Michael (Mickey) Jensen was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the youngest of seven children, to Alvin and Veronica. His interest in electronics and music started early when Alvin had an electronics repair business in their garage called East Side TV and Radio Repair. Many nights were spent watching his dad and asking about how things worked. His dad showed patience, answered questions, and showed him how to solder at an early age.
His musical interest showed when his mom would scold him for beating out a rhythm on pots that were being readied for the evening’s dinner. Mom saw his interest and enrolled him in drum lessons in elementary school. Like a lot of young lads, a pivotal moment was the Beatles’ 1964 Ed Sullivan show appearance. From then on, he knew he wanted to be in a band. He and best friends Jeff and Stuart would hang out at the United Teachers of Music store in the neighborhood and dream about what instruments they would buy to start the world’s next greatest rock and roll band!
Mickey realized that dream while he attended Washington Senior High. He bought his first bass guitar and took lessons at Williams Piano Co. Through mutual friends he started jamming and playing in his first band. He played bass in various garage bands and even played some gigs when he got his first try at mixing for a band. In those days, he hung out after school downstairs at the Williams Piano guitar department run by Kevin King of Hot Rod Chevy Kevy fame. At the time Kevin had a band called King Kong. They had four or five singers in the band and vocals were a big part of their show. Kevin asked him one day if he would be interested in running sound and mixing the vocals. “What’s running sound?” Mickey asked. Kevin explained he wanted him to mix and balance the vocals for the band. It didn’t take Mickey long tofigure out that he was better at mixing than playing bass. And besides, there were a million bass players but not many sound men.
Mickey worked for a number of bands from the ‘70s through the ‘80s and early ‘90s: King Kong, The Fabulous Apostles, Starchild, Flat Cat, Wired and Art vs. Money, to name a few. His big break just about happened in the mid ‘70s when he got a call to work with The Amazing Rhythm Aces and was to pack and fly out the next day to meet them down south. But it was not to be. The road manager found someone else earlier and hired him before Mickey could get there.
In the mid 70’s Mickey worked at UA Recording for Bill Van Dusen, for Sioux Sound, and in the later ‘70s into the ‘80s, for Gourley’s Pro Audio. From 2006 to 2010 he was the audio director for Central Baptist Church and freelanced for Absolute Productions.
Mickey is married to his wife, Marcia; has three children: Matt, Thomas and Anna; and has four granddaughters: Erica, Brooke, Taylor and Caitlyn. He lives in Peoria, Arizona, is semi-retired, and has started a small reel-to-reel restoration business, Reel Analog
Audio, with son Thomas.
Awards