Mike is a guitar virtuoso who has recorded countless solo guitar albums in South Africa.  He is an experienced singer and studio musician, arranger and producer.

He formed the internationally acclaimed band "Stingray" for whom he was a guitarist/vocalist and co-wrote their massive hit, “Better the Devil You Know

He was also a member of an accomplished vocal harmony group called “Fringe Benefits” which featured intricate four part harmony arrangements for which he was responsible.

For 11 years, until the series ended, he arranged and produced an immensely popular cover version series, “Springbok Hits”, and followed this as arranger/producer on the longest running TV1 country music show "Sing Country" and later its successor "Sounds Country".

On his first Springbok album he arranged and produced the epic “Queen” song “Bohemian Rhapsody” and sang all of the four part harmonies.

He was musical director for a series of local award winning musicals and also composed, arranged and produced the music for an all African awards show which was held in Kenya and televised live throughout Africa.

His versatility as an arranger is highlighted on the CDs he has recorded at his recording studio for many top recording artists in the country.

He is a member of a well-known rock band “Vinnie and the Viscounts” and is the band leader of a popular five piece band –“STING”.

He also performs as a solo artist singing and playing swing and well-known classical and rock evergreens.

He has done arrangements for the Symphonic Pops Orchestra, as well as various projects associated with promising young artists. He was Musical Director for the Soundstage productions of “Girl Talk” as well as the tribute to the Beatles called “Ticket to Ride.”

Mike is resident in Cape Town where he runs his own recording studio, as well as teaching at his music academy.

He has done the Berklee Collage of Music correspondence course for teaching and arranging.

About Eileen Pilot

I was born and spent most of my early years in Cape Town where I was fortunate to work in bands “This Little Bird Plus Three”, “Sounds Progressive” and the Gerry Bosman Big Band. I was also a member of The Claude Larsen Singers and a Jazz vocal group called Tangerine. Just before moving to Johannesburg I co-wrote and performed a song in the Song Festival in Vina Del Mare, Chile. The song was placed in the top 10 in the competition which was attended by 32,000 people each night.

After moving to Johannesburg I joined the Bill Fairlie Singers and wrote and performed in a cabaret show called Three’s Company. This was followed by another show called Decades of Divas. I was the lead singer with the bands “Sting” and “Africa 2000″. I was also a full time session/studio singer, and did extensive TV work. I have therefore had experience in all spheres of the entertainment industry.

In my teaching capacity I studied the methods of Seth Riggs, Anne Peckham, Hal Leonard, Roger Love and Melissa Cross, (who specialises in the art of “screaming” without damaging vocal cords) and was appointed as the vocal coach for the first series of Coca Cola Pop Stars. I was involved in training all the singers that made it into the final rounds, and also worked with the group that won the series, 101, in the recording studio when they recorded their first album.

In 2003 I was asked to repeat my role in the series of that year working this time with Adilah on their first album.

In 2004 I repeated the process in South Africa, working with Jamali on their first album. I was then asked to work on Pop Stars East Africa, and spent time in Mombasa coaching the finalists from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. I was involved in all of their CD recordings as co-arranger/vocal consultant.

In 2005 I was asked to be a judge/coach on a new reality series called “Famous” for a local TV station. It involved sourcing and coaching young people between the ages of 11 and 15 to be involved in the process of learning to be part of a Pop group, and perform in public and the recording studio.

In the same year, I spent time in Zambia as vocal teacher for another a reality series called “Celtel Star Search”.