Michael "Micko" Joseph Larkin (born 13 October 1986) is an English musician, most notable as the lead guitarist of the

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band

Larrikin Love Larrikin Love were an England, English four piece indie rock band from London. Consisting of singer-songwriter Edward Leeson, guitarist Micko Larkin, bassist Alfie Ambrose and drummer Coz Kerrigan, and also occasionally including violinist Robb ...

and reformed

Hole A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid Body (physics), body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in m ...

Biography

1986–2006: Early life and career

Larkin was born in Hammersmith to Irish parents. In 2005, he formed the short-lived

with vocalist Edward Larrikin, bassist Alfie Ambrose and drummer, Coz Kerrigan. The band was described in ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

magazine'' as part of the fictional "Thamesbeat scene", and released one album during their career, '' The Freedom Spark'' and six singles. Larrikin Love disbanded on 4 May 2007, after the group's members began to embark on other musical projects.

2007—present: As guitarist for Courtney Love and Hole reunion

After Larrikin Love's split, Larkin moved to Los Angeles to work with former

frontwoman,

Courtney Love Courtney Michelle Love (née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, Love has had a career spanning four decades. She rose to promi ...

Mairead Nash Queens of Noize were a DJ duo based in London, consisting of Mairead Nash and Tabitha Denholm. During their time as a duo they presented for MTV2 and BBC 6 Music and performed at a number of international festivals. Career Their career began i ...

, manager of

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

groups,

Florence + the Machine Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, and Queens of Noize recommended Larkin to Love in June 2007, and after his audition became lead guitarist of Love's solo group, unofficially titled The Courtney Love Band. Larkin joined Love's band alongside bassist Patricia "Pato" Vidal, drummer

Stu Fisher Stuart Fisher is an English musician, notable for being drummer of alternative rock band Hole between 2009 and 2011. Prior to becoming a member of Hole, Fisher was also the drummer of English psychedelic rock band Ozric Tentacles and also Fing ...

, pianist Bethia Beadman, and rhythm guitarist Liam Wade. Love and the band embarked on a short tour of the United Kingdom in 2007, including one additional date in Paris, France, in July 2007. On 17 June 2009, Love and Larkin announced the reunion of Love's former band Hole via an ''

'' webblog. Larkin replaced former guitarist and Hole co-founder

Eric Erlandson Eric Theodore Erlandson (born January 9, 1963) is an American musician, guitarist, and writer, primarily known as a founding member, songwriter and lead guitarist of alternative rock band Hole from 1989 to 2002. He has also had several musical s ...

on lead guitar. In the following months, Erlandson and former bassist,

Melissa Auf der Maur Melissa Gaboriau Auf der Maur (; born March 17, 1972) is a Canadian musician. Auf der Maur began performing in 1993 after forming the indie rock band Tinker (band), Tinker while she was a student at Concordia University. She was recruited ...

claimed no reunion could take place due to a contract Love and Erlandson signed in 2002 after the band's initial split which stated that the name Hole could not be used by either without mutual involvement. Despite this, Hole's reunion proceeded. Hole's fourth studio album, ''

Nobody's Daughter ''Nobody's Daughter'' is the fourth and final studio album by the American alternative rock band Hole, released on April 23, 2010, by Mercury Records. The album was initially conceived as a solo project and follow-up to Hole frontwoman Courtney L ...

'', featured Larkin on lead guitar, as co-producer and as main co-writer on four tracks, also adding additional parts to previously-written songs such as " Pacific Coast Highway" and "

Samantha Samantha is an English feminine given name in use since the 17th century that is of uncertain derivation. It is now in popular use worldwide due to various popular culture influences. Etymology Some etymologists have suggested Samantha might ...

." On 29 November 2012, Love stated on her Twitter account for her upcoming clothing line: "From now on he band is called Courtney Hole is dead", implying that she was abandoning the Hole moniker and returning to performing as a solo artist, with Larkin, bassist Shawn Dailey and drummer Scott Lipps as her backing band.Love, Courtney
Post from 29 November 2012
Twitter account: neverthebridecl She planned to release a new album, titled ''Died Blonde'', in the winter of 2013. Since 2017 he has played guitar with Liverpool-based rock band Darlia.

References

1986 births Living people English rock guitarists Musicians from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham People from Hammersmith English people of Irish descent Hole (band) members British feminist musicians English feminists {{England-musician-stub