Michael Mende was born in 1963 into a musical family. In 1965, at two, Michael began playing violin in the Suzuki Method in his grandparents studio in Altadena, California. At age five he switched to the cello. Michael's first exposure to percussion came as he accompanied his grandmother while facilitating local workshops. 

At age seven, he moved to South Texas where he began seriously studying rhythm and drums. At thirteen he moved to the San Francisco Bay area and began teaching drum set. By fifteen Michael was performing in multi-style shows several times a week. Michael has continuously studied, taught, and performed to the present day. 

At seventeen, Michael played with Santa Rosa Junior College big band. At eighteen he attended Musician's Institute in Hollywood where he received the Human Relations Award. He studied piano and voice in the Music Major program at Los Angeles City College for three years which led to composing. Michael guest lectured and accompanied Afro-Cuban dance classes at UCLA, CAL State LA, Occidental College, and others. He also taught for the LA Unified District for 6 years.

Michael studied at length and performed with master musicians from West Africa, Brazil, and Cuba. In 1997-98 he performed with Stomp in New York. From 1999-2006 he performed Industrial percussion, West African, Afro-Caribbean and Brazilian style shows in cities around the US. Michael enjoys creating unique brush patterns.