Mikey Jose
If someone could live in the soul-filled intersection of R&B, gospel, folk, and pop, that’s likely where Mikey would make his home. In fact, it is the space between genres, fields, and environments where Mikey has found comfort. His church-influenced, science-immersed, art-filled, culturally-overlapping background has provided him with a unique perspective on the world, informing his mantra: music is medicine.
Drawing comparisons to soulful heavy-hitters like Stevie Wonder, Allen Stone and Leon Bridges, Mikey has crafted his own sonic signature featuring intentional melodies and lyrics that reflect the unique complexities of existing in the 21st century. This is best exemplified by his recent sophomore EP, ‘beautiful life’, released in May 2024. Mikey’s pen has touched songs that have streamed a combined 5 million+ times over his short tenure releasing music.
Mikey‘s live shows pack a punch of powerful vocals and high energy, most recently exhibited on his 2023 mini tour across Canada and Japan’s major hubs. He has opened for Lawrence, Mamas Gun, and Giacomo Turra, and has "brought the house down" at local and international music festivals, such as Rifflandia and NXNE (Virgin Radio Vancouver).
Mikey is also a PhD Candidate pursuing research in music neuroscience and teaches university-level psychology.
Artist Management
Throughout my life, I’ve always felt fulfilled and excited by collaborating with others to help bring their creative ideas to reality. And from 2021 to present, I’ve managed and consulted a handful of artists to support them, particularly in artist development, project management, and grant writing. This work is informed by a portfolio of work I’ve developed over the last decade.
At the core of everything is my being an artist myself, first and foremost. I began writing and recording my own songs in high school into university. I first started considering myself an artist in 2016, performing and releasing my own music. With first-hand, lived experience as an artist-entrepreneur, I bring empathy, lessons and personal reference points to everyone I work with.
The skills I developed as an artist early on, and passion for supporting others, led me to be hired by Creative BC as a Music Programs Coordinator in 2019, where I worked on the artist-focused grant programs for 1.5 years. Here, I learned about the kinds of resources available to artists, different ways to have a music career, how to use a grant most effectively, and get an inside-out look at the music industry across BC.
In 2021, I worked at a booking agency called Blue Crane based in Ontario as their Operations Lead for 1 year. Here, I learned about the fast pace of the music industry, how to build and market a company, solve challenges in workflow, the live music landscape across the country and best practices when working with a booking agent.
Alongside working at Blue Crane, that same year, I launched UWIDO Music to offer management and artist support services, prioritizing local BIPOC artists. The first key highlight of this time was managing Desirée Dawson, particularly conceptualizing with her and co-producing her “Meet You at the Light” EP, which could go on to be nominated for a JUNO in 2022. The second key highlight was bringing on team members Kathleen Zaragosa and Daphne Nolasco, learning to build a company together from scratch and run with an idea with a team. UWIDO is currently on hiatus and will relaunch in a new iteration.
Through the decade of work in the industry, I’ve also worked in numerous music-related contract gigs, spoken on panels, given consultations, written and advised on successful grant applications, and offered mentorship to those around me.
These days, I manage only MIkey Jose, but I continue to offer consultation support and mentorship as capacity allows.
