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Michael Ebere Chidubem

Slowly but surely...

About Me

Mike ’BERE (Michael Ebere Chidubem) is a South African-based-Nigerian Artiste with a vast musical experience. His versatility as a bass player has seen him work with a host of local and foreign artistes on a wide array of music genres.

Mike ‘BERE has recently completed work on his debut album titled “Friend of the Wounded”.

As a creative individual, Mike is constantly upgrading himself through formal and informal education. A graduate of Creative Arts from the University of Lagos, he has had formal training in Graphic Design and Film production, 2D & 3D Animation, Visual and Special Effects, Electronic Music Production and Music Business from SAE Institute, Cape Town. South Africa. He has recently completed his Masters in Interaction Design from Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa.

Mike ’BERE started out as a conga player and later switched to drums in 1987. He played drums with various musicians in Nigeria until he finally settled for Bass guitar in 1997 when the bass player in the band relocated abroad. This marked the beginning of Mike’s romance with the stringed instrument.

Mike is vast in a wide variety of music styles because of his association over the years with musicians in different genres like Funk, Reggae, Calypso, Afro, R&B, Hip Hop, Gospel, Jazz etc. This foundation and experience has made him a prolific musician. Mike believes that music is a universal language and has the inexplicable power to unite people of different views, orientation and disposition. Mike has worked on projects with Tony Bradley, Jamon White, Kunle Ayo, Camelo Lombardi, Paul Peterson. He has also jammed with Kirk Franklin, Ron Kenoly, Helen Baylor, Late Pa Steve Rhodes, etc.

Mike is always on the lookout for new challenges as reflected in his album which is an experimental project exploring Bass-tapping techniques, percussion, vocal and horns arrangement. He has written a lot of songs and produced some local artistes in Nigeria.

“Friend of the Wounded” seeks to awaken the consciousness of everyone to consider lending a timely and helpful hand to those hurting in our communities... sometimes, we get too comfortable and complacent and we tend to forget that so many people do not have the privileges that we have. We are to be the “friends of the wounded”. This project which was recorded in Nigeria, mixed and mastered in Cape Town features great talents of other Nigerian artistes such as Nathaniel Bassey (Trumpet and vocals), Victor Odetunde (Saxophone), Erujeje, Tony Adoki and Nollywood star, Joseph Benjamin (Vocals) amongst others.

My Jazz Story

I love jazz because it gives me the opportunity to express myself musically.I was first exposed to jazz in the late 80s, I listened to Earl Klugh, Kenny G, Spirogyra,etc and later Marcus Miller, Miles Davis, Abe Laboriel, Jaco Pastorius, etc...The first time I listened to Victor Wooten, I was "WAO-ED"...The best show I ever attended was playing on the same stage with Jonathan Butler and All Jarreau when they visited Nigeria...