Michael Sempert

Michael Sempert (born 1981), also known as Mike Sempert, is an American singer-songwriter and film/tv music composer based in Los Angeles, California. He was signed to the record label Velvet Blue Music in 2014 and released his first solo album, Mid Dream, the same year. Sempert has composed music or written songs for multiple films and television shows including Grey's Anatomy, Bloodline, A Room Full of Nothing and Bixler High Private Eye. He is the founder of the San Francisco-based band Birds & Batteries. Sempert's original compositions have been licensed by ABC, Netflix, NBC and others for use in their television shows.

Biography

Early life and education

Sempert was born in 1981, in Boston, Massachusetts. He attended and graduated from Brookline High School in 1999. Sempert studied jazz and classical piano throughout his childhood. In 2004, he graduated from Tufts University as well as New England Conservatory of Music where he majored in Peace and Justice Studies and Jazz Composition, respectively. During his early years, Sempert was influenced by the music of Talking Heads, Stevie Wonder Thomas Mapfumo, Tom Petty, Squeeze and Weather Report.

Career

Sempert started his professional music career in 2004. He formed the band, Birds & Batteries, as a sole member and recorded an album of demos called Nature vs. Nature. The demo collection was released as the album, Selections from Nature vs. Nature in 2005.

In early 2005, Sempert moved to San Francisco where he expanded Birds & Batteries and assembled a four-member performing band which included Brian Michelson (drums), Jill Heinke (bass) and Christopher Walsh (guitar). As the songwriter, lead-singer and multi-instrumentalist, Sempert wrote and produced four albums and two EPs for Birds & Batteries which were released between 2005 and 2012. During that time, the band toured United States extensively and performed at numerous festivals and concerts including South by Southwest, Noise Pop, 35 Denton, Mission Creek Festival, and Doe Bay Festival. The albums by Birds & Batteries were reviewed by NPR, The Fader, San Francisco Bay Guardian and Pitchfork. He released his first solo album Mid Dream in 2014, on the label Velvet Blue Music. The single "Finest Line" from the album Mid Dream was featured in SyFy's television drama, Defiance in 2015. The same year, he released an album of instrumental electronic music under the moniker Volcanic Legacy titled Uncanny Valley. Sempert's second solo album, Tend the Flame, was released in 2016. The songs from the album were used in various television shows including Grey's Anatomy, Quantico, Heartbeat and Stitchers. Over the years, Sempert's compositions were featured in various television shows such as Kingdom, Bloodline, Gossip Girl and others. Between 2015 and 2019, Sempert composed music for the feature films Jaywalking, A Room Full of Nothing, Sex Weather, Roads to Olympia, Bixler High Private Eye and the short films Stock, Dynamite and A Seasonal Thing. His third solo album, Reunion of Sparks was released in early 2019.

Filmography + As Songwriter Year Album Type 2005 Selections from Nature vs. Nature LP 2007 I'll Never Sleep Again LP 2009 Up to No Good EP 2010 Panorama LP 2011 Unfold EP 2012 Stray Light LP

+ Solo Studio Albums Year Album Type 2014 Mid Dream LP 2014 Mid Dream Complete Sessions LP 2016 Tend the Flame LP 2019 Reunion of Sparks LP

+ Volcanic Legacy Studio Albums Year Album Type 2013 Stray Light Remixes EP 2015 Uncanny Valley LP