Mike & The Nerve

A convergence of punk rock n’ roll and folk music, Mike & The Nerve is a 5-man band based in Gainesville, Fla. Starting off as a solo act, lead vocalist Mike Llerena has transformed Mike & The Nerve to consist of drummer Josh Napier, backing vocalist Garrett Pogue, guitarist and backing vocalist Eli Garland and bassist James Conlin. 

Growing up with a father who played the guitar, Llerena realized he wanted to be in a band when he first heard “American Idiot” by Green Day in middle school. 

“I heard that album and asked my parents for a guitar and they were really awesome and got me a guitar. I got some initial direction from my dad on stuff. I picked up a few more instruments after that and started writing songs,” Llerena said. “I also started singing and played in some bands in high school. Then, I moved to Gainesville for college and started doing shows here and the rest is history.”

With the band’s most recent album Watershed Drive, Llerena explains the struggles of going through the recording process at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“There were logistical things we had to figure out. We started pre-production in the early part of 2020, went into the studio to record it mid-2020,” Llerena said. “We did twelve songs and we are super proud of it. We feel it is heavier than some of the stuff we’ve done before, a little lighter than some of the stuff we’ve done before.”

Llerena’s favorite song from the new album is “A Drunkard’s Lifetime” as he feels it is a song everyone can enjoy. The band also did the first music video to “A Drunkard’s Lifetime” with all 5 members, which Llerena found to be very special. 

When asked what “The Nerve” meant in the band’s name, Llerena shared how the name has a double meaning with mental health and neuroscience. 

“‘The Nerve” in Mike & The Nerve refers to the idea of someone having the nerve to go do something that may seem insurmountable for that person,” Llerena said. “A lot of our songs deal with the subject matter of mental health and overcoming related obstacles like that. Having the name “The Nerve” seemed fitting for what the band talks about for a lot of our songs.”

Listen to Watershed Drive on all streaming platforms and follow @mikeandthenerve on Instagram.