Bassist Mike Ayley from Marianas Trench has started working on and will release a new solo EP under the name MIKEH. The EP is a response to the emotions he felt during the pandemic, claiming that he “needed to make music” while the band is on hiatus due to the pandemic.

( 604 Records/604Records.com)

“During the pandemic, I started having a hard time, wondering, why can I not get happy? That confused me because I’m a happy, optimistic person. But life’s going to be hard at times – you get through. So, in all these songs, there’s hope. That’s what the song ‘Kaleidoscope’ is about, meeting my wife, Emily, but thinking I’d never see her again, that it’s never going to work because we lived thousands of miles apart. But here I am, literally in the best place I’ve ever been. That’s reaffirmed for me that the decisions I’ve made personally and professionally – whether they felt right or wrong at the time – still led me to the place I need to be.”

-Mike Ayley

But don’t fret, Marianas Trench will still have mike alley when they start making new music. I’m just happy to see artist take the creative freedom they need to help create the art that want. The one defining trait we all experience is burnout and Mike Ayley shows that the needed steps we should take is to express what you want to express even if it doesn’t work. Luckily Golden Hour just works.

Golden Hour: First Things First is Ayley’s response to balancing work, life, and Creativity during the Pandemic and view on where he’s at now. I feel this message is big with me and I appreciate the personal messages he attributing to the concept of the EP.

The five song EP will be a new sound for Canadian music releasing Oct.18