Mike Carden

Mike Carden, born in 1984, is an American musician and talent manager. He is known for his work with and for the Chicago-based band The Academy Is... (now defunct) that he and William Beckett co-founded. A native of Schaumburg, Illinois, Carden now lives in Southern California.
Work with The Academy Is...
In 2002, Carden and William Beckett came together from rival Chicago-area bands to form The Academy Is... . The band was signed to Atlantic Records/Fueled by Ramen. Carden played guitar and was a vocalist, in addition to initially handling some of the band's management. Carden was a founding, core member of the group, along with co-founder Beckett and bassist Adam T. Siska; Other members at various points included Andrew Mrotek, Thomas Conrad (who departed in 2006 and was replaced by Michael Guy Chislett), AJ LaTrace and Michael DelPrincipe.
Carden and Beckett were the primary songwriters for The Academy Is...; the title song of the band's February 2005 debut album.
Carden also managed important aspects of the band's business, making use of his contacts in and understanding of the music industry. Carden worked closely with John Janick from Atlantic Records After nine years and three studio albums, The Academy Is... disbanded in 2011; however, in late 2015, Carden, Beckett, Siska and other members of the band performed across the United States for its final reunion and farewell tour.
Other Work
Carden was recruited to head up Business Development at the tech start-up VyRT which was founded in 2011 by Jared Leto. He also went on to study accounting and finance at Santa Monica College.

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