Live review from Monsoon Cafe 6/26/07
by Paula Munoz (Music Connection Magazine vol. 31 number 15)

Material:
It's not often that an artist can tell a story so intricately that listeners feel as if they've taken a ride through the songwriter's mind.  Mike Stocksdale does just that.  His songs, although similar in style, have such wonderful composition and tone that each one can stand alone to showcase his talent.  Similar to the cool country stylings of John Denver's "Rocky Mountain High" and folky carefree feel of Paul Simon's "Slip Slidin' Away," Stocksdale is a modern reminder of what good music sounds like in its simplest form.

Musicianship:
The five-piece band create a mood of relaxation and fun that make you feel like putting down whatever you're doing and taking a long stroll.  Olekshy and Green establish a laid-back foundation while Mouridsen adds the perfect country twang on slide guitar.  Kmeto delicately incorporates harmonies for Stocksdale's smooth and controlled vocals, giving a fresh take on a traditional, country-folk style.

Performance:
The band had an appropriately subdued vibe that made the sizable audience hang on every note and lyric.  Although most songs were light in tone, the last song of the evening consisted of Stocksdale and Mouridsen alone, creating a somber and emotional feeling.  Though he was nervous about performing the tune for the first time, Stocksdale showed a versatility that left one wondering what other talents he might be hiding, or has yet to realize.

Summary:
Mike Stocksdale's music is a masterful blend of memorable melodies and beautiful poetry.  Well-crafted songs delicately grab your heart and never let go.  Whether singing alone or with a band, Stocksdale's tunes are perfect for television, movies, or radio, because they speak to what is in all of us.  In a city where folksingers are in abundance, Stocksdale shows that it's really all about the craft.  In this, he is outstanding.

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Music from the Hill
By Tom Fitt (Peninsula People Magazine September 2007)

The first impressions of Mike Stocksdale, the man, and Mike Stocksdale's music are the same: honest and approachably straight forward with little adornment. 

The 20-something musician who grew up across the street from Palos Verdes High School sat comfortably at a table on a sidewalk outside of Ashley's Deli in Hermosa Beach and, without reservation, openly discussed his childhood, his college life, his ups and downs in show business, his hopes for his music.  He was unnecessarily humble about his talents and achievements: "I really admire jazz players.  I'm a wannabe jazzer, I guess."

The only thing that belies his implied apologies is the hard evidence of his work: a new CD he wrote, produced and on which he sings and plays guitar titled "The Hill."  It could be about the PV peninsula.  It could be about any hill in any city.  And it's plenty good enough melodically, harmonically and lyrically to be in the music players of any-aged listeners. 

Stocksdale lives in a small apartment in Hollywood with a couple of roommates - musicians, of course.  It's closer to the creative heart of the music biz than is his parents' home in PV, though the home studio he built in a bedroom of mom and dad's house gave birth to this CD and an earlier recording, "Searching for September."

The home studio allows Stocksdale to create a product exactly as he wants.  "We had all the time in the world," said Stocksdale.  "Time is more important than money to me.  We could have paid a lot of money and booked a couple hours in a studio, but this was much more relaxed.  If I didn't like something, we could go back and change it."

He and his band play gigs around Southern California, but Stocksdale isn't in a hurry to imbed himself in the local bar scene.  He's pretty selective about when and where he plays. 

"I don't want to play when it doesn't mean anything," said Stocksdale.  "We're not a rock and roll band or cover band.  I want to perform where people come to listen."  He said he'd like to explore some live venues in Pasadena, Long Beach, or other nearby cities.  "Hollywood can be such a circus."

One admirable aspect when listening to Stocksdale's live performance and his studio product is that both sound remarkable the same.  "I wanted to create something that could exist anywhere, " he said, "with a band, or just by myself."

Regarding his CD sales, Stocksdale has no major label or distributor.  He handles it all himself, of which he says "I probably shouldn't do it because it can get tiring."  It's word of mouth and the Internet.  "You can get it if you want it," he said, not with arrogance, but, rather matter-of-factly.  It's much the same attitude in which he approaches his selection of live performances.

His voice sounds like James Taylor.  His songs are reminiscent of Paul Simon's "Slip Slidin' Away" days.  He readily admits that Simon "is my idol."  The following lyric from "Not That Hard to Say Goodbye" on "The Hill" CD is evidence of Stocksdale's poetry:

He puts all his things into the suitcase, and walks downstairs to his car.  Fills up his trunk with half of his life, and walks upstairs to her door.  But he's got nothing to tell her tonight.  Thought if he waited the words they would come.  Now he's driving away without tears in his eyes.  It's not that hard.  I guess  it's not that hard to say goodbye.  He pulls out 'the driveway into the street, and drops that gas to the floor.  But he'd never noticed how lonely it could be at three in the morning before.  Now he's got nothing to show for this life.  Thought if he waited direction would come.  Now he's driving away without tears in his eyes.  It's not that hard.  I guess it's not that hard to say goodbye.

Stocksdale took what he admits to being a circuitous route to becoming a songwriter and performer.  When he was eight years old, he bugged his parents for a guitar, which they finally bought for him at Mr. B's music store on the Hill.  "But, after a couple of months, I thought it was just too hard.  I didn't pick it up again until I was 16 or 17," said Stocksdale.

He went off to college at Indiana University ("because my dad went there"), choosing to study psychology rather than music.  IU has one of the most respected music schools in the nation, but how is a kid from PV gonna know that?

By his sophomore year, he found himself surrounded by fellow students, many of whom - including his dorm roomate - were aspiring musicians.  Stocksdale dusted off his guitar and started working out some tunes with his roommate.  They entered an on-campus competition at IU for songwriting.  The duo became finalists in the competition, which forced them to expand their original repertoire - "We only had three songs when we entered" - because the competition judging was based upon a 45-minute set.  They did okay.  "The songs were good, but the performance wasn't", said Stocksdale.

After college, Stocksdale spent a year in Chicago, playing gigs until his band broke up.  Then, in the fall of 2003, he set out on a road trip to "soul search" because he wasn't sure he wanted to make music his life.  The trip brought him back to Southern California and the studio in his old bedroom at his parents' house in Palos Verdes.

He explored the idea of becoming an architect, taking classes at El Camino College, all the while working on his "Searching for September" album in his spare time at home. 

"Then, one day during a class at El Camino, I realized that architecture was not my passion.  It would take me another three years of school, and I thought, if I'm going back to school, it should be for music," he said.

Because Stocksdale and his band perform only "once or twice a month," he must fill his time and pay his rent via other endeavors.  He just finished a stint as a summer camp counselor at The Willows school in Culver City and hopes to teach and advise in upcoming enrichment classes.  "I like it and it gives me a chance to still work on my music," he said.

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Credits

 

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