Mike Hall (Sick Sick Birds)
SPB: If I’m not mistaken, one or two of you in Sick Sick Birds have children, correct? What do your kids think of your band?
Hall: Yes, we all have kids. There are five of them now, ranging from 2-10 years old. Mostly, I think my kids just think of the band as something I do regularly: I go to band practice every week the way my son goes to baseball practice. But they do enjoy listening, and my kids both have their favorite SSB songs. My fourth grader is starting to ask more questions about music, and thinks it's cool that I write songs. My kids both like the rare occasions when we are in the car and an SSB song comes on the radio.
I think it's interesting to see how kids react to the juxtaposition of the DIY punk rock world and the America's Got Talent thing. Both of my kids like to watch America's Got Talent, and it's cool to expose them to other stuff that is going on that is less fabricated and show-bizzy.
We played a street festival in Baltimore last weekend, and it was a great opportunity for us older people to bring our kids with us to see some bands and eat some funnel cake. There were tons of kids hanging out watching the bands, and it was really cool to see. My son really dug the Paper Dragons.
PS - Attaching a picture of Melissa's daughter rocking it during our set at HampdenFest.
