The events below were documented by Westword, The Denver Post, Icon, Clot, The Infinite Onion, CMM, Profane Existence, Maximum Rock & Roll, and the Rapid City Punk Archive to name a few. Phantasmorgasm performed a couple of hundred shows everywhere west of the Mississippi with acts like Green Day, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Libido Boyz, Aztlan Nation, and The Subhumans at venues ranging from Denver bars like The Lions Lair and 7 South (now the Hi-Dive) to larger venues such as The Aztlan (Denver), The Independent Skate Park (Colorado Springs), The Quadradangle (Laramie), and The Mary Rippen Theater (Boulder) as well as VFW's and rented store fronts. One such show is mentioned in the e-book Straight edge: clean-living youth, hardcore punk, and social change By Ross Haenfler.
Mike started piano at 8. Wrote a couple of original songs here and there which were never recorded. Guitar and bass at 15. At 17 Mike would record his first songs in a studio (D.A. Oldis' Platinum Studio) and would be selected by Denver Nugget legend Alex English to perform an original classical guitar composition as part of a talent showcase sponsored by English at the Paramount Theater. Mike was inspired to do music locally by Denver bands of the time such as Augy Rocks & The Lipstick Gunfighters, The Fluid and Warlock Pinchers. Mike's biggest inspirations in pop music generally are pre-50's music like Beethoven, Robert Johnson, Leadbelly, and Cab Calaway; 50's artists like James Brown, John Coltrane, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, and Roy Orbison; 60's artists like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, The Velvet Underground, T.Rex, Sly and the Family Stone, David Bowie, and Iggy Pop; 70's artists like Prince, Adam and the Ants, The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, and The Cure; and 80's artists like Run DMC, Public Enemy, Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, and Fugazi.
At 18, Mike would form Phantasmorgasm, a name given to band by artist Stevon Lucero. Lineup #1 consisted of Mike on Vocals/Bass/Guitar, Toby Santistevan on Vocals/Guitar/Bass, and Kenny Ortiz (Flobots) on drums. This lineup played shows throughout the region from 1989-1990 before a lineup change that brought in Dave Martinez on Guitar/Bass, and Jerry Benoit on drums. Toby Santistevan would go on to form the incredible math rock pioneer band Tribhanga.
Meanwhile Phantasmorgasm Lineup #2 (Mike, Dave and Jerry) played even more shows throughout the region and recorded two 7" records (Phantasmorgasm/The Screw Split 7"
on Rally Round Records 1991, Phantasmorgasm/Logjam Split 7" on MushMouth Records 1993 recorded 1991) as well as an 11-song album ("Cracked" released by One Legged Pup Records 1991).
Before recording "The Warrior" (NOA Records 1992), Kenny Ortiz was brought back on drums to create lineup #3: Mike, Dave and Kenny. Lineup #3 dissolved at the end of 1992 and Dave Martinez went on to be a part of the highly successful metal band Chaos Theory.
Lineup #4 was short lived but action packed. Mike, Kenny and Guitarist/Bassist Raphael Tapia only made it 6 months but during that time not only did they perform as Phantasmorgasm, with the help of bassist Tom Sublet and rapper Shatta-I the group performed live hip hop under the name N.O.A. When Mike left N.O.A. in mid-1993 they continued as the excellent hip hop group D-Town Brown. Sadly NOA never recorded and lineup #4 of Phantasmorgasm only recorded 1 song for The Inner Circle Soundtrack (Inner Circle 1993).
1994 saw Lineup #5 which included Mike, Kenny and Guitarist/Bassist Robert Tiernan. This lineup performed under the name Cactus Marco, recording a track for The Denver Collection Vol 1 (NOA Records 1994) and a 14-song album entitled "Velvet Denver" (NOA Records 1994). Guitarist Tim Edwards also contributed to the Velvet Denver sessions. Also in 1994 Mike Colin had begun another band with then Filty McNasty bassist Johnny Katt (Michelle and Book of Runes/Lovlok) called The Acoustifuxx. The Acoustifuxx started as a duo with both men playing guitar and singing, and recorded a 12-song album entitled "Fuxx You" (NOA Records 1994). Percussionists Ravi and Kenny Ortiz also contributed to the FU sessions.
In 1995 the band was expanded to a four piece with Robert Tiernan on bass and Ravi (Gina Go Faster) on drums. A typical performance usually included one set as The Acoustifuxx,
and one set as Splatterhouse which was Mike on bass/voc, Johnny on electric/voc, Robert on Lead Guitar, and Ravi on drums. The Splatterhouse songs were never recorded but the 4 piece Acoustifuxx recorded the 12-song gem "Malt Liquor Baby" (Daddys Not Rich 1995).
At the beginning of 1996 Mike put all bands on hiatus and made several solo acoustic appearances as Michael Colfuxxious and the gangster-rap folk parody G-Suss (a live recording from a 7 South show exists and is traded in the underground). Recording-wise Mike switched to 4-track cassette and recorded a 28-track album called “Electronic Garage” under the name Lo-Tek, which was also released on .COM records as “Phantazmorgasm 1 2 3 7 12 19 25.” From mid-1996 through the beginning of 1998, Mike put Phantazmorgasm (with a z instead of an s) back together as a “fixed bass jam band” consisting of Mike plus different combinations of a pool of musicians including Robert Tiernan, Kenny Ortiz, Tim Edwards, Kevin Smith, Ravi, Johnny Katt, Jahnavi, Johnny Izzo, Frank Roman, Bret Sexton, Tom Sublett, Matt Homan, Rick Weingarten, Chris Guillot and a handful of other one-time guests. 100 pieces of music were recorded at this time which became two albums: Phantazmorgasm “Genesis” (.COM Records 1997) and Mike Colin “The Family of Noise” (Oblio Music 1997).
During 1998-2000 Mike spent time playing bass in Fonksquish , recording the albums “Oblio Music” (1998) and “Functional Skizophrenia” (2000/1999) and being a part of Ratiocination, an excellent live hip hop group featuring Chip Brokaw, Amy Fisher, Kris Pipkin, Bruce Peckham, Tom Murray, and Devon McNulty. Ratiocination toured and recorded an album entitled “Thats Right!” (Ratiocination 2000).
From 2001-2005 Mike spent most of his time at home, making only a handful of appearances as the bass player for the bands Jabberjaw (2002) and Michelle & Book of Runes (2003).
During this stretch of four years Mike recorded 5 albums and an EP: “In My Delusion” (2001),
“Audiophile” (2002), “There is No Reason” (2002), “Silver Son” (2003), “Animal Grace” (with the band Lovlok EP 2004), and “Rokphony” (2005).
At the beginning of 2006 Mike began a 18-month roller coaster ride as the engineer for Time Capsule Studios. Mike worked on projects by Joshua Novak, Stanley Milton's Mean Streak, Third Floor Victim, Crack Whore, Defending the Pilot, and Baji. Also during this time Mike recorded the albums “Irish Coffee” (2006) and “I Am Zhitkur Roswell” (2007).
Summer of 2007-2008 was a low point. Mike Colin RIP by Dave Hererra and Goodbye Big Mike by Michael Roberts were published in Westword on June 7th, 2007 and are easily accessible on the world wide web for anyone who cares to relive this ridiculous and tragic hoax.
Mike's 2008 album “The Analog Digitalli” was destroyed by a virus on the computer it was recorded on. The material was never re-recorded and only demos/sketches will be available for the foreseeable future. Mike did make a few appearances around Denver as Mike Colin & The Family of Noise featuring his teenage son and daughter, but was unable to keep the band together for various reasons.
2009 saw the launch of MikeColin.org which will be the permanent home for the music art of Mike Colin. Mike also got his first drum set as a gift from his family and that led to his 2009 album “When Will U Return?” (to be released July 2010) and becoming the drummer in The Eclectix. Mike is currently working on “The River of Sound,” his 2010 project which is a 10 minute classical music movie which may go on YouTube and a serious upgrade of MikeColin.org. 2010 may see the end of The Eclectix with Mike (the band is moving to Seattle but Mike is not), but Mike would like to put a new band together to play his material new and old, because year after year there will be another album, another project.
