Biography from Nothing Records Press Release 1999:

Micko Westmoreland has been making records since April 1996, but his music influences go all the way back through the 70's and more. Fairly new in the mainstream, he signed with Trent Reznor's (Nine Inch Nails) Nothing label in November of 1997, and recently appeared in the film "Velvet Goldmine" in October of 1997.

Born in May of 1971 in Leeds, he began playing about with his father's analog equipment. (He was expelled from nursery school at age 2 for projectilve vomiting.) His father, being an electrical engineer, had a lot of that sort of thing hanging about. "When I was very young," recalls Micko, "I'd sit with my ear pressed onto an acoustic guitar, hit the bottom string and then see how long I could possibly hear it for. And that's kind of stayed with me ever since. I always want to strech every sound and every idea as far as it'll go. Optimize everything."

In January of 1979, his mum bought him his first guitar. Ever since then, his musical talents have expanded into keyboards, guitar and bass guitar. At the time though, he didn't give any thoughts to playing keyboards or being involved with such things. "I suppose I thought there was a lot more action with a guitar slung around your neck." However, his first public appearance in May of 1981 had him sporting a Rickenbacker bass guitar through a wah-wah pedal. "People assume that if you're a bass player you're going to have a gut the size of the QE2 and big ears and hide in the shadows." Many of his musical influences from his early years included anything from Black Sabbath to Parliment and Joni Mitchell. "Anything but Phil Collins."

Anyhoo - Micko, and his brother Wash (who would later help him find a place for his music) grew up, and Micko decided that he needed to do something other than dream of becoming a rock star -- so he went to art school. In 1990, all of Micko's decks and records were stolen and the insurance money allowed him to buy a beat up Atari and a synth.

Skipping through the early 90's, in April of 1996, Micko put out an EP 'Imparticular' which was included on 'Further Self Evident Truths Vol 3' on the Rising High label. Then in October, he put out the 'Mingle' EP on Blue Planet.

1997 was a big year, 'Caucasian Flotsam' was included on 'State Of The Nu Art' sampler, he put out the 'Chaise Lounge' EP and 'Go Kart' (later appearing on One Pound Note) was included on 'Avant Gardism' Vol 2 Compliation. All were released on Blue Planet. Micko on Blue Planet: "Blue Planet said, 'Well, we can give you studio time.' So they lent me their studio, and I used to go in there on Sundays and work for 23 hours and finish the mixes at about 8 in the morning, which is quite hellish... That was my first EP which was called the 'Mingle' EP." In 1998 -- he put out one last thing on Blue Planet - the 'Receptionist' EP and 'Deja-Vu-Ism' which was included on the 'Endlessnessism' compliation. (The Dot Label)

Meanwhile, this American director, Todd Haynes was taking up residence in Wash's home while shooting the film 'Safe.' Todd and Micko got on very, very well and he thought that there would be a place for Micko in his new film. He shortly recived an official call asking if he could come down and read for a part. He says that all his experience behind the camera in film school gave him the insight to teach himself how to act for the film. In October, "Velvet Goldmine" premiered and Micko played Jack Fairy, a character based loosely off of Brian Eno and Marc Bolan. For those who were curious, Wash is the guy who says, "There's no difference is there?... Mr. BBC."

The next month, he was signed to Trent Reznor's Nothing label. And he got a new place to record his next album -- The Spare Room, Ladbroke Grove, England. The Spare Room being.. well.. his spare room. Now he can work when he wants. In January of 1999, 'One Pound Note' was released in Britan.

But 'One Pound Note' has not only appeared in stores, bits and pieces are in a few films. His brother Wash, makes pornos. Bits of OPN have ended up in a few. "Yeah, it's true indeed. It's not heterosexual porn. It's gay porn, cause my brother makes gay pornos... You write music with a type of feel to it, and you evetually give it a title which you think fits with the mood or the music, and then you see it sandwiched -- no pun intended -- on top of two people humping. So that's quite entertaining in itself."

"I'm always getting people coming up to me and saying 'Oh, I heard your stuff... it wasn't what I expected. I suppose it's the way I look. If you make a certain type of music you're supposed to look a certain way, too. But I think that's absolute rubbish. Things that don't automatically fit into the pigeonhole they're supposed to go into are far more interesting, I find."

Now he's backed up by a full band at live performances, and now he might even take the mic himself. "It's just another thing to play about with," he reckons, "But I will be treating my voice like everyting else in the mix -- snipping out the best bits and messing about with them... There's so much more to be done and we're only still at the start of this amazing revolution."

Life Timeline: Time And Space