Mike Inez was born on May 14 1966. He became interested in music at a
 young age, his grandfathers uncle played the mandolin in a Filipino
 folk band and it was natural for Mike to get into that. But he didn't
 start on the instrument he plays today, he started on the guitar and 
 the reason he started playing bass was (like so many others) that the 
 band he was in was in need of a bassplayer. Mike still plays a little 
 guitar, and he has an associate's degree in music, for saxophone and 
 keyboard. Other than music, his main interest is scuba diving. 

 When Ozzy Osbourne announced that he needed a new bassplayer, Mike was
 one of the many hopefull young men who found their way to Frank Zappa's 
 place in LA, called "Joe's Garage", where Ozzy held his audition. "There 
 must've been 50 bass players there, all in leathers and with the boots 
 and stuff. I was in Levi's' and an old hockey jersey..." remembers Mike. 
 He wasn't nervous though, he didn't think he'd get the gig. Some three 
 weeks later the results from the final elimination came: "Quit your job, 
 you're going to Ireland and then playing London's Wembley Arena in a few  
 weeks! Learn 20 songs and here's your flight information". That was the first
 time Mike had left the country... 

 Mike always records with his two old Warwick basses but also uses a Fender 
 fretless and a Stuart Spector custom made bass. One the Unplugged show he 
 used an Alvarez acoustic, along with a $10 chorus pedal. His backline is 
 constantly changing but it's all Ampeg. 


 Unforgetable quotes regarding... 

 ...importance:
 "But bass players are the most important..." 

 ...partying:
 "Backstage is greatly overrated" 

 ...taking a break:
 "No bodyguards, no fuckin' Lear jets, no fuckin' tour bus, no 50 
    people following you around every day. We all had to go away from 
    each other and away from the music business for a while." 

 ...his bandmates:
 "It's so funny, you go out to Jerry's house, and he's got like dogs 
     and a stream and he just hangs out... he doesn't have bikini dancers
     on every surface at his house, you know? We're easy-going guys."