Episode 186: Mike Mills of R.E.M.

Vinyl Emergency

As bassist Mike Mills tells it, on the cusp of their formation in 1980, he and his fellow Athens, GA bandmates had a simple goal: To make a cool, 45 RPM single with a picture sleeve -- the kind they grew up on. And, if anything else (or nothing else) were to come of their band, so be it. What Mike along with guitarist Peter Buck, drummer Bill Berry and enigmatic vocalist Michael Stipe couldn't have predicted was how that single ("Radio Free Europe") and the many that followed through the next three decades on both indie and major labels ("Fall On Me," "Losing My Religion," "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" and beyond) would shape the sound of American music. R.E.M. inarguably created a foundation for what we now loosely call "indie rock," often buoyed by Mills' supreme knack for harmony vocals against Stipe's dramatic delivery. On today's show, Mike discusses his latest LP as a member of the Baseball Project, the hours of airbrushing needed for one particular R.E.M. album cover, and his love for an Atlanta institution known only as "The Freeze." R.E.M.’s last four proper albums — which cover their final decade as a unit — were reissued on vinyl this summer. Visit remhq.com and baseballproject.net for more info on those releases.