An Oakland native, Mike Sweetland was drawn to the electric bass by Oakland’s “70’s funk, rock & blues scene and came to his love of jazz via the seminal fusion bands of the 1970s. Experiencing Jaco Pastorius with Weather Report at the Berkeley Jazz Festival inspired an epiphany, opening up “a whole other language,” Sweetland said. He first gained widespread attention around the Bay Area in the 1980s playing and composing in the experimental funk - rock band Doug. Sweetland began delving into acoustic jazz in the late 80s.

He spent the next four years gigging and teaching in Madrid, Hong Kong and London. Upon returning to the Bay Area in 1992 he formed the band Bumptious with original Counting Crows’ drummer Ben Ulrich. Featuring Sweetland’s and other band members’ original songs, the band earned a large following on the Bay Area club scene with its dance floor filling, Southern-fried grooves. At the same time, he pursued his growing interest in jazz with guitarists Ken Jacobsen and Nick Koutsoukis. In 2009 Sweetland started studying at the Jazzschool in Berkeley earning a Bachelor of music degree from its accredited California Jazz Conservatory, which led to his bands Riff Raff featuring the late vibraphonist Mal Raff, and then the Mike Sweetland Quartet with Lu Salcedo, Casey Mattson and Nick DeRyss.

Beyond imparting essential information, the Jazzschool provided access to a deep pool of talent, connecting Sweetland with Kelly Zaban Fasman and Taylor Eigsti, who was impressed enough with one of the bassist’s tune that he readily agreed to collaborate on his debut release, 2008’s Stringsongsgruvscaipsoundtreks. Since graduating from CJC in 2013 he released his second album, Real Life Reel Time, he went into film scoring, earning a masters degree in film from California College of the Arts

In many ways,KVX5film represents the unification of Mike’s love of music and film. He worked with Ruthie Dineen and Lu Salcedo in a trio that performed around the East Bay, and got to know Greg German when they were both studying with Marcos Silva (who has mentored many of the region’s best American-born players devoted to Brazilian jazz). With Radio Free Your World , KVX5film’s recorded debut, the audio and visual worlds merge and its future looks to yield many more audio-visual adventures.