stormformer – Forming Storms
A creative project of Mika Former (she/they: check out my pronouns page – read a long story about gender here)

Living on stolen lands by the grace of the Boonwarrung people of the Kulin nation. Originally grew up on Biripi lands.

I have been tinkering with making sound and music since a young age, starting in the 80s on electric Hammond organ; cassette recording chaos; electric guitar in the early 90s; to finding tracker software in 1996 and becoming obsessed with home computer music production from then on. In the late 90s I was able to start releasing tracker songs online under the name Foo?, briefly running a netlable called thequietrevolution.net [tqr] in the early 2000s, collaborating with Australian home-studio producers. I’ve done a range of creative collaborations, online and IRL.

For an archive of all my old pre-transition music as Mark Dollin (aka mr_mark_dollin and mmd) (1996-2012): click here

I have played live in a range of settings, usually making noise guitar and synths, both with formal ensembles, as well as ‘live jam bands’ that focused on improvised creativity. I haven’t played live much since 2012, instead focusing on improving studio production skills.

When I’m not at full time work, socialising, exercising, or sleeping like a cat on the couch; I’m usually slowly chipping away at making music at home. I’m currently working on two major album projects that I started way back in the early 2000s, plus a whole stash of other music that may produce two or three additional albums’ worth of material. I’ve learned to take my time to get things right. I’m also going through a lot with re-learning to speak and sing more feminine, so things are taking their time for that reason as well.

Thanks for visiting!

Music that’s inspired me:

Nine Inch Nails and Trent Reznor + Atticus Ross. Underworld. Ministry. Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler. Scott Walker. Mike Oldfield. Pink Floyd and Roger Waters. U2. Aphex Twin. Kate Bush. Liturgy. David Bowie. Laurie Anderson. Peter Gabriel. The Cure. Lingua Ignota. Alice In Chains. Wire, Wir and He Said. Silo. Faith No More and Mr Bungle and lot of Mike Patton projects. Deftones. Devin Townsend and Strapping Young Lad. Arvo Pärt. hmmm. Portishead. Type O Negative. Massive Attack. Tool. June Jones. Karnivool. Garbage. PJ Harvey. Chelsea Wolfe. ixi. Alchemist. Fever Ray. Vast. Simona Castricum. Sepultura. Company of Strangers. Coil. Fovea Hex. Soundgarden. Simple Minds. Damaged. Meshuggah. Supertramp. Saul Williams. A Perfect Circle. Depeche Mode. Janet Jackson. Madonna. Metallica. Tears For Fears and Roland Orzabal. Prince. Fear Factory. Steve Vai. Korn. Ethel Cain. distance. Primary. Smashing Pumpkins. The Church. How To Destroy Angels. Pendulum (1997 band, not the other one). David Bridie and Not Drowning Waving. Manic Street Preachers. Adalita and Magic Dirt. Cradle of Filth. The Cranberries. My Dying Bride. Eurythmics and Annie Lennox. Radiohead and Thom Yorke. Brian Eno and his vast web of influence, including Passengers. Beck. Vittoria Fleet. Big Pig. The Mars Volta. Billy Idol. Lawrence English. Björk. Black Cab. Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry. King Crimson and Robert Fripp. Midnight Oil. Steven Wilson and Porcupine Tree and Storm Corrosion. Burial. 1000 Eyes and Cicada Sirens. Cliff Martinez. Credence Clearwater Revival. Beatslaughter. Jimi Hendrix. Cloudkicker. Deep Forest. Enya. Diesel. Ravel. Doves. Duran Duran. Slipknot. East 17. Endorphin. Everything But The Girl. Icehouse. Herdless. FKA Twigs. Abul Mogard. Godflesh. Gotye. Hans Zimmer. Aaron Copeland. John Farnham songs. John Williams (both of them!). Herbie Hancock. Karma County. Laura Jean. Led Zeppelin. Black Sabbath. Liz Stringer. Low. Sonoio. Beethoven. Madeline Goldstein. Jimi Little. Mahler. My Bloody Valentine. Pantera (despite them being problematic). Pet Shop Boys. Holst. Professor Ratbaggy. Queen. R.E.M. Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Rick Wakeman. silverchair. Roachford. Satie. Robert Miles. Scatman John. Joe Jackson. Scott Reeder. Shihad. Sunn O))). Spiritbox. Affection. 78 Saab. Rocket Science. Spacehog. Talk Talk. Talking Heads. The The. The Bird. The Police. The Stranglers. Tortoise. David A Stewart. Elton John. Billy Joel. Fleetwood Mac. Vangelis. Jean Michel Jarre. Nigel Westlake. Nick Tsiavos. Wendy Carlos. David Lynch, Angelo Badalmenti and Julee Cruse. Zane Trow. Laurent Garnier. 4MAT. Dr Awesome. Mick Rippon. Xerxes. Alex Strain. Hunz. Distaudio. Major Tom. Severed Heads. Itch-E & Sratch-E. Neneh Cherry. Lo-Tel. M83. Natalie Merchant. Warumpi Band. Sophie. Daryl Braithwaite. Real Life. Adam F. Alex Lloyd. Suzanne Vega. Gary Numan. Public Enemy. Air. Royksopp. The Chemical Brothers. Olive. Julian Lennon. Lionel Ritchie. Rupert Hine. Cocteau Twins. Active Child. Dvoŕák. Killing Joke. Deafheaven. Lamb. Kylie Minogue. Emel. Jam & Spoon. Hadaway. Corona. Michael Jackson. Edwyn Collins. DJ Shadow. Strawpeople. Insurge and C65. Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five. Anathema. Jeff Buckley. Zappa. John McLaughlin. Santana. The Naked and Famous. Kendrick Lamar. The Beatles. Yes. Warren G. Genesis. Elena Kats-Churnin. Tina Turner. Mark Williams. Snap! Machinations. Tupac. Hall & Oats. The Psychedelic Furs. UB40. Rhombus. Roger Sanchez. Chris Isaak. Flayer. Yothu Yindi. Countless others…