Mike T.V.

Look it's not really about who I am, but more about the things I do & do well.
My real name is Lawrence A. I come from NYC. Not a transplant/Not a refugee.
The first bands I listened to at the age of four were Tommy James & The Shondells, The Beatles.The Stones & Hermans' Hermits ( Yes the year was 1964 ). I was and still am captivated by the sound. And over the Next ten years or so learned all I could about who & what made this sound so present it was alive.
Since I've been about 9 or 10, I've been hanging around the music scene in New York City. I started out asking people if they needed help setting up stages, PA's amps, whatever there was to do. Some guy's who went yto college at Fordham university which was about two blocks from my house, were kind enough to take me under wing and teach me about set ups & sound.
I started learning sound using a conglomeration of those (now) antique 4 & 6 channel mike mixers that only came with 1 tone & 1 volume knob. Remember that this is 1969 in the bronx. even 4 track mixing boards were to expensive for amateur bands.
over the next two or three years these would teach me the rudiments of sound design & rigging stages. By the time I was 15 years old I was a kid sneaking into CB'S and Max's Kansas City, getting to know a lot of the bands playing at the time , but also studying what the sound & lighting people were doing. How did you handle an overload of sound in a small space? Again I found a couple of people who were willing to show me the ropes, so to speak. There were a lot of great clubs in Manhattan and over the years I worked in many of them, often for free( being that I made my "real" money dealing drugs on the street . Two exceptions: HEROIN & COCAINE. I have done both but never sold either. The nastiest of the nasties.)
I never really worked with the well known bands( drug use always got in the way), but I think where I was & who I worked with was much more interesting & exciting. For me bands on the bottom are much more driven than anybody at the top. More risk, more challenge's and a lot more fun.
So after doing sound in a DIY Culture I started to work w/ bands when they wanted to change directions or sound. I think it's called Development now, but who gives a fuck anyway. Right...
Production came easily since I had the background as a listener,fan & someone very interested in building sound.
I have been doing this kind of shit for years. I love it. Never was able to get a permanent job at as label because I was a pillhead most of my life. But I do know one thing... I know more about what it takes to build a great band with great material than most of the well known musicians I have worked for & with in my life.( No I do not drop names. That's for tasteless people with insecurity issues.) This is what I do for anyone who I meet that really believes in themselves & what they do. Money or credit is not an issue If it comes fine if not who cares, it's about the music not the marketplace.
You do what you love and for me this is it. helping bands reach their potential.
IF ANYONE HAS ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS PLEASE ASK.
I'd be interested in helping out if I can.