Portland, Maine is considered to be a rather conservative part of the country. Mike Furey, who grew up near Portland, was rebellious because he did one thing: learned how to play piano.
He recorded himself singing television show theme songs as a five-year old. Once he played it back, he stopped because he did not like what he heard. It was too high-pitched and out of tune. He became his hardest critic at a very young age.
But when he began high school, he took up the guitar and found his voice. When he plucked the strings, he had an organic reaction to the strings' vibrations.
"It elicited a reaction from my body," says Furey. "You could relate it to something special. It came from within."
Furey believes that the voice is one of the most powerful forces that we have within us. He advises to not be afraid of your voice because it can lead to self-discovery.
Furey is now the front vocalist and songwriter for New York's Dangerous Muse, an electronic rock project. Dangerous Muse will perform at Milwaukee's 2014 Pride Fest during the first weekend of June.