Mike Wiebe

Mike Wiebe
Wiebe with the Riverboat Gamblers in 2010
Wiebe with the Riverboat Gamblers in 2010
Background information
BornDenton, Texas, U.S.
Occupations
  • Musician
  • actor
  • stand-up comedian
Years active1997–present
Member ofRiverboat Gamblers

Mike Wiebe is a musician, actor, and stand-up comedian from Texas. Originally from Denton, he now lives in Austin. Wiebe is the lead singer of several nationally known Austin-based bands including Drakulas, High Tension Wires, and his most longstanding group, Riverboat Gamblers, with whom he has released six albums since 1997.[1][2][3][4]

Since 2013, his work has also turned increasingly toward comedy, including two works released by comedy label Stand Up! Records.[5]

Career

Music

Main article: Riverboat Gamblers

Wiebe is known for a high-energy performance style which has led to frequent accidental self-injury, which, in turn, has fed back into his iconic status in Texas punk rock.[6][7][8] He suffered a collapsed lung after a crowd-surfing accident in 2016.[9] He once accidentally broke a gas main while swinging from the rafters of a club in Denton, Texas, filling the room with flammable gas.[10]

Stand-up comedy

Wiebe began performing stand-up in 2011.[11]

In both his music and comedy, Wiebe is given to outlandish theatrics and characters. With comic Avery Moore, Wiebe created a pair of satirical Southern youth group ministers, Dottie and Jefferson-Montclaire McCuewan. Wiebe's character as lead singer of Drakulas, Savage Lord Mic, parodies the postapocalyptic style of 1970s movies like The Warriors.[5]

Wiebe performs on the 2013 Altercation Punk Comedy Tour compilation Hostile Corporate Takeover, produced by Stand Up! Records.[12][13]

Since 2019, Wiebe has hosted the podcast Contrarian Court with novelist Wayne Gladstone, in which a different unusual opinion such as "bathrobes are stupid" is argued for by each week's guest, with Gladstone and Wiebe acting as opposing counsel and judge.[14]

In 2019, he released the single "I Can't Die," a "theme song" for fellow Austin comic Ryan Cownie's Stand Up! Records album I Can't Die.[15]

Wiebe co-hosted the 2020 Austin Music Industry Awards.[16]

Acting

Wiebe attended college in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and worked as an actor in both New Mexico and Texas before concentrating on music.[7] His films include the 2001 low-budget indie superhero parody Cornman: American Vegetable Hero and 2003's women-in-prison satire Prison-A-Go-Go!, which he also co-wrote with director Barak Epstein. He has also appeared in several short films.[15]

Discography

  • "I Can't Die" b/w "Misspent Youth" flexi-disc single (Stand Up! Records, 2019)
  • J.T. Habersaat and the Altercation Punk Comedy Tour (Joe Staats, Mack Lindsay, Billy Milano, and Mike Wiebe), Hostile Corporate Takeover (Stand Up! Records, 2013)

References

  1. ^ Sacher, Andrew (October 10, 2016). "Drakulas (Riverboat Gamblers, Rise Against) releasing debut LP". Brooklyn Vegan. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  2. ^ Stegall, Tim (March 7, 2019). "12 Can't-Miss Austin Bands at SXSW". Austin Chronicle. Austin, Texas. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  3. ^ Green, Loren (September 19, 2012). "Mike Wiebe on High Tension Wires' first tour and the Denton music scene". City Pages. Minneapolis-St. Paul. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  4. ^ Davidson, Eric (May 22, 2003). "Tumblin' Dice: The Riverboat Gamblers Strike Gold". The Stranger. Seattle, Washington. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  5. ^ a b "The Multifarious Mike Wiebe". Austin Chronicle. Austin, Texas. June 12, 2020. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  6. ^ Lipez, Zachary (June 21, 2016). "Riverboat Gamblers Are Incorrigible, Unbreakable, and Back with a New Song, "Massive Fraud"". Vice. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  7. ^ a b Weisberg, Zach (October 12, 2010). "Interview: The Riverboat Gamblers". The Inertia. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  8. ^ Gray, Christopher (April 21, 2006). "Rattle Me Bones: Mr. Wiebe goes to the chiropractor". Austin Chronicle. Austin, Texas. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  9. ^ Gage, Jeff (March 28, 2016). "Fans Raise Funds for Crowd-Surf Injured Riverboat Gamblers Singer". Dallas Observer. Dallas, Texas. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  10. ^ Hughey, Jesse (May 17, 2007). "Denton Calling". Dallas Observer. Dallas, Texas. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  11. ^ Mikse, Ollie (January 14, 2013). "Interview: Mike Wiebe (Riverboat Gamblers)". Punknews. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  12. ^ "Hostile Corporate Takeover - J.T. Habersaat and the American Punk Comedy Tour". April 9, 2018. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  13. ^ Danger, Timothy (August 8, 2012). "Altercation Punk Comedy Tour records for Stand Up! Records". The Victoria Advocate. Victoria, Texas. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  14. ^ Wayne Gladstone, Mike Wiebe. "Contrarian Court by Wayne Gladstone and Mike Wiebe". Contrarian Court (Podcast). Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  15. ^ a b Mike Wiebe at IMDb
  16. ^ "Faster Than Sound: Austin Music Industry Awards Honor Old & New". Austin Chronicle. Austin, Texas. March 6, 2020. Retrieved August 26, 2020.