Artist Spotlight Series: Mike Stud

November 30, 2017

MATTHEW FASSNACHT
staff writer

Michael Francis Seander made the best of the opportunity he was given. The Cranston, R.I., native earned an athletic scholarship to play baseball at Duke University as Rhode Island’s 2006 Gatorade Player of the Year.
As a true freshman, Seander saved nine games in 28 appearances and posted a 1.61 earned run average (ERA) — the lowest in Duke baseball history.
He would end his sophomore season with arm issues that would eventually require Tommy John surgery — a procedure that repairs the ulnar collateral ligament in the elbow. He would miss the entire 2009 season and wouldn’t return to baseball until a brief stint with Georgetown University.
While recovering from surgery, Seander turned to music to pass the time and released a music video for his first song “College Humor” under the stage name Mike Stud. Mike originally called the song a joke for his baseball teammates, but the video has been viewed over 2.2 million times.
In March of the following year, Stud followed up his hit with a song detailing his thoughts and new dreams with West Coast rapper Alex Lagemann, opening up the song with “I’m staring at my Macbook, I got them digital dreams.”
Both hits were featured on Stud’s first mixtape, “A Toast to Tommy” — named after his surgery. The album intertwined his new passions, the idea of making the best of what’s been given to you and various sports references.
In 2012, Stud released several singles such as a remix of Justin Bieber’s “Boyfriend” and B.o.B’s “So Good,” raising his popularity.
In May of 2013, Stud released his debut studio album “Relief” — another baseball reference — chronicling his journey from All-American pitcher to his ultimate career-ending injury and rise as a rapper. “Relief” peaked at No. 55 on the U.S. Billboard 200 charts.
During the summer of 2013, Stud began releasing his own remixes of popular songs every Sunday. He collected them all and released two different tapes titled “#SundayStudTape.”
Some of the most popular songs included Drake’s “Hold on We’re Going Home” and Ed Sheeran’s “A-Team.”
Stud continued to release popular remixes of famous songs, this time covering Sage the Gemini’s party-hit “Gas Pedal.”
Prior to the release of his next album, Stud released remixes of Passengers “Let Her Go” and Ty Dolla $ign’s “Paranoid.”
Stud released his second studio album “Closer” — the position he played at Duke and Georgetown. “Closer” peaked at No. 13 on the U.S. Billboard 200 charts.
“Closer” was considered the end to Stud’s college “party music” production and a transition into music he felt from his heart.
A lot of criticism Stud received early on was from the college party-boy vibe some of his early music gave off, but he has since surpassed that and is making his best music to date without referencing alcohol or partying.
The following year, Stud released an 8-track mini-album, “This Isn’t the Album” — my favorite mixtape of his, which featured OCD: Moosh & Twist and his most-played song “These Days.”
“This Isn’t the Album” was a tease of previously released singles before he released his third studio album, “These Days,” which included a feature from his former teammate at Duke and current Toronto Blue Jays pitcher, Marcus Stroman.
“These Days” was followed by a tour and a TV show on the Esquire Network called “This is Mike Stud.” The show followed him and his best friends around on his most recent tour, giving his fans behind-the-scenes access, and a lengthier look at his normal YouTube series “Touring’s Boring.”
Since “These Days,” Stud has continued his ways releasing consistent singles throughout the summer including two more songs with Stroman, “Shine” and “Take It How You Wanna.” The duo has even teased an album several times.
Currently Stud has been performing small shows throughout the country at several colleges while releasing — and teasing — new music.
In 2017 alone, Stud has released 10 new singles and is on pace to release his next studio album very soon.