So how did The Fischers come to be? It all started back in Australia in the 1970's when Mike was performing in a local Christian band...
At the age of four, Mike's eldest son, Zeph, was surrounded by music, singing at home and being around his Dad's band, yet had never sung publicly. In 1977, while Mike was performing with the band at Latrobe University in Melbourne, Mike asked Zeph if he’d like to come up on stage and perform a couple of songs while the band was taking a break. Zeph came up on stage and those three songs they performed together forever changed their lives. The crowd’s enthusiastic response to their 10 minuted power packed set was more than Mike could have imagined!
The penny “dropped” and Mike realized that he could accomplish a lot more performing with Zeph than with an entire band with all the mountains of equipment. No more worrying about legistics and having to deal with clashing personalities or prima donna band members. Within a very short time Mike left the band and began working solely with his son, Zeph.
They started going "busking" which was a form of street singing where you would open up your guitar case and if people like the show they throw money into the case. "Mike and Zeph", as they became known, generated crowds into the hundreds and were "street musicians". They even released a little cassette entitled, "Standing Room Only"! One special day after years of treading the streets they got a break. They were performing at the Manly Ferry to the thousands of workers returning home from work. There was one man who stood out in the huge crowd and he wound up staying until the last person had gone home. He turned out to be a television producer. When he walked up he said, "anyone who can stop that many people on the way home from work needs to be on TV. Within 2 weeks they were on national TV and had a recording contract in the works.
"Mike and Zeph" recorded their first album when Zeph was 6 years old. The self-titled album, “Mike and Zeph”, was recorded at EMI, studio 301 in Sydney, Australia, and was produced by Martin Benge who had previously engineered and produced at Abbey Road Studio for such notable artists such as George Harrison and Glen Campbell.
Mike and Zeph performed together on some of Australia’s finest national television shows, including “The Mike Walsh Show”, “John Singleton’s Tonight Show” and just about every children’s show in the country, "Shirl’s Neighborhood", "Hey, Hey, It’s Saturday", "Wombat", "Johnny Young’s Young Talent Time". They toured for 18 months in their "Mike and Zeph" tour bus.
It was a difficult thing for Mike to balance their music carreer with the fact that it was youth evengalism that took Mike to Australia in the first place. There was indeed a conflict and in 1982 Mike and Zeph and his three sisters, Kerenina, Annabelle, and Joy, and one little baby brother, Mikey, headed off to India with their mother. They spent 19 months there doing shows in many of India's finest 5 Star Hotels. With the money they were paid they were able to do many free shows in orphanages, schools, colleges, and other venues that could not pay them. They called it the "Robin Hood" method of "take from the rich and give to the poor."
Mike remarried in 1996 to Karyn and exactly nine months later Samuel Fischer was born! Sam has been destined from birth to be an entertainer! It became evident at the age of 5 that Sam had the same gifts and talents as his older brother, Zeph, and it was obvious he was going to follow in his footsteps. Mike never realized that he would get another chance at performing with his kids. It has been a gift from God to be able to have a second chance. He is truly thankful for the opportunities that are before him and his sons to sing and perform together. It truly is a blessing.
So from "Mike and Zeph" to "The Fischers"...
The next addition to The Fischers was Reuben, the second of the two boys, who came along four years after Samuel. He is also following in his older brother's footsteps and promises to be quite the singer and performer himself. He has a passion for slapstick comedy and is now studying Charlie Chaplin, among other comedians. Look out for him in their next show!
