Mike Jedlicka's Biography

History

Mike grew up in a NW suburb of Chicago and left for college at the University of Iowa in Iowa CIty in 1999. Here started DJing and helped to throw parties with a local group called Rotation (Michelle Higley and Kent Williams), and a weekly gig at a local bar on the side. Mike and Geoff Richards met through their similarities in music and fine beer. Geoff was beginning to create the record label Dick and Jane Records in 2001, and Mike got his musically talented friend Nik Francis in on it. And soon the label was off and running.

During the end of his undergrad, Mike took three semesters of electronic music production under Professor Lawrence Fritts in the University of Iowa's Electronic Music Studios. After graduating in 2003, Mike moved to Tallahassee, FL for graduate school in speech-language pathology. He was introduced to may new musicians who taught a wealth of new and interesting instruments including the didgeridoo, shakuhachi, tabla drums, and sitar. Mike joined a band, and finished his first solo EP, A Movie Without Pictures. The first track from this album, Hipity Hop, was used in an episode of MTV's Made.

This was about the time Dick and Jane Records was sent a cease and desist letter from certain group of lawyers (I wonder who that could be?) stopping the label in its tracks. The fall of Dick and Jane Records was a big blow to the three artists, but Optic Echo was soon spawned. Mike took the head role of the company, and a new chapter was started.

After finishing his masters at FSU in 2005, Mike moved to Portland, OR. He got a job working in a local school district as an SLP, and continues to write music for Optic Echo, along with programming and operations for Portland Radio Authority. Mike's latest albums have been Leaving Baja in 2007 , Panmixia's Invisible Friend w/ label mate Electric Blanket in 2008, Wilkins Mop w/ Nathan Smith in 2009, and the split 12" w/ cloudburst in 2010. New albums are in the works ...