i must have seen Eyedea perform over a dozen times in a few different states during my college years, but my fondest memory of Mikey was in 2009, about a year before he passed, at the then recently opened Knitting Factory in Brooklyn (after Manhattan flagship shut down)

after sharing the stage with Dose and Jel, Eyedea mingled with fans as the crowd emptied out into the street. Dose pointed out the cigarette burns to me that he made on his painting of a shark that he wrote “Dive Deep” above in block letters.

KF security eventually tried kicking me out before Mikey spoke up and said he needed to talk to his friend for a bit, and it was the most memorable discussion we ever had. we probably talked for at least an hour or two...

eventually it was literally just me and Mikey and the few remaining and understandably frustrated closing staff waiting for us to stop talking our shit. we talked about music he was working on, funny backstage stories that sadly make more sense now...

got into brain chemistry struggles and quirks, and he wanted me to read a specific J Krishnamurti essay, i wanted him to read a specific T McKenna essay, we called it our “cultural exchange” and finally exchanged contact info and a joint

he told me he would show me around if i ever made it to the twin cities, and that was the last time i saw him. many will talk about Eyedea’s musical gifts, but to so many of his fans, he was also a genuine and caring friend.

his music never left, but i will always miss his friendship the most. RIP Eyedea. ten years, goddamn. miss you Mikey.