Mystery Circuits - By Mike Walters

I play keyboards in Jett Rink, Dexter Romweber's band The New Romans, and I've recently started playing keys with Tara Busch.

I got into wanting to get into synthesizers at age 14. My first synth was a Korg Poly800, which I didn't get until I turned 16 or so. But my dream was to have a Polymoog, after seeing it so prominently displayed in Gary Numan's "Cars" video. I finally bought one in 2003. Besides the Polymoog, I also own a Minimoog, Moog Prodigy, Nord Electro II, Arp Axxe, Sequential Circuits Six Track, Yamaha CS-01II, Roland RS-09, Korg Poly800 (still), Roland SH-1000, Melosonic combo organ, Hammond L-112, and host of other little keyboards I've built, modified, or currently have around the house.

I didn't really get into playing music seriously until 1996. I had a couple of years of piano lessons when I was little, and I tried to start bands in high school, but I didn't really know how to play anything. I started playing in a Ska band called Javier and the Cabana Boys in college after learning the basic major and minor chords. After I left school, I joined another ska band called The Stingy Brims. In 2000, I briefly played in a band called Lovehead. Jett Rink began in 2001.

Hello, my name is Mike Walters. Thanks for visiting Mystery Circuits. I live in Carrboro North Carolina, and have been here since 1998. I'm married to Ruth Walters, who's a resident in Pathology at UNC Chapel Hill. We have a little Chihuahua named Rosa.

Video still taken from Jett Rink's session at The Peoples Channel in Chapel Hill, 2005

Around 2000, I got the bug to start building furniture. That lasted briefly, though I admit that bug isn't dead. My lack of space and proper tools restrict what I can build, unfortunately. At the same time, I also got into building circuitry. The first thing I built was the Paia Theremin kit, and then I soon got into Circuit Bending.

I started Mystery Circuits in early 2001, after my sister offered me hosting from her new company called Four Geeks and a Laptop. I've been building various new projects ever since, and have displayed them on this website. Until now, the Mystery Circuits website has had pretty much the same look since it started, other than various color changes. I completely redid the site in December, 2005.

Music and building are not what I do fulltime. For work, I'm in computers, and audio/visual. Nothing on the website is for sale at this time, but I do commissioned work. Unfortunately, that takes me so long with my real job and music. So, I don't really offer it, unless it's understood that it might take me a couple of years. I also used to do a bit of analog synth repair, but I don't have the room or time anymore. Maybe one day Mystery Circuits will be something I could do fulltime?

Musically, my long time favorites are Gary Numan, Kraftwerk, and Devo. I also enjoy Brian Eno, Roxy Music, Ultravox!, Magazine, Japan, and many others. Raymond Scott is a big influence on me for electronic circuitry and sound, so is Bob Moog. Other music I enjoy is ska, soul, punk, rock, lounge, and new wave.

My wife, Ruth, and our Chihuahua, Rosalita

Playing as Small Faces at the King's Cover Up, 2004
(Picture taken from Karen Mann's Blog - John Howie Jr. in background)

Age 16, playing music in the basement.

It that picture where I was 16, I was recording a song with my friend Dave Kaminsky called "Fatzunspanner" or something like that in German. I think my spelling is way way off. My friend Dave was singing, I was playing the synthesizers. Would you like to hear this song? CLICK HERE It's old!

Okay... here's yet another. This was one of the first songs I ever wrote when I played in Javier and the Cabana Boys. I didn't write the lyrics, just the music. It's called Oi Toy. Would you like to hear it??? Here it is! I played a Korg Poly-800 and did the "chktchktchk"s. This was my first time recording in a studio ever.