Born in Bermuda, he lived with his parents on a sailboat from the age of three onwards. His early musical memories included listening to Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, hearing snatches of pop and reggae on the radio and trips to Caribbean Islands. No doubt there was some blues and soul in the mix too. All those musical elements are, in various degrees, part of Mishka's identity, but what impresses most is that graceful,
extraordinary, assured voice.
Lyrically, Mishka's favorite similes are of the sea - he has a bulging notebook of "ocean songs". In conversation, he looks back, without evident nostalgia or myth-making, on an early life growing up at the sea. Whole other children were glued to the television and video games, Mishka was offered endless hours in which to reflect, to draw, to read and to write. Occasionally, dolphins or whales would swim alongside the boat, offering companionship. It sounds idyllic, but there was also loneliness and danger.
"When I was 7 years old, I remember there was a storm and the seas were 30-40 feet high. We took all the sails down and rode the waves because there's nothing else you can do in that wind. I looked out and the waves were so big that I just went down below and cried, I was scared."
By the age of 18, Mishka's lifestyle was a fascinating mixture of the exotic and artistic. Improbably, he was chosen to represent Bermuda in both the 1991 and 1992 windsurfing world championships. "I could windsurf good, but I didn't really know about racing tactics" he admits. He
nevertheless managed to hold his own at the world level. Meanwhile, he continued to write songs and record rough tapes, he stresses. "Everyone was saying, 'You can't just play it for yourself,' where, as far as I am concerned, I can."
Alan McGee was celebrating his wedding when he met Mishka in the Caribbean. Not for the first time, McGee realized that he was hearing
something special. Attempting to analyze that X factor only adds to the mystery. As Mishka reminds us: "People always check out your influences, but you don't really know what your influences are. It might be a bird singing while you're walking down the street or a breeze going past you. That could be what makes you want to write a song. Life is bigger than just records and stuff."
