The continuing saga of Mike Fair and the Adventure Seekers

In February 2006, the band Mike Fair and the Adventure Seekers existed only in one guy’s imagination. I had played in a number of critically acclaimed but commercially underachieving bands for a decade or so. A friend thought I should write songs. It seemed like an okay idea, but I had never really done it with the slightest degree of success.

I put together a bare-bones home recording studio in what was once my living room in a small Norwood apartment and started writing songs. The idea, ostensibly, was to record demos for songs to pitch to my bandmates for possible inclusion in our live sets and maybe even future recordings.

My bandmates were, for the most part, underwhelmed. Oh, I will admit to being a little discouraged but I didn’t give up. I kept writing and recording songs. I recorded a couple of other peoples’ songs that got stuck in my head. At one point I realized I was making my own full-length, long-playing record.

When it was finished, I took it to my bandmates and - I’m not exaggerating one bit - they were all like, “Hey, why didn’t you tell us you were making a record?!” I thought I did. Anyway, things started rolling. A date for a party was set. My bandmates agreed to play the songs with me in a live setting. Mike Fair and the Adventure Seekers became a real band. You know, the kindly woodcarver Geppetto got his wish and his little wooden creation, Pinocchio became a real boy.

Then we had some surprises. The local critical community liked it a lot. It got some spins on the radio. We got invited to play Midpoint, the biggest independent music festival in the Midwest. Then we were nominated for a Cincinnati Entertainment Award for Best New Band and Citybeat picked the record as one of the best local releases of the year!

So now we’re really a real band. We’re starting work on a new record. This one’s going to have songs written by our keyboard player, Luke Alquizola. We might even get matching suits. We’ll keep you posted.
mf

Critical background information on the Adventure Seekers:

J. Matt Retherford - drum kit
A modern bon vivant. Master of disguises. Has been rumored to trade in gold and jewels. His favorite color is black.

Luke Alquizola - key and vocals
Technical wizard. Analytical. Master of languages. Has developed his own coded language, known only to a select few. A great observer. A world-class chef in the Nuevo-Italia/Hunan/SoCal style.

Aaron Zlatkin - bass and vocals
Quiet. Tall. Dark. Measures his thoughts and actions carefully. Well educated and a world traveler. But don’t mistake him for a tweed coat academic. He’s from the mean streets and he knows how to handle himself. 


How fate brought the Adventure Seekers together:
You can call it luck. You can call it being in the right place at the right time. I know things that logic would suggest can't be known. 

I rescued J. Matt from a fiery plane crash. A Beechcraft Bonanza he was traveling in went down in Morocco. I was able to get all 3 passengers to safety just before the darn thing went up in a hellish fireball. 

I delivered one of Luke's children. The car was broken down on the highway, en route to the hospital. I don't usually stop for strangers. Something told me to this time. 

I encountered Aaron for the first time while sky-diving near the Arctic Circle. Damn parachute he was using failed to open. He held on to my legs for 12,000 feet. Landing was a little rough, but it beats hitting the ground at 21 feet per second. .

Now this is where the fate part comes in. Who would have guessed that they all played instruments. And played them mighty well. We formed this band because we wanted to play rock and roll. And we intend to play rock and roll.