Mike Gaspar

Mike Gaspar was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on March 8, 1976, the youngest of three boys. His Portuguese parents had imigrated to New England searching for a better life and more oportunities. They worked the typical imigrant New England jobs: his father cut fish at a fish factory, and his mother took the night shift as a cleaning lady. This gave Mike the oportunity to have lots of free time to explore his hobbies, and to discover that he had a passion for music and sports, which still interest him today. He took Tae Kwon Do classes when he was eight, he was in the Little Leage Baseball team (Sommerville Logans) between the ages of 9-12, and that was also the time he took snare drum classes at school. One of his favorite hobbies was collecting tapes from hard rock bands, such as Iron Maiden, Van Halen, Motley Crue, and Kiss. Then there was a turning point in his life in 1988. His parents decided to move back to Portugal and bring twelve year old Mike with them. Of course this was extremely dificult for Mike; he had to adapt to a whole new life. The best way he was able to identify with other kids his age was through music: swapping tapes, going to thrash metal concerts, and eventually trying out for local black metal bands of the time. By fourteen, he was already part of a garage band playing drums, and this was also the time he first played live. These experiences helped him get into Moonspell (by age 16), which was known as Morbid God back then. In Moonspell, Mike has recorded seven albums, has done dozens of tours, visited countries worldwide, and even met a few of his music "idols"?. Outside of Moonspell, Mike has continued his martial arts sudies in Tae Kwon Do, being a second dan blackbelt instructor. He is always trying to enhance his drumming techniques, which is why sports have always been an interest for him. He has done drumming workshops, which have enabled him to talk directly to his fans, as well as to guide young drumming coniseurs. He is always ready to help out anyone he can, which is one of the qualities that makes Mike such a great band member and friend.

MIKE'S FAVORITES

General - tattoos, piercings, weed, full moons

Movies - Nighmare Before Christmas, Madmax, Requiem For A Dream, Big Fish, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Bands - Morbid Angel, Samael, Tool, Bathory, Death

Actors - Johnny Depp, Mel Gibson, Eddie Murphy

Food - anything healthy, tofu, protein shakes, sushi

Colors - black and purple

TV Series - Seinfeld, Alf, Six Feet Under

Heroes - Tim Burton, Terry Bozzio, Arnold Swartzeneger (in the early days)

Drummers - Terry Bozzio, Mike Bordham, John Bohnam, Igor Cavalera, Jean Hogalin

Artists - H.R. Giger

Drink margarita (with salt)

Countries - Finland, Mexico, Russia

Best concerts seen - Metallica (1993), Iron Maiden (1991), Tool (2002)