Artist
Mike Vennart
Manchester, United Kingdom • b. 1976
Mike Vennart is a musician from Manchester, United Kingdom, active since 1976. Their discography on Gatefold includes 7 records.
7
Albums tracked
9
In collections
1976
Since
Biography
Mike Vennart is known as solo-artist, most popular for been a member of Oceansize, but also known for his project Empire State Bastard with friends Biffy Clyro.
The Arc of Mike Vennart
The pivots — what forced Mike Vennart to reinvent.
The Post-Size Rebirth
After the messy dissolution of Oceansize in 2011, Vennart spent years as a utility man before finally self-releasing The Demon Joke in 2015. He brought in Steve Durose and Richard 'Gambler' Ingram to keep the chemistry alive, but the sound shifted toward a denser, more psychedelic sprawl. You can hear the liberation in the tracks—no more democratic band compromises, just pure, unfiltered maximalism. It set the template for a career built on crowdfunding and direct-to-fan grit.
The Lockdown Isolation
When the world stopped in 2020, Vennart retreated into In the Dead, Dead Wood, an album defined by claustrophobia and a lack of live drums. The record is darker and more sinister than his previous solo work, leaning into heavy, doom-laden riffs and eerie synthesizer patches. Without the distraction of touring with Biffy, he focused on a singular, bleak atmosphere that felt more cohesive than his earlier genre-hopping. It’s the sound of a man staring at the walls and deciding to make them shake.
The Grindcore Pivot
Vennart finally scratched a decades-old itch by forming Empire State Bastard with Simon Neil, pivoting into full-blown extreme metal and grind. This wasn't just a side project; it was a return to the abrasive noise that defined his youth, stripping away the melody for pure kinetic violence. Working with Dave Lombardo on drums gave the project a legitimacy that separated it from his more art-prog solo outings. It reframed him not as a prog architect, but as a genuine noise merchant.
Influences
- Cardiacs — Vennart is a vocal disciple of Tim Smith and even toured as a member of the Knifeworld collective. You hear it in the frantic, 'pronk' energy and the sudden, jarring harmonic shifts that shouldn't work but somehow do. It’s the blueprint for his refusal to write a straightforward song.
- Iron Maiden — He’s cited the twin-guitar harmonies of Smith and Murray as his first real obsession. On records like Backseat Hards, that classic metal DNA surfaces in the way he stacks lead lines. It’s the foundation for his entire technical approach to the fretboard.
- Nine Inch Nails — The influence of Trent Reznor shows up in Vennart’s heavy use of industrial textures and processed guitar tones. He’s praised The Downward Spiral for its perfect blend of noise and pop structure. That exact tension—melody fighting through filth—is his entire aesthetic.
- Pavement — Vennart has frequently tipped his hat to Stephen Malkmus for teaching him that guitars don't always have to be 'on.' You hear that slacker, lo-fi grit in his cleaner passages and his often cynical, dry lyrical delivery. It keeps his prog tendencies from becoming too pompous.
- Napalm Death — The raw extremity of the Birmingham grindcore scene was a formative shock to his system. This upstream influence stayed dormant through the Oceansize years but exploded to the surface with Empire State Bastard. It’s the source of the 'everything louder than everything else' philosophy he applies to his heaviest riffs.
Discography
Their records — most-collected first.
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