Michael "Miguel" Happoldt (born July 5, 1969, in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

) is an American musician, producer, songwriter, mixing engineer, and label executive.

Career

While studying at

California State University, Dominguez Hills California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH, CSU Dominguez Hills, or Cal State Dominguez Hills) is a public university in Carson, California. It was founded in 1960 and is part of the California State University (CSU) system. In 2020, ...

, Happoldt met alternative rock group the Ziggens. He began recording and producing with the group and eventually joined to record their first album, ''C0002''. Inspired by the punk rock and DIY movements of SST, BYO and

Dischord Records Dischord Records is a Washington, D.C.–based independent record label specializing in punk rock. The label is co-owned by Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, who founded Dischord in 1980 to release '' Minor Disturbance'' by their band the Teen Id ...

tracks, in 1989 Happoldt created the logo and label

Skunk Records Skunk Records is a Long Beach, California based record label that was founded by Michael "Miguel" Happoldt and Bradley Nowell in 1990. Skunk is affiliated with the spinoff label Cornerstone R.A.S. The inspiration for forming a record label cam ...

and released the Ziggens' album on cassette. In 1990, Happoldt moved to Long Beach, California, where he met Sublime's

Bradley Nowell Bradley James Nowell (February 22, 1968 – May 25, 1996) was an American musician and the lead singer of the band Sublime. Born and raised in Belmont Shore, Long Beach, California, Nowell developed an interest in music at a young age. Nowell ...

at a party. Happoldt invited Sublime to make some live-to- DAT recordings. Intrigued by the Ziggens' cassette release, Nowell played a four-song demo for Happoldt, which Nowell had recorded before meeting Happoldt, and asked him to put it out on Skunk Records. Happoldt has been involved in some capacity with the Long Beach Dub Allstars, the supergroup

Volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

Lucky Boys Confusion Lucky Boys Confusion is an American rock music, rock band from the western suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Hailing from DuPage County, the band's music is a mix of rock, Punk rock, punk, ska and hip hop music, hip hop. The band con ...

Unwritten Law Unwritten Law is an American punk rock band formed in 1990 in Poway, California by drummer Wade Youman. The band has undergone multiple line-up changes, with Youman the sole remaining original member – however, he has left the group twice in i ...

Slightly Stoopid Slightly Stoopid is an American Rock music, rock band based in the Ocean Beach, San Diego, Ocean Beach neighborhood of San Diego, San Diego, California, who describe their music as "a fusion of folk, rock, reggae and blues with hip-hop, funk, m ...

, and Long Beach Shortbus. Since 2010, Happoldt formed and has led the band Perro Bravo, and they have released three albums to date.

Personal life

Happoldt was raised between

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the most populous city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeastern Virginia. It is the sixth-most populous city in the ...

, and

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. Located along Interstate 4, I-4 east of Tampa and southwest of Orlando, Florida, Orlando, it is the List of municipalities in Florida, most populous city in Polk County. As of the 2020 ...

. Upon graduating high school in 1987, he moved to

Carson, California Carson is a city in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay and the Los Angeles Harbor Region, Harbor regions of Los Angeles County, California, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International ...

, to attend California State University, Dominguez Hills, where he studied audio recording and music production. Following Bradley Nowell's death in 1996, Happoldt cared for Nowell's dalmatian dog and Sublime mascot Lou Dog. Lou Dog died on September 17, 2001.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Happoldt, Michael Living people American rock musicians Musicians from Atlanta Musicians from Virginia Beach, Virginia Musicians from California Year of birth missing (living people) Long Beach Dub Allstars members Volcano (supergroup) members