Biography
I got my love of music from my parents. My father is a life
long jazz fanatic with a wide range of tastes, and knowledge of different
artists and idioms, and my mother loves classical and traditional music.
I was drawn to drumming at age eight, partly because my
neighbor was a drummer, but mostly because I just had an affinity for it. It
makes me feel good. I got my first kit at age ten and started playing in school
bands. I took drum lessons and also started playing the guitar, toying with song
writing and singing.
I started drumming with real bands once I got out of high
school, in the early 80s. I eventually found my way on to the Queen Street
circuit in Toronto, playing with a Simple Minds / Gang of Four influenced band,
called Vital Sines, and then joining several other bands including Whitenoise,
the Garbagemen, Groovy Religion, and the Plasterscene Replicas. Most of these
bands released independent records.
In '88, I joined my first major label act, Andrew
Cash. I played on his second album called "Boomtown", and toured
extensively with him through Europe, Canada and the U.S. While with
Andrew I continued to play with other artists, including Colin Linden,
Malcolm Burn (who produced "Diamond Mine"), Andy Curran and Change of
Heart, among others.
In December '91, I got a call from Jim Cuddy to audition for Blue
Rodeo. I recorded ‘Lost Together' with them and became a fully-fledged
member shortly after. Playing with Blue Rodeo has been one of the
great experiences of my life, not just because they are one of the few
Canadian bands to sustain a respectable degree of success for several
years, but because there is genuine honesty and integrity in the
music, and in spite of hundreds of arguments, ego clashes and hissy
fits, there is a lot of love in the band.
While playing with Blue Rodeo I continued to guest with other bands,
including my twin brother John's project Starvin' Hungry, Big Sugar,
Mary Jane Lamond, Blurtonia, Lonnie James and many others. In '97, I
finally got the nerve to record my own songs, and made a CD which
finally came out in 1999 called "Turning Blue" by The Swallows. I
played most of the instruments myself, with guest appearances from
Blurtonia's Ian Blurton and Cellist / Vocalist Anne Bourne, who many
Blue Rodeo fans will remember from the "5 Days in July" album and
tour.
Subsequent to finishing the first CD, The Swallows have become a real
band with John Borra on bass & backing vocals, Randy Curnew on drums,
Clive MacNutt on guitar, and myself on guitar and vocals. The
Swallows' live dates will be posted on this website, and the The
Swallows' "Turning Blue" CD is available at the Bluerodeo.com Store, at Blue Rodeo and Swallows' shows, as well as selected retail outlets.
The Swallows have also just completed a second record, which will
hopefully be released in the very near future. We'll keep you posted.
Thanks for listening!
--Glenn Milchem
Photos:
Click an image for a larger version of the picture.
More Info
Instruments
Drums, Percussion, Guitar