Biography

Animal Hospital is Kevin Micka's one-man musical

recording/performance entity. Formed at the tail-end of Micka's time

with Boston band The Common Cold, Animal Hospital slowly began to take

on a life of its own in 2004. A self-titled debut CD by Animal Hospital

was released on Boston's Mister Records that year and displayed Micka's

ability as a composer and engineer in communicating his creative

expression. Since then, Kevin has consistently toured the United

States, the U.K., and Europe throughout France, Spain, Portugal, Italy,

Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark and Iceland. Within the last 5

years Micka has continued writing and releasing several additional

tracks on various compilations around the world. Animal Hospital has

won followers from all corners of the music world, earning himself

spots with bands as diverse as The Jesus Lizard, Beirut, No Age,

Neptune, Thrones, Dosh and The Great Redneck Hope (not to mention a

recurring role as bumper music on Boston's NPR station).

During performances, Micka buries himself in a pile of

electronics-shelves of effects, mixing consoles, amps and delay

units-while patiently constructing a layered nest of loops consisting

of live drum beats, guitar chords, scrapes, chucks, chimes, and

melodies resulting in anything from more conventional songs to

meticulously crafted ambient movements on to full on improvisation.

Long a hidden treasure in Boston recording circles as a freelance

recording engineer (for diverse projects such as Neptune, Helms, and

Harry and the Potters) and a trusted electronics fix-it man, Micka has

approached Animal Hospital over the last four years in the nooks and

crannies of his schedule. Over the past year and a half, Kevin has been

able to devote more time than ever to writing and recording and it has

yielded two new albums' worth of music - a digital release in January

2009 from the Chicago label - Mutable Sound titled Good or Plenty,

Streets and Avenues and a CD release in March 2009 from the New

York/Boston label - Barge Recordings titled Memory.

Both new albums were recorded in locations across the U.S. - starting

in the bay area, on to an abandoned bank in Wellsburg, WV and

concluding in various locations in the Boston Area and Cape Cod. All

the material was then mixed at Machines with Magnets in Pawtucket, RI

and The Blast Zone in Roxbury, MA and mastered in South Boston at Old

Colony. Each album moves at the knowing pace of an exploratory mind and

settles comfortably into strange habitats with a sure-footed traveler.