Mik Banner

One movement within the local scene which is providing more and more unsigned artists with not only a place to hone their live skills but also a platform for exposure is the humble open mic night.  Every place from the smallest town to the biggest city usually has at least one on the go, Kilmarnock is no different. Open mic nights gave Mik Banner the start he needed; playing covers of his favourite artists then helping him progress to writing and playing his own material. Mik is still a usual fixture at most of the open mic nights within Kilmarnock with a handful of other local acts who meet up and manage to put on a fantastic show every time along with the other participants  that  get up to perform.

As for musical influences when you listen to his music there are two main sounds that come through;

“Alterbridge and Creed definitely form a major part of my sound, I love the way they entwine their guitar and vocal parts to sound bigger as a whole. In addition, I listen to a lot of Mumford and Sons, and Newton Faulkner, so they occasionally find their way into my own material”

I would defiantly consider Banner as part of the new wave of acoustic artists coming through from the Ayrshire scene. 

When the dreaded question of uniqueness came up within interview Banner commented;

“I don’t think there is a lot of ways you can be unique any more. There are only twelve notes in the chromatic scale, so any chance you have of writing something new is quite slim. However, I think that using the guitar tunings I use and the vocal melodies make me sound somewhat 

different from other singer/songwriters.”

Banner recently played as part of them Kilmarnock Fair Festive held at Centrestage theatre playing to just under 100 people along side some other acts and even a Broadway act. This accomplishment although good is not Banner’s best within his musical career. He stated that managing to accumulate enough written material for his debut album was his best - a very humble view of achievement.

Discussion then turned to the unsigned music scene and where he sees himself in the future Banner stated that;

“I think there are areas within Ayrshire where new and unsigned music is greatly appreciated, and new talented individuals and bands are as well. Hopefully, once my album is recorded, I’ll continue along the path I’m walking at the moment, attending new open-mic nights and getting gigs, hopefully with a bigger profile and fanbase each time.”

Banner is definitely on his way to becoming a very well known local artist.

 With his song “Homecoming” even getting the thumbs up from another well known artist,  in the shape of Mechanical Smile.

Mik Banner is playing at the butterfly and the pig in Glasgow on Sunday the 14^th August, after which he hopes to be booking more live shows .

You can hear some of Banner’s recorded tracks on his facebook page here and on his reverbnation page here.