Friends fondly remember Mike Robillard as a loyal, honest, funny, and creative force who always encouraged the best in others. Despite his habit of deeply analyzing conversations, he genuinely cared about the meaning of things. His infectious smile and characteristic laugh made people feel both validated and at ease. Robillard, along with his friends, formed a band called 4 Really Nice Guys in the early 1990s.
Musician and creative force, the late Mike Robillard is fondly remembered by his friends as loyal, honest, funny, creative, and as someone who would always encourage the best in others.“For anyone who knew him well, to be honest, Mike was not always the easiest person to get along with, as he had the annoying habit of deeply analyzing every facet of whatever you were talking about,” laughs Cowen.
“From the moment you met him it was obvious, he believed in you and wanted you to make the best of it. That, along with his infectious smile and characteristic laugh, made you feel it was both okay to take yourself seriously, and sometimes to not take anything seriously at all.” In the early 1990s, Robillard, with the support of Cowen, Kaija and others, began building an arts scene in the Sault by encouraging like-minded people to move their original art forward.Under that moniker, there were gatherings, live shows and recordings.“He didn’t do it because there was no original music being created in Sault Ste. Marie at the time, but because there was an overabundance of it, which needed an outlet,” says Cowen.
“Mike was the hub of the wheel. Years later, it has become obvious to me that what he really was doing was single handedly inventing what we now call ‘cultural entrepreneurship,’ or ‘community social innovation.’ But we didn't have words for it back then. So Mike settled for just calling it his ‘production company.’”
In Toronto, Robillard and Kaija performed together in a band called Scissors For Erica, playing some of the most esteemed rock ‘n’ roll clubs Canada has produced. For the 4 Really Nice Guys, a lot of that music was Kaija and Robillard going back and forth with ideas.“We could jump around with styles but it always worked. With Scissors, it was more individual songwriting efforts, but his support of my ideas allowed me to finally try writing a full song and even singing it myself. Those first attempts didn’t always work and it was a painful learning curve but I couldn’t have got through without his cheerleading.
“Whether you were a friend of Mike, a fan of his music, or whether you're simply curious about the local music scene, we hope people will consider attending the show.”
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