“The Wages of Fear”
Writer: Michael Molenda
Publisher: Burning Tyger Music, BMI
Writer’s Affiliation: BMI
Label: Mi5 Recordings
BIOGRAPHY
Michael Molenda is a renowned songwriter, music producer and engineer, content
creator, and published author.
Molenda was the longest-serving Editor-in-Chief of Guitar Player magazine (1997-2018), as well as Editorial Director of Bass Player, Keyboard, EQ, Gig, Rumble, Electronic Musician, MC2, Christian Guitarist and Bassist, and Modern Drummer. He has written and/or edited numerous music industry books on recording, guitar playing, and celebrated guitarists, and has published approximately 2,500 articles in various
music gear and technology magazines.
While at Guitar Player, Molenda founded brand extensions such as Guitar Player’s Guitar Superstar Competition, the Certified Legend Award, the Ronnie Montrose Rock the Nation Award for Young Guitarists, and the Play It Forward Benefits for Northern California fire victims—in the process working closely with guitar icons such as Carlos Santana, Andy Summers (The Police), Les Paul, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Jennifer Batten, Elliot Easton (The Cars), Steve Lukather (Toto, Ringo Starr), Lita Ford, and many more.
He also served on the advisory boards of Musician’s Institute (Los Angeles) and Stone Age Institute (Indiana), and appeared in rockumentaries, including VH1 Behind the Music: Brian Setzer, She Rocks, and Fanny: The Right to Rock.
Molenda co-founded two professional recording studios in the San Francisco Bay Area—Sound & Vision and Tiki Town—doing sessions with hundreds of local artists, as well as creating soundtracks for LucasArts, NASA, Roto Rooter, Lines Ballet, and other entities.
During the COVID lockdown, Molenda co-founded three startups: Neural Tunes (an app that uses music and AI to alleviate anxiety), The Droning Company (a media site serving drone pilots and the droning industry), and Guardians of Guitar (an educational and resource site for guitar players).
As a performer, Molenda was the primary songwriter and frontperson for San Francisco acts such as Silhouette (late-’70s and ’80s), The Wobblies (’80s), Soul Poets (’90s-’00s), and Ascot Jacket (’00s) performing musical styles from pop-punk to new wave and rock. He also conceptualized and produced the compilation The Infinite Summer of Love [Taxim Records, Germany]—an audio tribute to the sound of San Francisco in the 1960s that included original artists such as Naomi Eisenberg, Michael Wilhelm, Steve
Douglas, Harvey Mandel, and Ron Nagel, as well as contemporary bands like The Gargoyles, Henry Kaiser, Sextants, and others.
He continues to record and produce music today, and performs live with his bands Surf
Monster and The Trouble With Monkeys.
ORIGINAL SONG CREDITS
Produced and engineered by Michael Molenda at Sound & Vision Studios, San Francisco
Michael Molenda: Lead and background vocals, guitars
Claudia Conrad: Background vocals, keyboards
Ira Epstein: Electric bass
David Eisenberg: Original drum tracks
Frank Macchia: Original horn tracks and arrangements
