_____Spring is in the air. It's 12:56 am, somewhere in South Minneapolis on a late April night. I'm sitting across the table from Dana Bailey, multi-platinum co-author of the European garage hit CLOSER THAN CLOSE. Bailey- who modestly hesitates to speak about his smash single with collaborators Rosie Gaines and Francis Jules- has survived nearly two decades in the music business, several major label contracts (Warner Brothers, Motown as well as the once Glasgow, Scotland based Big Bang Records) and has emerged to tell the tale of an independent artist.

_____Bailey- who helped pioneer the organic co-op label MI Recordz in 1997 with fellow musicians/compatriots Ron Parker (F*S*B*), PJ Tracy (of Jonny Lang and the Big Bang fame), Scotty Gibson (Brutus, Scotty G.), songstress Wani Park (UJU), DJ 3.2, singer-songwriter Tim Feeney, Brutus front-man Kip Overbo, Kevin Idso(Kronk, Kublaikhan) and highly acclaimed engineer Bill Bailey (Rosie Gaines, Tina & the B-Sides, All The Pretty Horses, Dumpster Juice)- felt the distinct need for a homegrown, full spectrum by-musicians-for-musicians record label.

_____Asked about the decision to finally publicize MI Recordz, Dana smiles without a hint of his former shyness. His lips move with the self-assured confidence of a man impassioned.

"There's a musical revolution going on, a sort of Exodus. The Internet- thankfully- changed everything. From the get-go, we've been looking at the light at the end of the tunnel... that light is content."

Bailey flares up an American Spirit, inhales deeply and continues.

"Even in a completely corporate world like the music industry, content takes precedence. Content is KING. We're all in this for the long haul. MI Recordz intends to support the growth as well as exploration of independent artists and their audio content, whether they're in Minneapolis or Katmandu. Our goal with MI is to pool
together our different resources and utilize technology to determine the best way for independent artists- regardless of genre- to continue making a living without having to sacrifice their artistic integrity."

_____Dana envisions a world-wide network of artists with the Do-It-Yourself work ethic, supporting one another and trading fan bases to bring ground breaking content to new-music starved radio listeners. The majority of the groups involved in the MI Recordz co-op compose with social as well as political themes in mind, delivering fantastic digital-audio (be it electronic, funk, rap, rock, metal or alternative) that is not only entertaining and "tight", but provides food for thought. SOUL SONIC ORCHESTRA, the latest project of the MI Recordz collective, tackles issues like prejudice, problematic single-parent households and the plight of coming of age in a society that worships materialism and celebrity like religion, as opposed to "being occupied with humanitarian concerns, the value of spirit and of music."

_____Bailey wrinkles his forehead and briefly hums a tune, entranced by the ghost of a near-future SOUL SONIC/MI Recordz release. It's easy to see how he helped inspire the likes of Moby and Fatboy Slim: the harmony is contagious. Because it is in the key of freedom and artistic independence, it is a tune that I hope to hear again quite soon, blaring VERY loudly from sea to shining sea.