Mick Sweda (born April 18, 1960) is an American guitarist, best known as a former member of the rock bands King Kobra and

BulletBoys BulletBoys is an American hard rock/glam metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1987. The group's original lineup was composed of singer Marq Torien (formerly of Ratt, King Kobra, and Kagny & the Dirty Rats), guitarist Mick Sweda (formerly of King ...

Early life

Mick Sweda began playing guitar at age 17.Levey, Dhyana (January 3, 2008
Sweet Tunes for Young and Old: Merced Musician Seeks to Satisfy Musical Appetite of Children, Adults
''McClatchy - Tribune Business News''. Retrieved June 15, 2023. He attended community college in

Jamestown, New York Jamestown is a city in southern Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 28,712 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Situated between Lake Erie to the north and the Allegheny National Forest to the south, Jamesto ...

on a drama scholarship while simultaneously touring the

East Coast of the United States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the region encompassing the coast, coastline where the Eastern United States meets the Atlantic Ocean; it has always pla ...

with a band covering various acts such as

ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in Houston, Texas, in 1969. For almost 56 years, it consisted of vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard (musician), Frank Beard, and bassist-vocalist Dusty Hill prior to his death in 2021. ZZ ...

and

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American rock band formed in Rockford, Illinois in 1970 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. Their work bridged elements of '60s pop rock, guitar pop, '70s har ...

Career

In 1980, Sweda and a few friends formed a band called The Pedestrians that leaned towards

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

. A year later, they moved to Los Angeles, where Sweda got involved in various musical projects. In 1984, he was approached by

Carmine Appice Carmine Appice ( ; born December 15, 1946) is an American rock drummer. He is best known for his associations with Vanilla Fudge; Cactus; the power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice; Rod Stewart; King Kobra; and Blue Murder. He is the older brother ...

to join his new band King Kobra, which had been signed to

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

. Sweda recorded two records with King Kobra ('' Ready to Strike'' and '' Thrill of a Lifetime'') and toured extensively, opening for bands such as

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

and

Ted Nugent Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He goes by several nicknames, including Uncle Ted, the Nuge, and Motor City Madman. Nugent initially gained fame as the le ...

. Sweda left the band in 1987 and started

with

Marq Torien Marq Torien (born Mark Joseph Maytorena; September 22, 1961) is an American musician, best known as the lead singer of the hard rock act BulletBoys. He is the only member to have remained with the group since the release of their self-titled d ...

, who had briefly served as King Kobra's lead singer. The band signed to

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

in 1988. Upon the release of their eponymous debut, the band toured extensively opening for bands such as Cheap Trick,

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Sayreville, New Jersey in 1983. The band consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarists John Shanks and Phil X, percussionist Everett Bradley ...

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

and others, as well as headlining theaters. BulletBoys recorded two more records for Warner Bros., '' Freakshow'' and ''

Za-Za ''Za-Za'' is the third studio album by American rock band BulletBoys, released in 1993. It was their last album released by Warner Bros. Records, and the final one produced by Ted Templeman Edward John "Ted" Templeman (born October 24, 1 ...

''. Sweda said that inspiration for the former came from taking in the scene at

truck stop A truck stop (known as a service station in the United Kingdom, a travel center by major chains in the United States and a roadhouse in rural Australia) is a commercial facility which provides refueling, rest (parking), and often ready-made f ...

s while the band was on tour.Associated Press (August 20, 1991
"Imperfect, Provocative Quartet Finds Inspiration in Truck Stops"
''Roswell Daily Record''. Retrieved June 15, 2023. Sweda supported both records with tours before he left the band.

Solo work

In 1993, Sweda started recording music of his own, which varied between

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, amounting to six albums. After recording demos for a wide range of artists in his studio and doing some session work, Sweda formed a band called Brain Stem Babies which included Jason Hook and Jeremy Spencer. They played scattered shows but spent the majority of their time recording records which Sweda made available on his Monsters Making Music label. The band parted ways in 1996 and Sweda, along with BSB bassist Jon Winquist, recruited

Troy Patrick Farrell White Lion is an American glam metal band that was formed in New York City in 1983 by Danish vocalist Mike Tramp and American guitarist Vito Bratta. Mainly active in the 1980s and early 1990s, they released their debut album ''Fight to Survive ...

White Lion White Lion is an American glam metal band that was formed in New York City in 1983 by Danish vocalist Mike Tramp and American guitarist Vito Bratta. Mainly active in the 1980s and early 1990s, they released their debut album ''Fight to Survive ...

to form Lolligag. They played occasionally in Los Angeles but again spent more time recording and disbanded in 1998. Sweda continued to record with John Porter and Marty Horenburg at

Cello Studios United Western Recorders was a two-building recording studio complex in Hollywood that was one of the most successful independent recording studios of the 1960s. The complex merged neighboring studios United Recording Corp. on 6050 Sunset Boul ...

in Hollywood, but began to concentrate more on family matters after he moved to

Merced, California Merced (; Spanish for "Mercy") is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California, United States, in the San Joaquin Valley. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 86,333, up from 78,958 in 2010. Incorporated on Apri ...

in 2002 to be closer to his wife Shellie's family. After forming Mick Sweda and the Candy Bar Band in 2007, he released ''Songs in the Key of Cool'', a record geared towards kids and parents alike. Shellie came up with two of the songs on the album, "Only Monster In My Room Is Me" and "Nothing To Do". Sweda played guitar on two more King Kobra records released on Frontier Records. He co-wrote an original Christmas song with Tilli Tills called "Merry Christmas, little baby!", which was featured on Rodney Bingenheimer's radio show on KROQ. He released The Hot Summers album with Shane Tassart.

Personal life

Sweda lives in Los Angeles, where he is still active, and works in his own studio, Redcake Digital. He is married to Shellie and has a son, Wyatt. He also has a son by the name of Easton Rocket Sweda, who is an actor on General Hospital.

References

External links

*https://www.facebook.com/michael.sweda.5 *https://www.instagram.com/micksweda/ *https://twitter.com/mickswedamusic *https://thehotsummers.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweda, Mick 1960 births Living people American rock songwriters American rock guitarists American male guitarists American heavy metal guitarists American hard rock musicians Glam metal musicians Guitarists from Los Angeles