I started playing guitar in 1988, aged 23 and formed Nelson punk band, Dead Centre, which was to last for ten years. In 1997 I started recording on my own, using a drum machine for drums. These songs were released as "Puke" from 1997 - 2003. In 2001, I moved to Dunedin, and formed The Pukes (though I now live in Kaitangata), a band that does live versions of my recorded songs. In 2007 I said goodbye to the drum machine and started recording songs using edited drums played by Sam Brookland. These songs are released as "Mike Puke".