Welcome to Mike Pomranz (dot com)
- For Mike Pomeranz (baseball announcer), see Mike Pomeranz (real Wikipedia)
Michael Aaron Pomranz (born April 3, 1979) is an American-Briton writer, comedian, musician, DJ, beer expert, food & beverage specialist, cidermaker, bar owner, alcohol importer, NFT artist, entrepreneur, former semi-professional blackjack player, and underappreciated songsmith currently living in Sheffield, England, and professionally established in both New York, New York, U.S.A., and Sheffield. This is his official website/wiki.
As of the 4th April 2024, Mike is running in the 2nd May local elections for Sheffield City Council in the Broomhill & Sharrow Vale ward.
Personal Life
In the late '70s, Pomranz was born in the suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri, against his will. Things were nice there, but he yearned for more. He spent a lot of time drinking Mr. Mistys at the local DQ.
His formative years were spent in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, as his parents continued their moving tour of American suburbia (this time landing just outside of Philadelphia). Blue Bell (formerly Pigeontown) was a wonderful, idyllic place with an amazing pizza shop called Palermo’s.
To further his education, Pomranz began studying film production at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. During his late teens and early 20s, he spent many years in and around the Los Angeles area. In retrospect, he has no idea why. Maybe because it was so close to Las Vegas?
In the early 2000s, Pomranz returned to the Philadelphia area, this time choosing to live within the city limits as his time spent living in downtown LA taught him that if you want to meet freaks, you gotta be in the city. At first, it wasn’t really a choice... He crashed on a couch for 9 months. But eventually, Pomranz landed on Spruce St. in Center City and truly found happiness. Happiness was primarily located at a bar named Chaucer’s that has since been sold, renovated and renamed. You truly can’t go home again.
Eventually, he realized that his whole life he was simply trying to move to Brooklyn. So in 2008, Pomranz moved to Brooklyn.
Despite the obvious joys of living in New York City’s finest borough, after spending eight years divided between the wonderful neighborhoods of Prospect Heights and Park Slope, a marriage and the birth of Pomranz's son left his newly established family interested in exploring their roots, so they decided to take up residence in Sheffield, England. The Peaks are beautiful, aren’t they? (Don’t ask Pomranz. He rarely goes there.)
Come say, “Hi.” You might find Pomranz drinking cask ale at The Beer House on Eccy Road. But maybe not.
Writing
Pomranz is a versatile writer and editor who began working professionally in 2004.
His work has appeared in a wide array of places both in print -- such as Food & Wine, Time, Fast Company, and Rachel Ray Every Day -- and online including Food & Wine, Comedy Central, Time, Tasting Table, Playboy, Eater, MTV, AOL, People, VinePair, Yahoo, Travel + Leisure, MSN, Fortune, Sports Illustrated, Huffington Post, Extra Crispy, Fatherly, Nickelodeon, truTV, and -- somehow -- more.
His diverse interests have inspired him to cover a broad range of topics such as the largest fast food chains you have never heard of, ranking every David Bowie album ever released, and interviewing many of America’s best brewers. His style is an impassioned mix of factual accuracy, sharp wit, and unwanted opinions.
Pomranz has also written for TV and film, including developing a sitcom concept with Fox TV, optioning a children’s pilot, and co-writing a feature film treatment. In 2015, he co-created, co-wrote, and executive produced the web series, Roommates. He also has a pile of original pilot and feature film scripts stacked up in his house he’d like you to come over and purchase.
Tosh.0
From 2009 in 2012, Pomranz was an original staff member for the Comedy Central show Tosh.0, taking the reins on show's blog, which eventually became the network's most visited website. Among many viral phenomenon spawned from the site, Pomranz received national recognition for launching the success of the video for Rebecca Black’s “Friday."
Food & Wine
From 2014 to 2022, Pomranz was the defining voice of digital news for Food & Wine, penning over 5,000 articles for the magazine's website. He's also written several features for print -- including an article on the emergence of craft beer for the publication's 40th anniversary issue.
Comedy
Pomranz performed standup comedy off and on from 2000 to 2016. He recorded one album of material which was never released. He also had several small comedic acting roles both in commercials and television. Every now and then, SAG/AFTRA sends him a check.
He first performed stand-up comedy at an open mic at the Westwood Brewing Company in Los Angeles, California, in 2001. Displaying a lack of confidence, delivering poorly-conceived material, and sporting a terrible haircut, he performed inadequately. This went on for quite some time. His comedy career came to a self-imposed halt after being yanked from a stage in North Hollywood while performing September 11th jokes on September 12th, 2001.
By 2005, he was back, this time nervously meandering through weak open mic sets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Though his delivery was still shaky-at-best, his material had improved and Pomranz finally gained the confidence to try his hand at the “big time” — doing a seven minute set at the secondary stage of the Laugh Factory in New York City. Thinking this to be the apex of his comedy career, he abruptly retired for the second time.
But by 2008, Pomranz had finally decided, “Fuck it.” At the ripe-old and borderline-unsuccessful age of 29, he moved to Brooklyn to pursue comedy full time. Part of that career path would involve tackling his biggest comedic demon... stand-up.
Everything went better than expected, and he eventually landed a writing job with the Comedy Central show, Tosh.0.
A very limited selection of performance videos is available on his YouTube page. Pomranz apologizes that these videos can best be described as “not great.”
Music
World Blanket
Armed with the traditional folk rock instrumentation of vocals, violin, acoustic guitar, bass, and drums, World Blanket layers elements of noise experimentation, punk aesthetics, and classical orchestration onto indie rock songs built of modern pop, classic rock, and psychedelic thought.
World Blanket was formed in Philadelphia in 2005 when childhood friends Michael Pomranz and Grant Whittaker, together with bassist Mark Henasey, decided to scrap all the material their current project was performing and start from scratch. Unhappy with the direction the band was headed, the group sought a string player who could re-energize their sound. Violinist Jon Dunn was recruited and the new lineup was christened World Blanket — named after a childhood blankie Pomranz had recently had stolen from him.
“World Blanket boomed like a big-riff rock beast, despite acoustic guitar and violin dressing.” – SPIN
Around this time, Pomranz penned the song “Cold, Lonely” — a tune he claimed was indicative this new direction. It became World Blanket’s inaugural song, appearing on their debut album aMaybe, and has helped guide the project’s musical direction since.
World Blanket made their live debut on February 12, 2006 at Philadelphia’s legendary, but now defunct rock club, The Khyber.
While recording their first album (aMaybe, released October 10, 2006 on No Applause Records), the band quickly realized that to achieve the full vision of their sound they would need instrumentation beyond their original violin, acoustic guitar, bass, and drums lineup. These recording sessions quickly established the dynamic of World Blanket allowing themselves to have a fluid and rotating cast of “members.” It also began the dichotomy between the group’s orchestrated studio albums and their more bare-boned, rollicking, and often unpredictable live shows.
On September 22, 2008, the band released its second album, Elevator, now featuring Jon Solomon on bass and marking the group’s first time working with producer Darren Morze who would continue to be a major influence on subsequent recordings.
“Warm, violin-driven Americana keeps the listener consistently on their toes, never knowing what to expect next.” – Foxy Digitalis
By 2012, Pomranz (having relocated to Brooklyn) remained the lone original member of the group as World Blanket released their aptly-titled third album, 2012. Recorded in Los Angeles with Pete Min and produced by Morze, 2012 was a benchmark for the group both in sound and songwriting.
Released on April 3 — the twelfth anniversary of mushroom guru Terence McKenna’s death — 2012 featured violinist Kat Fong, bassist Dean Moore, and drummer Jonathan Flax. The record also saw significant contributions from The Calder Quartet. The psychedelically-tinged album expanded the group’s dedication to existential lyrical exploration and heady production.
"As time goes on, music fans will be returning to this album to question the downfall of everything else, while music like that on 2012 will continue to hold up for generations to come." - This Is Book's Music
Since the release of their third album, World Blanket has continued to play the occasional live show or be represented with material at Mike Pomranz’s solo acoustic shows.
In 2020, the band released a collection of their best songs alongside the original demos for these songs, Demonstrations & Actualizations: The History of World Blanket (2005 - 2020). The album contains a final, unfinished World Blanket song.
The Dirty Hugs
After acquiring new members, World Blanket eventually transitioned into a new band, The Dirty Hugs, which released one four-song EP in 2015, Come On Feel The Hugs.
The Nuck Fuggets
The Nuck Fuggets were (okay, maybe kinda "are") a musical comedy duo composed of Pomranz and his partner, originally formed as a joke to put vocals to Mike's digital recording experiments.
At the time, Pomranz described the group thusly: "Imagine The Flight of the Conchords as done by The White Stripes if they had the stage presence of The Beastie Boys but were backed by beats that sounded somewhere between Danger Mouse and a moderately-priced karaoke machine. Then we rush through our set like The Ramones ’cause we want to get drunker than Led Zeppelin in their prime."
The act achieved moderate success, including a "pick of the week" selection in the alt-weekly Philadelphia Weekly and a mention in the print edition of New York Magazine. The group also held a popular weekly residency at Brooklyn's famed venue Trash Bar.
“You’re in luck if you like your songs loaded with innuendo and incredibly straightforward hooks (”Everybody wants/ sex and hamburgers”). The Brooklyn–based Nuck Fuggets only occasionally have decent lyrics, but fortunately the beats are much more frequently catchy and danceable.” – PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY “As the party gets under way, the prospects look grim…for the second act, an ironic dance-pop duo from Brooklyn called the Nuck Fuggets.” – NEW YORK MAGAZINE “I have never listened to The Nuck Fuggets, but if the music is half as good as the name, this will be an awesome show.” – NEW YORK PRESS “We met The Realest People in Brooklyn, aka, The Nuck Fuggets. They’re an electro-comedy-esque duo that put on a show with so much energy…Mitch and I decided to tell them that we had designated them with this title, and I hope that they received it sincerely.” – SEA OF TREES “[I] like The Nuck Fuggets. I can really connect with this tune [‘Penis N Balls’] in the same way I felt when I heard ‘Yellow’ by Coldplay.” – KENNEDY
The act released one archival record, Meet The Nuck Fuggets (UK Edition). A handful of performance videos can also be found on YouTube.
Pancho Grande
Pomranz is currently vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter for the Sheffield, England-based hard rock trio Pancho Grande.
In 2022, the band released their debut EP, Live from the Streets of Attercliffe, which has been purchased by at least three people.
Other Musical Endeavors
Additional bullet points summarizing Mike’s musical endeavors:
- Mike is proprietor of No Applause Records
- Mike formerly fronted the rock trio, Erron Olive
- Mike has created recorded music under a number of project names including The Fellers, The Original Fellers Revival, The Nelson A. Rockefeller Foundation, The Future Sellouts of America, Drug Fun Rage Ghost, and Bacchanalia
- Mike has performed solo acoustic shows across the United States and United Kingdom
DJing
DJ Mike Pomranz has distinguished himself from other disc jockeys not by focusing on a specific style, but by the vastness of his digital music collection and his uncanny ability to find common threads throughout decades, genres, lyrics, songs, sounds, and grooves.
He began working professionally in New York City in 2013, at the time bringing his eclectic approach exclusively to the music of 1970s. He took on a weekly gig at Brooklyn’s infamous Coco 66, amusing Greenpoint locals with his unpredictable swings between California AOR, Ethio jazz, Alabama soul, German prog, and beyond.
He quickly landed another weekly spot at the beloved Manhattan punk bar Ding Dong Lounge where he gave his love of the ’70s a hard rock twist, aligning with the venue’s vibe by sticking to the more raucous sounds of artists like Pere Ubu and The Sensational Alex Harvey Band. During this time, DJ MP was also known for occasionally spinning entire nights dedicated to Guided By Voices.
While living in New York, DJ Mike Pomranz also took up stints at locations such as Threes Brewing, Beauty Bar, and The Royal Palms.
Now based in Sheffield, England, DJ Mike Pomranz has broadened his musical horizons to include over 3,000 artists across six decades. He creates an immersive listening experience by mixing in the occasionally head-turning hit with lost tracks by the forgotten greats of rock, soul, R&B, jazz, indie, hip-hop, lounge, funk, and disco — all without forgetting to keep things international by adding the occasional afrobeat, Andalusian rock or even Balkan folk track.
He’s also happy to cater his musical journeys to whatever specifications your occasion requires.
Oh, and he’s even done a couple weddings for the coolest people on Earth...
Beer
Pomranz is an internationally notable beer writer, connoisseur, enthusiast, and occasional homebrewer.
His beer-related work has appeared in print in Food & Wine and Time. It has also appeared digitally pretty much everywhere else you can think of.
Pomranz considers his wheelhouse to be pale ales, of which his favorite will always be Yard’s Philadelphia Pale Ale. However, he will always have a soft spot in his heart for Pyramid Apricot Ale.
NFT Art
In 2022, Pomranz joined the lucrative world of NFT art, selling his work on the platform Opensea. His pieces were quickly recognized by his peers for their absurdist approach to the medium and have the prompted many discussions about their long-term value.
Blackjack
In 2013, Pomranz began playing blackjack semi-professionally, amassing tens of thousands of dollars in winnings over a period of several months. His brief gambling career came to an end in 2014 after being accused of card counting by the management of the Revel Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and getting placed on a national watch list.
Business Endeavors
Since 2014, Pomranz has served as founder and president of No Applause Inc. -- a New York-based corporation that has operated in numerous capacities including providing writing and consulting services, releasing music as No Applause Records, and producing digital video content.
In 2020, Pomranz launched Quality Ferments -- a Sheffield-based limited company specializing in the import of alcoholic beverages.
Also in 2021, Pomranz opened The Cider Hole -- a "cider-centric" bar in Sheffield, England, selling a personally curated selection of ciders, beers, wines, and other beverages.
Election & Political Views
As of the 4th April 2024, Mike is running in the 2nd May local elections for Sheffield City Council in the Broomhill & Sharrow Vale ward.
While living in the United States, Mike was at different times registered as a Green, Democrat, and Independent. He has been an adamant supporter of both Ralph Nader and Bernie Sanders -- donating to both candidates' campaigns for President.
In the Sheffield City Council election, Mike has stated, "I do not want to undermine our existing Green, Labour, Liberal Democrat and other councillors; I want to offer an outside perspective –- questioning the status quo, uncovering what is not working in our current system, and pushing our council to improve." He has advocated for a plan of action and accountabilty and to "do what makes sense."
Contact
Contact me at mikepomranz (dot) com (at) mikepomranz (dot) com. Additional contact details can be found on the Contact page.
External links
- Any UK election-related content is promoted by Mike Pomranz, 48 Hunter House Rd, Sheffield.