over his shoulder, Mike fought back in defiance, refusing to admit defeat. This would only mirror his approach to music.
Mike toughed his short time out on the streets and would squat in friends' homes before he found himself an apartment and began piecing together his life. After settling into the city, Mike wasted no time and began pursuing outlets for his talent and passion for music. This led to DJing at smaller bars and private events, which grew into shows at larger venues like Funky Buddha Lounge and Vision. Mike originally learned the art of mixing from local Minneapolis legends willing to take a chance on a budding musician, and he later improved his skills with the help of long-time friend and current collaborator Lindsay Earney (Shiek), who was scheduled to join Mike in Chicago before he wound up without a home for either of them. "Lindsay and I have been through a lot, and she has stuck with me like fly-paper," says Mike, "but not the toxic kind."
Mike met highly acclaimed and established Chicago DJ Tracy Tobey, who took Mike under her wing and showed him everything there was to see in the Chicago music scene. “She really did take me by the hand and gave me everything I could ever need to keep that passion for life and music burning forever,” Mike says, “We instantly bonded and I’ve had the most amazing experiences with her. A soul that big [like Tracy’s] is the kind you’re friends with forever.”
Mike continued to spin modestly throughout Chicago. While always having passion and experience for live performance, Mike missed the drive and freedom of creating his own music, which would lead to the next step in Caliber’s evolution. Mike began producing music electronically, using skills learned from a childhood of various instruments and feeding that ability with ambition and plugging it all into the computer. Caliber has been working on compilation CDs as well as original tracks and remixes on his own and with other producers. His production experiments have led to invitations to play at clubs in Minneapolis, Seattle, New Orleans and New York City, as well as the opportunity for a slot at an international music festival in Berlin, Germany in 2008.
While most of his peers in the music scene are fighting the good fight for a piece of limelight, Mike sits back and works hard and waits patiently, knowingly. “In the beginning, it’s not about a name in lights or a magazine mention,” Mike says, “[Recognition] comes at its own pace. When your music is solid and when you truly love and believe in what you do, the industry will be right behind you.” Later he adds with a smile: “Or, hell, you could buy your way in or blow a producer. To each his own, but I’m going to opt for hard work. Cheers.”
With an undeniably phenomenal and eclectic taste in music, a genuinely sincere and humble mentality and a fierce determination, there is no doubt that Caliber’s hard work will bring him the world. More songs are being created, and more shows will fall in line. Caliber has already begun to shape his share of the music world with his edgy beats fused with a dirty soul, and he can’t wait to join the others who will be pushing forward with him.
Ladies and gentlemen, Caliber is on his way.
And we will be waiting.
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