HISTORY
Mister Laurence's Mom & Dad on their Wedding Day
(October 14th, 1940!)
Meet the Man Behind "Mister Laurence"
Laurence Bond Miller, aka "Mister Laurence," was born into a musical family of five, where he was exposed to many types of music during his formative years: Romantic Classical and Modern 20th Century orchestral music from his father, random accappella while doing the laundry from his mother, 50s Classics into 60s Folk into the 1st wave of electronic music through his older siblings, and then finally drowned in "British Invasion", Psychedelic Rock, Free-Form Jazz and New Wave Punk on his own. This variety of influences has been evident in his songwriting throughout his career.
Accomplished Musician
Singing came natural for him and brought him great attention from the girls in the 3rd grade. This behavior prompted his folks to set Miller with formal training in both piano and clarinet. He was soon playing in the school concert band, and by 6th grade managed to showcase his first performance. With teacher's permission, Mister Laurence sang and played the piano theme to the TV show, BATMAN, for the entire class. Yikes. He later taught himself how to play the guitar, bass and drums. Being left-handed and unable to afford a "southpaw" model, Laurence, not unlike Albert King and Jimi Hendrix, learned how to play his brother's right-handed guitar, upside down! Since then he has picked up the accordion, as well as the complex fingerings of the kazoo.
Laurence has since been involved in and lead many original performing groups and recording projects over the years. Musical styles have ranged all the way from rock & roll to experimental. He even tried his hand at lounge music, eventually crooning for the II-V-I Jazz Orchestra! Yes, Laurence has covered quite a bit of ground in his day. Eclectic is a word often used to describe the lad.
Through the years, Laurence has acquired an unusual mix of instruments, which he stores in his home studio, "PlayRooMuzik". Here is where he taught himself how to record the music he writes. He even taught himself how to write music notation so that he wouldn't forget it. Clever, this Mister Laurence!
Music for Kids
It was in 1998 that he found his true calling - Children's Entertainment! Mister
Laurence became music director for many of Ann Arbor's
surrounding children's centers. It was there that he acquired his stage
name "Mister" Laurence. All
teachers are addressed as such, by their first name, following the
formal title. The name stuck. An accomplished musician, Mister Laurence
was commissioned to compose the school theme song for Hickory Tree
Children's Center. "Holly's Hickory
Tree" was then featured on his first CD, Flaghorn!
Mister Laurence continues to this day working with kids in preschool
centers around Washtenaw County.
Single Father
Having
children of his own, he had no trouble easing into CG rated material
("Childrental Guidance strongly suggested"!) His years as a single parent gave him a unique view of the work and joys of early childhood education. And, though always a child at heart, Mister Laurence's three daughters (Tara, Ashia and Brittany) had a tremendous influence on his creative sensibility. This single-fathering experience in fact helped fuel many of his coolest songs. Credit is given to his children on every CD he produces. NOTE: All three of his daughters graduated from college. "How can that be?" asks Mister Laurence.
How does he do it?
As self described pseudo multi-instrumentalist, Mister Laurence performs a variety of instruments on each recording. Along with a sequencing program and creative editing, he produces the sound of an entire band on all his CD's. Performances are sung and played along to the bulk of the prerecorded tracks. All his products are released on his own private label and publishing company, FarFetched Records and Bond Voyage Music. Since the time Mister Laurence reinvented himself, he has written, recorded and released 8 major works plus a variety of novelty Cd's. He also produced two award-winning children's music video collections -- Mister Laurence in Bubbleland and Return to Bubbleland! (NOTE: In 2008 Mister Laurence
took a backseat to performance, and instead worked hard in the studio
to finish his coming CD MARMALINE ~ My Music Machine)
In 2009, Mister Laurence brought a new member on board ~ MS. PRINCESS MELINDA! Mister Laurence then changed
the name from MISTER LAURENCE and his Play Money Band to THE MISTER LAURENCE EXPERIENCE. Together
they produced a community TV kids show called MISTER LAURENCE'S "Enchanted" GREEN TREE FORT, as well as
several award winning music videos. Their debut concert at Ann Arbor's NICOLA'S BOOKS (celebrating their
new CD MARMALINE My Music Machine) met a packed house. Today Ann
Arbor -- Tomorrow the World!
Mister Laurence gets married!!!
Yes, amazing as it may seem, rumor has it that Mister Laurence
actually got hitched last fall!
Below we see a short clip of
Mister Laurence and Ms. Princess Melinda, just after saying
"I do" on September 19th, hand in hand, venturing out into Bubbleland!
(Dig the man in sunglasses and bandanna. That's their good friend, Reverend Mike Brooks!)
OSO the Drumming Bear?
Unbeknown to the rest of the world, Ms. Princess Melinda had been working hard on an animatronic bear, to further expand the performing group. In the spring of 2010, the Mister Laurence Experience took the next logical step and transformed into a rockin' three-piece kids band ~ just in time for their new music video "I'm GLAD at You!" This production then won Best Music Video at the 2010 West Branch Children's Film Festival! Smart move! Though still performing as a duo, plans are to lean on OSO's innate talents as a general rule of thumb from this day forward! More history in the making shortly...
