Living2Inspire: Featured Musician: Michael Olivieri of Leatherwolf/MOB

Michael Olivieri

By Dana McClellan

I've been really looking forward to featuring my good friend Michael Olivieri, because he has such great talent and our friendship stretches back about thirty years. Did I just say that? Thirty years? Yikes! The weird thing about Michael is, he doesn't appear to age like the rest of us! WTH? AND of all the musician friends I've had over the years, coming out of the Orange County/Hollywood metal scene in southern California, Michael is among the minority who tenaciously stuck it out and is successful in his craft to this day.

Back in the Day

Leatherwolf (Michael Olivieri middle)
Source: http://www.mtv.com/artists/leatherwolf/

We're going to start off by taking a musical journey back into the 1980's. The days when we all use to hang out and party together; so heavily steeped into the "Heavy Metal, Glam, Hair-Band" scene. The days of spandex, aqua-net and Hollywood Blvd. What fun we all had! Michael--was/is the singer in a very well-known band called Leatherwolf, which not only had quite a bit of air play on MTV and radio, but also shared the bill with some other very famous bands in some very large venues. Rather than go into a long history of the band, I'm just going to post a couple of links here so you can check them out for yourself.

http://www.mtv.com/artists/leatherwolf/
http://leatherwolfmetal.com/
http://www.facebook.com/leatherwolfmetal

Discography and some videos you may or may not have seen on MTV

New World Asylum (NIL8, 2008)

World Asylum (NIL8 / Massacre / King / Dynamo Prod., 2006)

Wide Open (Leatherwolf Music / King, 1999)

Street Ready (Island, 1989)

Leatherwolf (Island, 1987)

Leatherwolf, aka Endangered Species (Enigma / SPV / HM America, 1985)

Leatherwolf EP (Tropical/Enigma, 1984)

MTV Videos

The Calling

Hideaway

By the way, Leatherwolf will be touring this year (2013) in support of their upcoming Unchained album (not yet released at the time of this post).

KNAC.com had this to say about the upcoming shows:

LEATHERWOLF, hailing from Huntington Beach, CA, have announced tour dates in support of their forthcoming live album,Unchained. The lineup consist of original members vocalist/guitarist Michael Olivieri and drummer Dean Roberts, friend and bassist Patrick Guyton, and guitarists Rob Math and Greg Erba.

Olivieri states: “We are all excited about this new constellation and the possibilities it holds. More than anything, we’re looking forward to getting out there and really kicking some ass on stage. I think live is where it’s always been at for us and this group of guys can definitely deliver the goods!” Unchained was mixed by musician and producer, Roy Z, whose credits include JUDAS PRIEST, SEPULTURA, HALFORD, BRUCE DICKINSON and many others.

Tour Dates listed here: http://leatherwolfmetal.com/live-dates-2/

More recent photos of the band taken from their website:

http://leatherwolfmetal.com/photos/

Source: http://leatherwolfmetal.com/photos/

Leatherwolf's official Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/leatherwolfmetal

Michael Olivieri Band (MOB)

Michael approaches his music with a level of professionalism that conveys confidence and an undaunted creativity. He has always written, sung, played, exactly what he wanted, and in his latest band MOB (Michael Olivieri Band) he seems to have taken a different course altogether. This time delving into more of a fun southern rock sound. Most of the songs I heard are catchy and upbeat and if you aren't at the very least tapping your toes--you must be dead.

When I asked Michael where he felt his inspiration came from he had this to say:

My inspiration, I guess that would be split into 2 parts, musical & lyrical.
Musically, I get it from all around me.. I can hear a riff in a certain style of music and apply it into my style.
Lyrically I write about relationships a lot. May it be with a lover or with God. Many times it will come from something I see that inspires a song.
Or it maybe placing myself in someone else's shoes and try to get in their head and get a different perspective.