Indie Spotlight: Mike Allen “The Night That I Saw Hell”

Mike Allen grew up in two small midwestern towns; Geneseo, IL just outside Chicago and Appleton, WI just outside Green Bay. He recently spent a few years living in Alaska before deciding to move to Des Moines, IA to be closer to friends and family. As a sophomore in high school Mike started creating music with some of his closest friends in a band called Sunday Flood in 1995. In 2002 he started writing and producing his own material as an independent artist under the name “Mike Allen”. Some of his influences today are the same as the ones that influenced him as angsty teen in the 90’s: Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, The Cure, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, Hum, Sunny Day Real Estate, Radiohead, Rammstein, Catherine Wheel, Aphex Twin and Ministry, to name a few. Mike’s music is very different from most but if narrowed down it could be described as a blend of alternative, electronic and industrial. Mike recently released an EP called ‘Parallels‘ and is currently working on a follow up EP called ‘Grieve‘. Being his own harshest critic and an obsessive perfectionist, it can often take months for him to write and produce a single song. He writes, performs, produces and mixes all his own content . Over time, his lyrical content has slowly become “a bit darker and more personal” with each passing release. One of Mike’s biggest accomplishments to date is having some of his music used in a German film called ‘Kaltmiete’ which premiered back in 2008. He says that one of his biggest life goals is to someday write music for television and film and collaborate with some of his musical heroes like Trent Reznor and Aphex Twin. Mike is continuing to push his independent music career forward until a label picks him up or he can land a distribution deal. His main goal above all else is to continue writing honest, heartfelt music and to get it into the hands of as many people as possible. Be sure to follow @mkallen1978 on Instagram and check him out on Spotify; his most recent 5 track EP “Parallels” is out now which consists of 5 self produced songs; the intro starts out with “More In Common With The Dog“, “Stronger Than God“, “The Vast“, “Stares of The Lost“, and the outro “Parallels“. Don’t forget to be on the lookout for his follow up EP titled “Grieve”. Follow Mike On Instagram @mkallen1978
https://www.instagram.com/mkallen1978/
Stream Mike’s Latest EP “Parallels” On Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/album/7irfZkVZ22GylIlCvt7GAg
You can also find him on Bandcamp
https://mikekallen.bandcamp.com