Michael Barry Donegan (born November 16, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, writer, political activist, and political candidate best known as the lead singer of the

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band Look What I Did. He is also working on a side project with Evan Brewer of

Animosity Animosity may refer to: * ''Animosity'' (comic), an American comic book series published by AfterShock Comics *Animosity (band) Animosity was an American death metal band from San Francisco, California, formed in 2000. The band released three ...

which is in the writing stage according to

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

Metal File. He is a candidate for City Council at Large in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, for 2015, although the local Nashville elections are technically

non-partisan Nonpartisanship, also known as nonpartisanism, is a lack of affiliation with a political party and a lack of political bias. While an ''Oxford English Dictionary'' definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., ...

. Donegan was elected and served as director at large of the Davidson County Republican Party from 2009 to 2011 and currently writes political columns for the website of the national chapter of the

Republican Liberty Caucus The Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC) is a political action organization dedicated to promoting the ideals of Individual freedom, individual liberty, limited government and free market economics within the Republican Party (United States), Republi ...

. In 2008, he wrote an election-year political column called "Dangerous Truth" for the heavy metal music e-zin
thegauntlet.com
and was at one time a featured writer for the

libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

-themed

online magazine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to an online only magazine was the comput ...

thefreedomrevolution.com

Biography

As a vocalist, Donegan is known for a singing style which does "alternate between melodic singing and hardcore screaming" and lyrics which are

stream of consciousness In literary criticism, stream of consciousness is a narrative mode or method that attempts "to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind" of a narrator. It is usually in the form of an interior monologue which ...

, as characterized by a review of the album'' Minuteman for the Moment'' at

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

. During 2005–2006, Donegan's group Look What I Did completed seven full United States tours, alongside groups such as

Drop Dead, Gorgeous Drop Dead, Gorgeous is an American post-hardcore band from Denver, Colorado. It consisted of frontman Danny Stillman (lead vocals), Kyle Browning (lead guitar), Jake Hansen (bass), Dan Gustavson (rhythm guitar), Jonathan Leary (keys/synth/prog ...

, The Human Abstract, Animosity, Contra,

Ion Dissonance Ion Dissonance is a Canadian mathcore band from Montreal, Quebec. They are known for their technical style, which switched to a more groove based style with the release of their 2007 album ''Minus the Herd''. In total, the group have released f ...

Folly In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings. Eighteenth-cent ...

Dog Fashion Disco Dog Fashion Disco is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Rockville, Maryland, originally active from 1995 to 2007, then disbanding before reuniting in October 2013. History Early years (1995–2000) Dog Fashion Disco, or ''DFD ...

, Tub Ring and including a stint on the

Warped Tour The Warped Tour is a Concert tour, touring Rock music, rock music festival that toured the United States and Canada each summer from 1995 until 2019, and returned in 2025 for its 30th anniversary. By 2015, Warped was the largest traveling music ...

.
An article
in ''Decibel'' magazine characterized his status of residence at the time as effectively "

homeless Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...

", as their tour schedule at the time was so intense. Donegan wrote and performed on the record albums '' My First Time'', which was released under Clockrock Recordings and ''Minuteman for the Moment'' which was released on

Combat Records Combat Records was an American independent record label founded in 1982 and based in New York City. The label was made specifically for heavy metal and punk rock acts. Notable artists include: Megadeth, Circle Jerks, Nuclear Assault, OZ, ...

and

Koch Records MNRK Music Group (pronounced "monarch"), formerly known as Koch Records and Entertainment One (eOne) Music/Records, is an American independent record label and music management company based in New York City. It was formed in 1987 as a music div ...

. It was produced by Brian Virtue, who has previously worked with bands such as

Deftones Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by frontman Chino Moreno, lead guitarist Stephen Carpenter and drummer Abe Cunningham, with bassist Chi Cheng and keyboardist and tu ...

and

Jane's Addiction Jane's Addiction was an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1985. The band's best known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Perry Farrell, bassist Eric Avery, drummer Stephen Perkins and guitarist Dave Navarro. Jane's Addicti ...

. ''Decibel'' magazine referred to Donegan's voice as "soaring and precise" on ''Minuteman for the Moment''. In a 2010 interview with AOL's ''Noisecreep'', Donegan hinted about a "secret conspiracy I am involved in with people who have a lot of money to overthrow the music industry." In a later interview from the ''Decibel Magazine'' blog, he revealed that this conspiracy was a new online music service called Gazzmic, of which he is a founding member. In the interview, Donegan stated, "Gazzmic began as a way to stage a technological revolution against the failed aspects of the modern music industry. The goal is to help bands and fans capitalize on the ease of delivering content in the Information Age. A wide range of new technological tools and a content management system are on the way; the first order of business is a free custom mobile app platform for bands for the iPhone and Android Market. The endgame for Gazzmic, which I can't speak in detail on just yet, involves easier access to music for fans and a more profitable means of content delivery for bands. We are just now entering the closed beta phase, so the excitement will be unfolding in the near future." 2010 also saw the release of an album called ''Atlas Drugged'' by Donegan's band Look What I Did. The album was released on Modernist Movement Recordings and produced by Brian Virtue (Jane's Addiction, Horse the Band, Chevelle). In 2011, the band started work on a new rock opera entitled ''Zanzibar III: Analog Prison.'', which was released in 2014.

Political positions

Donegan's political positions can best be characterized as

, believing protection of social and economic liberties as being the chief and only legitimate power of government. He favors a

non-interventionist Non-interventionism or non-intervention is commonly understood as "a foreign policy of political or military non-involvement in foreign relations or in other countries' internal affairs". This is based on the grounds that a state should not inter ...

foreign policy, and supported

Ron Paul Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977, and again from 1979 to 1985, as well as for Texas' ...

in the 2008 Republican Party primaries. He has also suggested retooling health and safety codes to prevent them from shutting down struggling small businesses. He opposes the person-hood of the

corporation A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as ...

, the

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

, and the

Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...

. He supports ending the war on drugs.

References

External links

Look What I Did official siteM. Barry Donegan for City Council at Large official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donegan, Barry 1978 births Living people 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers American columnists American libertarians American male guitarists American male non-fiction writers American activists American political writers American punk rock musicians American rock guitarists American rock singers MNRK Music Group artists Guitarists from Tennessee Singers from Tennessee Writers from Tennessee Place of birth missing (living people)