"The Professor" Mike Ventimiglia Interview
Facebook
Interview by Roger Zee (04/18/22)
Roger Zee: Who inspired you to sing and pick up the keyboards? Do you play any other instruments?
Mike Ventimiglia: My grandfather kept a piano in the house. An amateur songwriter, he managed to get Tony Bennett to sing one of his tunes. The lady down the street served as the go-to for piano lessons, but I really wanted to play drums. Which probably explains how I approach the keyboards. And adulthood.
RZ: Tell me about some of the musicians and groups you gigged and recorded with.
MV: Mostly just a humble bar musician, I'll try this:
If you remember French Charley's (Bronx) or Rumours (Yonkers) from the Eighties, you might remember Helm's Deep or our partners in crime, Bad Influence. If you remember Peggy O'Neills (Brooklyn) or The Starting Gate (Queens) from the Nineties, you might -- wait, you don't remember anything from back then.
If you remember The Georgetown Saloon, you might remember the version of the Roxy Perry Band that the Saloon sent to the Montreux Jazz Festival. If you remember the rooftop bar at Bobby Q's in Westport, you might remember Double Down.
If you remember the early days of the Old Post Tavern, you might remember the Christopher Robin Band, not dead yet, or Mustard Seed Magic, dead yet. If you remember 12 Grapes, you might remember Patrick, Murphy, McDowell, also not dead yet.
If you remember a good chunk of the dialogue from Saturday Night Fever and live in Fairfield County, you've probably seen Pimpinella.
I got to track along side some great players like Liberty DeVitto, Benny Rietveld, Billy Sheehan, and Kristen Capolino. That said, I don't recall seeing any of them drop my name in their interviews. I spent a lot more time tracking with great players like Tommy Nagy, Greg McCullough, Gerry Collins and Paul Opalach.
RZ: What keys/amps/mics do you currently use?
MV: My go to boards at the moment -- a Korg Kronos and Nord Electro 3. The Kronos seems amazingly versatile and pretty much good at everything. Everyone knows the Nord. Depending on the situation, I'll go through 15" JBLs or QSC 12.2s. The bottom end on those JBLs still gives me the fuzzies. Every once in a while, I'll bring out a straight piano and organ rig -- Yamaha CP-300, and send the Nord into a Leslie 145 though a Speakeasy "Vintage Tube" preamp. Live, I use a Sennheiser e845.
RZ: Talk about your home studio.
MV: It's a small set up, mostly so I can track remotely. Basically Pro Tools with some nifty plug ins, a set of Yamaha HS8s, and JBL 305p MkIIs. An AKG P420. Instead of a plug in, I usually send the Nord through a Neo Ventilator II.
RZ: What and how do you practice.
MV: I still start with scales and the TV on. Then I'll shut off the tube and switch over to something I'm working on. Lately I've started putting together a solo act called "Professor Six Million." Twangy Honky-Tonk, Dr. John, some gospel, with a few originals. Hope to get that ready to fire this summer.
RZ: Do you teach music privately?
MV: If I did, I couldn't tell you.
RZ: How has the Pandemic affected you? What's on the horizon?
MV: Like most of us, I ended up gigless for a while, but I'm pretty much booked for the summer. Pimpinella fans, a very fun crew, show a lot of support. I really don't think we've had ten bad nights in ten years.
RZ: Describe your most special and/or unusual gig.
MV: Well, I played the Montreux Jazz Festival with the Roxy Perry Band. They nominated us for some award. We didn't win, but Chris Vitarello got an honorable mention for rooming with me. I also recall a weekday gig in North Jersey, performing for senior citizens, when the band got drunk and trashed its gear at the end. That's the hardest I ever laughed on stage.
RZ: How do you see the future of the music business?
MV: In terms of creativity I'm optimistic. New technology usually makes for creative advances, just like the electric guitar did. I like electronic music, and now it's so easy to record and throw your stuff out there. That's all good. From a financial point of view, I'm way out of my league to hazard a guess.
RZ: What advice do you give up-and-coming musicians?
MV: Rule 1: Play what you hear in your head. Rule 2: If what you hear in your head's a new song about cold beer and pickup trucks, don't play what you hear in your head.
RZ: Do you live with any animals?
MV: At one point, with a dog Ringo, a cat Georgia, and a gerbil John Paul. They all reunited in the great beyond.
RZ: Anything else you'd like to add?
MV: I heard a story about Miles Davis in the studio. A piano player wanted a do-over because he wasn't happy with what he played. So Miles asks him, "Then why did you play it?" No idea if the story's true. But that's the whole game right there.
YouTube - "Bed of Blues" - Roxy Perry
YouTube - "Oblivion" - Kristen Capolino w/Billy Sheehan Live at Daryl's House 7/31/19
©2022 Roger Zee
