About Me
About Michael Bernier:
Born and raised on Long Island, New York, Michael Bernier started out on violin at the young age of ten. He slowly gravitated to drums where he found a comfortable position in learning patterns in rhythm whilst playing with local musicians in all genres from British new wave cover bands to Frank Zappa cover bands to get his disciplines in order. A few years later, Michael went on to guitar where he found a new way of looking at music ....ya' know the musical way.
After playing other instruments (Tabla, Cello, Bass, Chapman Stick, etc.), he decided to move into the Hudson Valley in upstate New York to get away from Long Island and the city to record and play with different musicians. After a few years he had befriended and/or played with musicians like Sonny Rollins, Natalie Merchant, Paige Hamilton, Sara Lee, Jack DeJohnette and Tony Levin who all reside in the Hudson Valley.
After years of developing his skills on multiple instruments Michael decided to record his first solo demo album entitled "Solo Fugue" - A humble digital 8~track recording all recorded in his home and with all instrumentation (Chapman Stick, Guitars, Bass, Cello, Violin, Rhodes Keys and drums) performed entirely by him. With a multi-genre approach Michael melts influences from jazz / fusion bands like Mahavishnu Orchestra, King Crimson, Gong with the etherial beauty of Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine and Lush creating a very unique sound all his own.
Michael is currently residing in the Hudson Valley playing shows and giving Tony Levin Chapman Stick lessons. He is credited in the liner notes of Tony Levin's "Stickman", thanking him for his advanced stick techniques.
About Michael Schirmer:
Michael Schirmer has traversed the globe on tour with Mercury Rev (Virgin Records) playing keyboards for audiences of thousands at The Reading, Leeds, Montreaux, Jazz and Guilford Festivals. He has played at such venues as Royal Albert Hall, The Moore Theater, Shepard's Bush, The Commodore Troubadour, 9:30 Club, Phoenix, Riviera, Irving Plaza and Filmore West.
In addition to spending two years on the road with The Rev, Schirmer has toured with Ani DeFranco and Sara Lee and shared the bill with groups like Oasis, Green Day, Alicia Keys and Wilco. He has appeared on numerous television broadcasts including Late Night With Conan O'Brian, The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn, BBC1, Later with Jules Holland and MTV.
Mike has also played at Carnegie Hall consistently with InPravda, a classical jazz fusion group consisting of famous Russian opera singer, Olga Dyachkovskaya and violin soloist, Slava Moroz. In this group, he plays the grand piano, Fender Rhodes, and the Nord Electro, and Ensoniq KT88 keyboards.
For more music from Michael Schirmer, visit www.duchessoffunk.com/michaelschirmer
