Full Name: Michael Anthony Giovanni Mangione
Birthplace:Des Plaines IL
Instruments: Vocal, Guitar, Harmonica
Biggest music influence: Dylan/ Daniel Lanois
Biggest influence: Hope and Being held accountable
Best Sport: Hockey
Favorite BBQ: Jack Stack BBQ Kansas City, MO

Born in Des plaines IL, Mike grew up the youngest of three boys in a northern suburb of Chicago called Glenview. After high school, Mike went off to study environmental science at Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI. While attending school he met his now wife Stacy, whom he married years later. A good student, Mike spent majority of his time playing music, studying and being social. After graduation he settled in Chicago, turned down an environmental position with General Electric, then moved out to Los Angeles, CA. While living on 21st and LaBrea, mike held many odd and not so odd jobs. These include Starbucks barista, Barista on “Java The Truck”, a moving gourmet coffee truck, paper shredder for a medical office, secret shopper, and last a movie extra. Film credits include “Mail Boy” in Anchorman-The Legend Of Ron Burgundy, and Fred Clause. After a year and a half of this ridiculous lifestyle, Mike bought a used van and toured the country with his dog playing coffeehouses. A year and a half of living at rest areas and truck stops, Mike moved back to Milwaukee, married his long time Marquette love and formed his band. 2005 he released “There and Back” with his brother Tom. In 2008, Mike, Tom and the band released Tenebrae. In 2010 they released “Offering” and titled the band “The Union”. Currently he is writing material for a record due in 2012.

Full Name: Thomas Charles Mangione
Birthplace: Des Plaines, IL
Instruments: Electric Guitar, Background Groaning and Moaning
Biggest music influence: Bob Dylan, U2-cum-The Edge, Howlin’ Wolf-cum-Hubert Sumlin. These people might or might not have influenced his sound and approach. But they have undoubtedly influenced his love of music.
Biggest Influence: The Ghetto Blaster
Best Sport: ninjutsu
Favorite BBQ: Korean – San Soo Gab San – Chicago; Soot Bull Jeep – Los Angeles

Tom was raised in the quiet, idyllic hamlets of Glenview, and later, Golf, Illinois — just north of Chicago.
At a young age, in the early 1980s, his parents made two fateful decisions that would leave an indelible mark on the spirit and psyche of the youth: First, they bought him a portable radio with built-in tape player. Second, they were early subscribers to a new form of in-home entertainment, cable TV, with its highly addictive and revolutionary, MTV (in those days, kids, Music Television stayed true to its name). To this day, Tom recounts those developments as laying the fertile groundwork for a life surrounded and saturated by music.

Fast forward to more recent times: Between now and then, Tom went on to take degrees from the University of Colorado, Boulder and the University of Chicago. He is a husband, a father, an educator, and a life-long student of the guitar. Once in a while he will check MTV “to see if the videos are back.” He still listens to (some) radio.

Full Name: John Leo Collins
Birthplace: Detroit: Hutzel Hospital
Instruments: Upright and Bass guitar
Biggest music influences: James Jamerson(motown), Sir Paul McCartney(some band from England), Jack Bruce(Cream), John Deacon(Queen)
Biggest Influence: Aristotle, Ayn Rand And, of course, Joyce Collins and William F Collins.
Best Sport: Tennis
Favorite BBQ: Which ever one he’s about to eat at next.

John has always had a sound in his head. At night he could literally hear music of his own conception in the middle of his brain;
like listening to headphones turned down to a very low volume. Ephemeral yet cloying. As a result John feels compelled to play music. In particular, original music which he can add his own voice to. When John was younger he wrote a substantial amount, and sang lead, of and on the material he was performing. Now, he gets even greater satisfaction from writing a part that augments and grounds the music of others.
The best complement one could give John is to say that his part was simultaneously big yet transparent.

Full Name: Patrick Joseph Hoctor
Birthplace: Cincinnati, OH
Instruments: Cello, Guitar, and a little bit of everything
Biggest Music Influence: Jack White
Biggest Influence: His Father
Best Sport: Parkour
Favorite BBQ: Topps BBQ in Memphis, TN

Patrick was born in Cincinnati OH. A few months after his birth he was adopted and he moved with his new family to Wheaton, IL, where Patrick spent the next eighteen years of his life. He began playing cello at the age of five after seeing his older sister play the violin. He kept up his cello playing throughout grade school and in seventh grade picked up another instrument, the guitar. Cello remained his main instrument throughout high school, but to fill his desire to be part of a louder, more personal, and more adventurous type of music, he starting a band during his sophomore year called Sulek, in which he sang and played the guitar. Three years later in 2006, only two months into college, Mike Mangione heard Patrick playing at a Mass at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Catholic Newman Center. Mike asked Patrick to play cello in his band and Patrick agreed without a second thought. Since then Patrick has been recording and touring with Mike, keeping up his school work as an architecture student at UWM, playing and recording with Sulek, and dating Ruth Cullen, who he married on August 8, 2009.

Full Name: Kristina Priceman
Birthplace: Atlanta, Georgia
Instruments: Violin
Biggest Influence: Her Grandpa
Biggest music influence: Her brother Zach, Hilary Hahn
Best Sport: Floor hockey
Favorite BBQ: Billy’s in Lexington KY

Kristina Priceman was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Kristina lived in Stone Mountain, GA until she moved to Oak Park, IL at the age of seven. She began playing violin at the age of five and has since had opportunities to perform throughout the United States and Europe. Kristina is now a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where she is studying Violin Performance. At the end of freshmen year, she met Mike and the Band and has been touring with them ever since. While juggling school, the band, and relationships, she has learned more than anything that her time is precious and sleep should be coveted. Although she is pretty outnumbered on the road, she has two older brothers who kindly prepared her to be the only girl in the band. Two of Kristina’s favorite things are music and travelling. As long as music allows her to travel, she is happy.

Full Name: Nez
Birthplace: East Chicago, IN
Instruments: Drums/Percussion, laptop
Biggest music influences: The Beatles/Ringo, John Bonham, Stewart Copeland, anything on STAX
Biggest Influence: His huge Mexican Familia
Best Sport: Baseball
Favorite BBQ: Aggy Delgado’s House of BBQ – Merrillville, IN

Nez was born in northwest Indiana, just outside of Chicago, surrounded by 3 steel mills and an oil refininery. As such, he first breathed clean air shortly after his 18th birthday when he moved to Ann Arbor to attend the U of M. Also, with all that steel around, it was preordained that his favorite football team would be the Pittsburgh Steelers. He’s lived all over America but still considers Chicago home; he breaks up and makes up with the Cubs every year. (sigh) Musically, he’s played all styles of music from super loud to soft and soulful and loves to incorporate it all in his current playing. He’s a loyal Sabian cymbal user and is currently madly in love with his Taye Studio Birch drum kit.

Also, he loves very much being the newest member of the Mangione musical family because they have the best snacks.