One of the key pioneers in San Francisco’s garage punk and lo-fi circles, Mike Donovan first drew notice beyond the Bay Area through the Sic Alps, the raucous, psychedelically inclined outfit he established in 2004. He also started a pair of indie imprints, collaborated with assorted other groups, and pursued a solo path that encompassed understated acoustic work on the 2013 release Wot as well as more abstract keyboard explorations on the 2018 album How to Get Your Record Played in Shops.
Born October 6, 1971, Donovan spent his formative years in Illinois, where he fronted a preteen group called Noise alongside friends. He picked up the guitar at age 18; while enrolled at community college in DuPage, Illinois, a record-store acquaintance turned him on to acts such as the Fall, Can, and the Flaming Lips.
After transferring to the University of Maryland, Donovan began frequenting concerts in Washington, D.C., and became an admirer of the Ropers. When that band needed a new drummer, he stepped in, appearing on their concluding EP, 1997’s The World Is Fire, and accompanying them on a national tour.
A standout date on the Ropers’ itinerary took place in San Francisco; once the group disbanded, Donovan chose to relocate there. Settling into the Bay Area, he entered the regional music community by founding the indie label Dial Records and playing in Delevelum and Mesh.
In 2004, Adam Stonehouse of the Hospitals moved to San Francisco, prompting him and Donovan to form a new band. That project became the Sic Alps, a fixture of the city’s garage and noise underground that endured in shifting lineups until 2013 and issued four albums with Donovan as the only consistent member. Alongside the Sic Alps, Donovan also recorded and performed in side efforts including the Church Steps, Big Techno Werewolves, Yikes, and Sounds of the Barbary Coast. He shuttered Dial Records and launched Folding Cassettes, citing the cassette format’s convenience for limited-edition releases of favored artists.
Although Donovan had issued a few small-run cassettes in 2003 and 2004, his first full-fledged solo album arrived with 2013’s Wot. In 2015 he assembled the Peacers, a new group that briefly included fellow Bay Area garage-punk figure Ty Segall; the band delivered its self-titled debut that year, followed by the 2017 LP Introducing the Crimsmen. In intervals away from the Peacers, Donovan cut a second solo effort, the experimental lo-fi keyboard collection How to Get Your Record Played in Shops, issued by Drag City in April 2018.
