Dave Poytinger and I were two RAs in Crissey Hall at Kalamazoo College in 2001-2002 and felt that the world (but specifically K-College) was in a funk and needed songs about vampires, armadillos, bears, mice, hamsters, news reporters, flower people and incest to get the good vibes pumping.

Chris Jackson recorded the album, and then I mastered it and assembled it on two CDs. It was our last show for the year and we intended to end it with a bang. We had advertised for weeks. Street chalking, stickers, and flyers that included us and the president of the school, Jim Jones. We sent personal invitations to faculty.

Listening to it now, it’s great to think we had as wonderful of a time performing as it seemed the audience did listening and singing along. We were like two brothers messing around in front of our parents on “performance night” at home. There was no malice in our performance, no rage, no witty smug indie pessimism. It was upbeat. I miss that. Throughout this recording you can hear us laughing at some of the situations we’d gotten ourselves into. I miss these shows and having fun with Dave. Maybe we’ll do it again soon!

Mike And Dave: Live and Acoustic
David Poytinger and Mike Vasas
May, 2002