Mike Dillon

Vibraphonist, percussionist, and songwriter Mike Dillon pursues a wide-ranging musical path that fuses post-bop jazz, funk, and avant-garde rock. Influences spanning Harry Partch, Thelonious Monk, Tom Waits, and Frank Zappa have shaped his leadership and co-leadership of groups such as the Dead Kenny Gs, Garage a Trois, and Critters Buggin'. Sideman credits include work alongside Primus' Les Claypool, Karl Denson, Ricki Lee Jones, and Ani DiFranco. His own discography features the 2007 release Battery Milk with Go-Go Jungle, the 2014 New Orleans jazz- and R&B-inflected Band of Outsiders, and the 2020 inventive covers project Rosewood. In 2021 he issued the expansive personal trilogy Shoot the Moon, Suitcase Man, and 1918.

Born in San Antonio, Texas, Dillon took up percussion near age ten and joined both his school music program and the local youth symphony. Following high school he pursued classical studies at college, performed in jazz groups, marched in the school band, and began exploring Latin and African rhythmic traditions. By the late '80s he had joined the progressive art-rock band Ten Hands and later started Billy Goat. Discovery of Thelonious Monk's music prompted a turn toward jazz improvisation and vibraphone mastery. Sideman opportunities arose with MC 900 Ft. Jesus, Brave Combo, and Pigface, while membership in Critters Buggin' yielded the 1998 album Bumpa and the 1999 album Amoeba.

Relocating to New Orleans in the early 2000s placed Dillon amid the city's diverse music community. Further sessions encompassed the avant-garde collective the Malachy Papers, guitarist Karl Denson, and bassist Les Claypool. He also entered drummer Stanton Moore's Garage a Trois, contributing to 2003's Emphasizer. Additional Critters Buggin' recordings arrived with 2004's Stampede and 2005's Monkeypot Merganzer.

His Matt Dillon's Go-Go Jungle project debuted in 2007 via Battery Milk. Two years later the second leader album Rock Star Bench Press appeared. Sessions with Ani DiFranco, David Egan, Ruthie Foster, and the Polyphonic Spree followed. The collective Dead Kenny Gs, formed with Skerik and Brad Houser, delivered 2011's Operation Long Leash on Royal Potato Family, the same year Garage a Trois returned with Always Be Happy, But Stay Evil.

Dillon's 2012 output included the solo Urn on Royal Potato Family and contributions to Doug Belote's Magazine St. He also recorded with Stuart McLamb's The Love Language and participated in Karl Denson's Tiny Universe for 2014's New Ammo. That year the quartet Band of Outsiders, completed with trombonist Carly Meyers, bassist Patrick McDevitt, and drummer Adam Gertner, was tracked in Miami under co-producers Gary Vandy and Richard Maloney, Jr. Ongoing DiFranco collaborations coincided with projects involving Primus, Papa Mali, the New Mastersounds, and additional artists.

A later version of the Mike Dillon Band, including guitarist Cliff Hines, bassist Nathan Lambertson, and a rotating drum roster of Claude Coleman Jr. (Ween), Simon Lott, G. Maxwell, Doug Belote, and Paul Thibodeaux, entered a Crescent City studio to examine links among NOLA street beats, ska, funk, punk, and jazz. Co-produced by Richard Maloney with engineering from Rick Nelson and Robert Mercurio, the sessions produced Life Is Not a Football in April 2017. The following year Bonobo Bonobo emerged, a New Orleans funk- and punk-driven album cut with the Mallett Men ensemble.

After further work with Rickie Lee Jones, Karl Denson, and Toronto's Bedouin Soundclash, Dillon settled in Kansas City, Missouri. July 2020 brought Rosewood, a solo vibes and percussion statement pairing originals with reinterpretations such as Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt." By year's end he issued the lockdown-recorded trilogy Shoot the Moon, Suitcase Man, and 1918.