Mike Carden

A founding member and guitarist of the greatest band on Earth, The Academy Is.... He currently provides the rhythm guitar to Michael Guy Chislett's lead guitar. He also sings backup vocals on two of TAI's songs: he sings "intoxicated circulation" on "Neighbors" and miscellaneous backups on "Slow Down." He and William Beckett had once been cross-town rivals in the Chicago underground scene, but they eventually befriended each other at local concerts and started up TAI in 2002. This is also known as a fairytale come true. Mike is known for his classic, half-smiling/open-mouthed shredding faces onstage, where he always stands on the far right side (on William's left). The one word that can most accurately describe Mike is cute, because that's what he is. However, Mike was not cute in the evil clown costume that he sported on Halloween, in 2007. He was terrifying then. Pretty much everyone loves Mike. He's just a likeable guy, who for some reason seems to never know precisely what's going on. For more information, check out Jack the Camera Guy's episode(s) of TAI TV "The Chronicles of Mike Carden." Jack made a pie chart.