Bonnaroo 2019 Artist Spotlight: Mk.gee

As we’ve been doing for the past several years now, we’re making it our mission to help you get acquainted with many of our favorites acts from from Bonnaroo‘s impressive 2019 lineup. As we dig through the entire schedule, we’ll highlight a spread of performers spanning across genres and stages (including the campground Plazas), big and small, new and old, to bring you some of the most interesting, lesser-known, or most highly-recommended among this year’s crop of artists. Though we’ll be jumping around, we’re loosely working our way through by day, and we’ll also be bringing you some special features and longer guides along the way, to help you plan your weekend before the fest. While these previews won’t span every performer, and might omit some more obvious must-see acts, we hope they’ll serve as a way to help you navigate Bonnaroo’s gargantuan lineup, and to make the most of your busy weekend on the farm!

Grab your tickets right here if you haven’t already, and keep reading to learn more in our Bonnaroo Artist Spotlight…

LEARN

Born and raised in New Jersey, Michael Gordon, who makes music under the moniker Mk.gee (pronounced “McGee,” as his debut record Pronounced McGee helpfully clarifies), began honing his craft at a young age, taking piano lessons from the age of 7 (where he first started trying his hand at writing music) and, later, guitar, playing in bands in his teens, before a desire to fully realize his creative ideas prompted the multi-instrumentalist, producer, and singer-songwriter to began working as a solo artist, initially crafting tunes in his bedroom. By the time he moved to Los Angeles a few years ago to attend USC’s School of Music, Gordon, with a strong background in jazz training, and a love for r&b and funk, assumed he’d pursue the path a session or backing player, but, inspired by his new environment, began to once again work on his original output, taking the pursuit of being a solo artist more seriously.

The culmination of a couple of years of bedroom recordings, Pronounced McGee, which Gordon refers to as a “double EP,” arrived last year, fusing the young artist’s retro jazz and r&b affinity with more contemporary indie pop production, boasting dreamy, electronic tones and layered, rhythmic sequences. Akin to laid back and soulful indie artists like Mac Demarco or Homeshake, but with a very personal and unique approach, Mk.gee has quickly been met with a lot of online buzz, and began to tour last year, including a run with kindred spirit Omar Apollo, before swiftly releasing a followup EP, Fool (which, despite the quick turnaround, features more recent compositions and a mature and focused evolution, whereas Pronounced pulled from several prior years of early work). A cool, original, and need-to-know up and comer with a smooth and accessible sound and a fiercely self-sufficient approach, Mk.gee’s Who Stage outing might be his first time at ‘Roo, but we strongly suspect it won’t be his last.

LISTEN | “You”