Michael W
Coming from a long line
of family musicians (His uncle co-produced one of Barry White's
Gold Albums. His father, Michael Wycoff, Sr. recorded "I've
Been Looking Up to You", a song later sampled by the R&B
group Zhane), it was inevitable that Michael would somehow be involved
in the entertainment industry. At the age of sixteen, he began DJ'ing
parties in his Los Angeles hometown. His popularity spread for his
ability to throw different music styles together in ways that were
not expected for someone of his young age. At the age of seventeen,
he began working in college radio, picking up the afternoon shift
at KHCR 530 AM in Los Angeles. His live lunchtime party mixes quickly
became a high point of the day on campus. Those in charge also began
to notice that he had a quick wit, and good sense of humor and began
using him to host various promotions to boost popularity with the
student body. People soon found out that he was as good in front
of a crowd as he was behind a set of turntables. Over the next two
years, Michael, now known as DJ Mike, would hone his ability to
both mix and entertain on a microphone to a level that gained him
respect from both his peers and his supervisors. It would also lead
to a big name company drafting him into their ranks.
At the age of nineteen,
when most people are still deciding what they want to do, Michael
found himself receiving a job offer from Norwegian Cruise Lines
to become one of their DJ's. It was this job that would take him
to his next stage of evolution. Thrust into an environment whose
clientele change completely every seven days, he quickly became
a DJ known for his ability to adapt his style at the drop of a hat.
He was instrumental in helping redesign and program the music for
several of the ships' themed music nights, such as the 50's/60's
sock hop, 70's disco party, 80's theme night and even country night.
Beyond that, with a captive audience of sizes from 1,200 to 3,000,
his nightclub parties were legendary within the company, many of
them going on for 7 hours straight. When asked how he manages to
DJ for long stretches of time, he smiled, saying, "I'm having
just as much fun as they are and I don't want the music to stop
either".
His ability to entertain
the cruise ship crowds, both in the night clubs and on the microphone
while hosting various games and activities onboard made him a DJ
each Director of Entertainment wanted on their ship. Rising through
the ranks of the twenty eight DJ's in the fleet, he was often requested
to do a contract on a ship and then fly to another to boost their
nightclub scene. In 2005, nine years after he originally began with
NCL, he was handpicked to help with the company's newest venture,
Norwegian Cruise Lines America, the first American flagged cruise
ship in over forty years. Making the 'Pride of Aloha' his home,
he once again climbed to the top name, earning him the spot of being
hand picked to help launch the freshly built 'Pride Of Hawaii' in
May of 2006.
With his wide range of
musical styles, his quick-witted humor, high energy mix sets that
are known to even make him dance while working, DJ Mike, is a balanced
combination of professionalism, energy, creativity, humor and sheer
entertainment that you just have to see to believe. In his own words
he says, "I thoroughly enjoy doing what I do, and I try to
make sure this shows every time I step into the DJ booth".
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