Mike Liorti
Rosedale
When did you first get into music? Me and my brother were really into music at an early age, getting cassette tapes for our birthdays and Christmas. So we started piano lessons when I was seven. I wanted to play guitar but my mom made me get my grade 5 RCM for classical piano first and I’m glad she did. Guitar came a lot easier and I developed a good understanding of music and theory. Who or What inspired you to pursue a career in music? It was a lot of things. I was a bit of a gamer when I was younger and the soundtracks on EA sports games and Tony Hawk Pro Skater games got me into punk bands like Sum 41, Gob, Goldfinger, Lagwagon etc. So when I finally got a guitar I became a powerchord junky. I also played a lot of hockey and skateboarded on my street with my neighbors and they’d bring out a boombox from time to time. They showed me Blink 182 and I became obsessed. I met other Blink fans and together we discovered that being in a band was a pretty realistic career. How has your music evolved since you first began performing? It is definitely better haha. I mean that can be subjective to a point but as far as quality goes, I guess you can say it is a lot closer to professional standards. I didn’t even know what mixing and mastering was when I first started a band. I just knew somehow computers could record sounds. So the production has come a long way from the first Rosedale demos. Writing wise, naturally, I channel a lot more influences than I used to. It isn’t just pop punk or emo anymore, there are a lot more genres mixed in there. And it is all more thought out and personal. Me and my old bandmates used to write lyrics that just sounded cool (we thought). Now I really try to dig deep. Even if it ends up being a silly song about wanting to date Taylor Swift, its still honest and transparent. I’m sure you have shared the stage with a lot of talented artists/celebrities along the way. Would you share 1 or 2 of your favorite stories with us? I have the worst luck with getting on big bills. Something always falls through. I was supposed to open for Everlast in Colorado Springs (direct support to a sold out show at one of my favorite venues; Black Sheep). Very long story short; he had to cancel due to a snow storm in Wyoming, so I put together a bill with all locals, it went really well, then I blew my transmission slipping up a slick mountain pass. The times I was in the presence of celebs it was kind of forced. I used to play in the parking lots of Warped Tours (RIP) with a very elaborate DIY setup. A lot of cool stories came from that. One time Anthony from Bayside and Ryan from All Time Low watched my set and bought 10 CDs. I’d get a lot
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