Michael William Scanlon II known on the internet as Lord Scanny and known to friends as Scanny (born December 26, 1989) is an amateur movie director, the dancing robot "PopBot" and photographer of the little known but constantly evolving band Illusion Lounge.
Early life Michael Scanlon is the son of Michael Scanlon Sr., a chemical engineer from New Jersey, and Patricia Scanlon. Both his parents are primarily of Irish descent. Scanlon has admitted that he takes great pride in his decent and has said that he thinks it plays a big role in his life. Scanlon had a standard child hood. In his elementary years he could often be found in front of a TV watching his favorite cartoons or near a radio singing his favorite tunes. Scanlon is quoted saying, "The things I remember most from my childhood are probably the music and shows of the time. (laughs) Maybe I blocked everything else out. I think they really define my generation. I grew up with shows like Rocko's Modern Life, Dexter's Lab and Are You Afraid of the Dark? and they were great because it was a time before the FCC jammed all these regulations down all the different networks' asses. These shows were really creative and had a more adult side. I can go back and watch this stuff and it will still crack me up. The level of quality of the writing is just so much different than the shit that the kids these days get... The music was also a great part of growing up. The tunes from like, 96 and 97 just have this feel to them that kinda give me a warm feeling and take me back to the days when the songs were most popular. It was just really good stuff and I'm glad I grew up when I did." His parents are still together and live in a house in bay area California. He is still friends with his childhood best friend, Christian Alviso.
Education
Michael Scanlon went to California Highschool where he dropped after completing the 11th grade. His most notable educational achievement would be winning first place in the Tri- Valley Science Fair in 2002. He won a decent cash prize and was awarded Runner Up for the highest award of Best Submitted Work.
Music Scanlons' musical influences are slightly varied , including but not limited to The Strokes, Interpol, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Queens of the Stone Age, the Arctic Monkeys, the Eagles of Death Metal, and mid 90's Alternative. More recently he has stated that possibly two of his favorite songs of all time are The Strokes' "Hard To Explain" and Interpol's "The New" It is a well known fact that Scanlon's favorite band are The Strokes.
Scanlon has been noted as the band, Illusion Lounge's, unofficial 6th member. Earlier in his relations with the band he acted as their primary photographer. While Scanlon does occasionally still do photo shoots with the band, he has more recently become more involved with the bands promotion as the dancing robotic mascot "PopBot." Recently the band has launched a promotional campaign using PopBot as a promotional mascot. The band plans to make PopBot T-shirts but the question of this becoming a reality is still unknown.
Scanlon has also been attempting a musical career outside of illusion lounge. He has been involved with previous bands such as The Suppressors and The Gentlemen but both of these bands got little work done and as a result the members disbanded. Scanlon is currently involved with the musical project, Video Wine Party. Scanlon plays guitar in the project and is accompanied by Patrick Flanagan on drums and Ed Saxer as the lead vocalist and synthesizer. The Project is currently on hiatus until March, when Patrick comes back to America after spending time in other countries teaching music to less privileged children . After the return of Patrick, however, the band expects to release some works in progress and tour local areas.
Film Scanlon is a director on the popular web movie site YouTube. He is quoted saying, "Video is just a hobby of mine. I like working with my friends to try to come up with interesting stories and ideas. I enjoy the whole process, from writing to shooting to editing. It's not always a walk in the park and problems do come up but it's all a part of the process. I like putting my videos on the internet when they are finished because I'm proud of them and it's pretty cool hearing peoples opinions on my work. My most recent video that I did was written by Julie George and it's a spoof on Jeffree Star, the myspace celeb. I've gotten a lot of feedback from it and it's interesting to see the different reactions people have to it."
Scanlon has some old works in progress that he is currently busy with but hopes to soon have up on the internet.
Photography Scanlon is the “official unofficial” photographer of the band illusion lounge. He also enjoys taking pictures for his friends and for his own personal pleasure. He enjoys using and learning about photo editing software in his spare time.
Scanlon has also modeled in the past for professional photographer, Marco Antonio Torres. he has also been hired as a set and lighting assistant by Torres for many different shoots
Personal Life Scanlon is currently single in bay area California. He can be seen walking down the streets contently wearing military jackets, a white belt and Converse. He enjoys spending time with his close friends in his spare time. Scanlon is a self proclaimed pyro and can sometimes be found causing mischief with modified fireworks. He enjoys going to movies and also takes pleasure in exploring new places.