HeyMike! is an American punk band out of

Ventura County Ventura County () is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises the Oxnar ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, United States. The band's name was originally used by singer/guitarist Steven Neufeld as the title of his early demo tapes from 1998-2001. HeyMike! resurfaced when Neufeld, bassist Josh McDonald, and drummer Justin "Juice" Cabrera signed to

Takeover Records Takeover Records is a punk rock record label based in Long Beach, California, United States. The company was founded by former Yellowcard guitarist Ben Harper and his friend Greg McDonald in 1997. Artists Current * Bracket *HeyMike! *River City H ...

and published two records titled "Embrace Your Hooks," (EP) released in 2004, and ''HeyMike'', released in 2006. Their third issue, ''Pop and Circumstance'' was released April 19, 2011.

History

Early years (1998-2001)

Neufeld began to record and release demo tapes under the name "HeyMike!" in 1998. He was joined by drummer Ben Secret, guitarist Jason Turner and bassist Derek Vaughn, and their music appeared on internet sites such as

GarageBand.com GarageBand.com was a large online community of independent musicians and music fans, founded in 1999. The site was used by musicians who were seeking greater exposure and critical insight provided by an audience of their peers. The site was also u ...

and MP3.com. The music charted on the indie sites in 2000 which gave HeyMike! some early success. Juice and Neufeld both joined the Tooth & Nail band

Craig's Brother Craig's Brother is an American punk rock band. They have released three full-length recordings internationally, two on Tooth & Nail Records and one self-released. History Foundation and ''Homecoming'' (1995-2001) In 1995, singer and guitar pla ...

after the departure of their guitarists (

Ryan Key William Ryan Key (born December 17, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the pop punk band Yellowcard. He is the owner/operator of a recording studio in Jacksonvil ...

and Dan McLintock) and drummer (Heath Konkel). Being a Christian label with close connections with The Family, the band was dropped after a picture of Juice

flipping the bird In Western culture, "the finger", or the middle finger (as in giving someone the (middle) finger, the bird or flipping someone off) is an obscene hand gesture. The gesture communicates moderate to extreme contempt, and is roughly equivalent i ...

at the camera was uploaded to their website. He was later fired by singer and frontman Ted Bond via an announcement on a live radio show at KMBY 104.3, after failing to show up. Steven stayed with the band, which eventually disbanded in 2001.

Takeover Records (2003-2006)

In 2003, Juice contacted Steven in an attempt to start a new band. Stole Your Woman's lead singer Travis Dixon suggested to Juice that McDonald from Ventura's own All in Good Time play bass. The trio signed to

and decided to perform under the name, HeyMike!. After a mere five months, they recorded the EP, "Embrace Your Hooks" which was released in June 2004. They toured extensively, headlining club tours, playing

Warped Tour The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touring ...

dates and touring with bands like

AutoPilot off Autopilot Off is a punk rock band from Orange County, New York composed of Chris Hughes (guitar), Chris Johnson (guitar/vocals), Phil Robinson (drums) and Rob Kucharek (bass). In May 2011, a Facebook page titled "Autopilot Off (Official)" was c ...

The Starting Line The Starting Line is an American pop punk band based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that formed in 1999. History Early years (1999–2001) In 1999, the band that would become The Starting Line was initiated in Churchville, Pennsylvania via an e ...

and

Yellowcard Yellowcard is an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1997 and was based in Los Angeles beginning in 2000. The band is recognized for having a distinct sound in their genre, primarily due to the prominent use o ...

Steven remained a close collaborator with Craig's Brother after they reformed. He helped them to record their Takeover release E.P.idemic and played with them as much as his schedule with HeyMike! allowed. Disputes between the band and Juice have also been settled. 2005 saw the band record their freshmen full-length album self-titled ''HeyMike!''. The trio also became a quartet when Brandon Henderson was added to the band early in 2005. The single "Carry Love" was released in mid-2005 as things were looking up for the band; however they took a hiatus before the release of the actual album. The band reformed with new bassist T.J. Arriaga; but the release of their debut full length would not come out on

until August 2006. After touring the album late in 2006 the band took another hiatus.

Recent history (2007-present)

In late 2007, after trying out new lineups and new music, HeyMike! added former

guitarist and owner of

Ben Harper Benjamin Chase Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live perfo ...

as the new lead guitarist. They also briefly enlisted Warren Cooke in 2008, also of Yellowcard, before he decided to move back to

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

, to be with his family. The band reconstructed the original trio in 2009 when Josh McDonald came back to the band to continue his bass playing duties.

remained with the band and the quartet toured in the United States and Japan throughout 2009. In 2010, HeyMike! finished recording their third record and second album, ''Pop and Circumstance.'' They also toured in Europe and played a limited number of shows in the United States. HeyMike! released ''Pop and Circumstance'' on April 19, 2011.

Current members

*Steven Neufeld -

Vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

Lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

*Josh McDonald -

Bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

*Juice -

Drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

Former members

*Tim Wright *Warren Cooke *T.J Arriaga *Brandon Henderson *Ben Secret *Jason Turner *Derek Vaughn *Ben Aigboboh

Discography

*"Embrace Your Hooks" (2004) *''HeyMike!'' (2006) *''Pop and Circumstance'' (2011)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heymike! Punk rock groups from California Musical groups from Ventura County, California