Beginning in the fall of 2009, "Before Australia" has almost been an exercise in trusting one's instincts and following your intuition, regardless of what conventional wisdom may say. In November 2009, Mikey quickly threw together a band to back him at a show in Santa Monica, including session players he had previously performed with, his best friend on guitar (although his main instrument is bass), and a karaoke juggernaut to back him on vocals. After only one rehearsal, the band jelled to the point where the call was made to see if it could be captured on tape. However, Mikey was scheduled to fly to Australia within a week of of that show. Two days after finding their availability, they were in the studio rehearsing and tracking over the course of the next 5 days. Produced, engineered, and mixed by James Sajor, rough mixes of the tracks were sent across the internet to for Mikey to listen to in Australia. Going strong, the record seemed to have unstoppable momentum. Life, however, had a different idea. Production was delayed for 7 months when James had to fly back east due to a sickness in his family. After everything had settled, Mikey then flew back east in the summer of 2010 to finish the lead vocal tracks. Then, Heather Dodge (Gary Jules, Esquimaux) offered her very beautiful voice to the tracks. With all his gear back in Los Angeles, James was forced to mix the record on several makeshift rigs, including his sister's 7th grade 80's boom box, his car stereo, and a boomy 90's mini stereo. Even the final steps of production were littered with synchronicity. The artwork, created by Monette Punzalan of MTP Studios was generated over the course of 48 hours. The mastering engineer, Stephen Marsh, just happened to have an opening in his incredibly busy schedule. Instead of waiting two weeks, they were able to get it mastered two days after the final mixes were done. Unlike previous records, Mikey and his crew didn't over analyze, over think, or weigh the options for any additional time other than going by the simple, "Does this feel light to me?" And, "Would this be easy or hard?" By using what excites them, what's fun, and the path of least resistance, Mikey and his band, The Last Show, have created a phenomenal record that they all agree is their best work so far. Where will this record take them? And what might show up if they were to keep trusting their instincts? Perhaps we'll find out soon enough.