Mike Downey solo output 2005-2010

Towards the end of 2004, after dropping The National Splits moniker, I started working on what was to be my first release under my own name. I was still really busy with The New Constitution but always liked having a side project.

In 2005 I parted ways with The New Constitution because of my impending move to Sweden and began playing semi-frequent solo shows. For the next 5  years I didn’t think about being in bands. I was perfectly content doing everything on my own; this pretty much still is the case if you want the honest truth. I played solo shows in 2005 and 2006 sometimes just singing to a backtrack (probably a really bad idea, but the solo acoustic live scenario started getting to me.) It wasn’t until 2012 that I had the urge to play live in a band setting again, which I did with Shy Mirrors on a 4-show mini tour.

This era was, and you’ll see from the discography, a prolific time where if there weren’t the means for a physical release I would get it out quickly as digital-only. (I also ran the netlabel heartphone during these years.) This was a time for experimentation; sometimes it worked better than others. That’s how it happened.