{"id":79250,"date":"2020-07-25T11:31:13","date_gmt":"2020-07-25T18:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/?p=79250"},"modified":"2020-07-30T18:21:37","modified_gmt":"2020-07-31T01:21:37","slug":"wheezing-maniacs-mike-byrd-r-i-p","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wheezing-maniacs-mike-byrd-r-i-p\/","title":{"rendered":"Wheezing Maniac&#8217;s Mike Byrd R.I.P."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">Words by Marvin Munson, \na close friend of Mike and \nband member of WHEEZING MANIAC<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>The world lost a gifted and inventive guitarist this week when Mike Byrd, the lead guitarist, co-vocalist, and songwriter for the skaterock\/punk band Wheezing Maniac, died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Dollar on a Platter\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mRzJH3leMf0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Formed in the Southern California desert town of El Centro, CA and later moving to San Diego, the band embraced the DIY spirit of the punk rock scene, self releasing their tapes, and eschewing any fixed musical genre to express their musical identity. Authenticity was paramount, and the band used the active zine culture, promoting itself through punk periodicals such as Maximum Rock &amp; Roll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"H-STREET - Hokus Pokus - Dave Braves [1989]\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rH50XBKIVlI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Though the band\u2019s active years were short lived, and they eventually moved on to other projects, Wheezing Maniac\u2019s fan base grew after the band\u2019s demise, due to their inclusion on the seminal and beloved skateboard video Hokus Pokus from the H-Street skateboard company. The video, itself somewhat of a revolution in DIY aesthetics, gave the band a huge afterlife when the internet became a medium to share videos, music, and culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Wheezing Maniac - Don&#039;t Come Close\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FD1LNlFpAfY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Byrd, a self taught guitarist, was fluid in a variety of styles and possibilities, creating inventive phrasing that sometimes caused the music to somehow be both propulsive and apprehensive at the same time. Rarely did two songs sound alike, because he had a well-spring of ideas that would drive the music in different directions. Although the recordings are sometimes unpolished, fans react to the authenticity and freshness of spirit of a band that is not trying to sell you on their ideas, but showing you a world of their own creation, that you can take or leave as you see fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"484\" height=\"507\" src=\"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/scn_0010.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-79252\" srcset=\"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/scn_0010.jpg 484w, https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/scn_0010-286x300.jpg 286w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 484px) 100vw, 484px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Byrd succumbed to heart failure brought on by a variety of long standing health issues, and died peacefully at El Centro Regional Medical Center on July 21st 2020 at 1:01 AM. He was 51. His music can be heard on Spotify, iTunes, and Youtube.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rest in Peace Mike Byrd&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"480\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/wheezing-maniac-480x480-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-79251\" srcset=\"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/wheezing-maniac-480x480-1.jpg 480w, https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/wheezing-maniac-480x480-1-450x450.jpg 450w, https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/wheezing-maniac-480x480-1-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/wheezing-maniac-480x480-1-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/wheezing-maniac-480x480-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/wheezing-maniac-480x480-1-45x45.jpg 45w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>WHEEZING MANIAC YOUTUBE<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCTXwsupFaVFEHI2oQ0CbMfw\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCTXwsupFaVFEHI2oQ0CbMfw<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>WHEEZING MANIAC ON SPOTIFY<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-spotify wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-spotify wp-embed-aspect-9-16 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: Wheezing Maniac\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/artist\/4i7LQrylpsY2GkYwPiIRYp?utm_source=oembed\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Words by Marvin Munson, a close friend of Mike and band member of WHEEZING MANIAC The world lost a gifted and inventive guitarist this week when Mike Byrd, the lead guitarist, co-vocalist, and songwriter for the skaterock\/punk band Wheezing Maniac, died. Formed in the Southern California desert town of El Centro, CA and later moving [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79252,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4034,4041],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music-2","category-skate-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/scn_0010.jpg","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79250"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79255,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79250\/revisions\/79255"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}