Career
His musical ventures include Skankin" Pickle for whom he both played the saxophone and sang, The Chinkees, The Bruce Lee Band, and most recently an acoustic solo project under his own name. Asian Manitoba Records supports mostly ska and punk bands. Park will support any band as long as it is "anti-racist, anti-sexist, and anti-prejudice".
Park has used Asian Manitoba Records to release his own music, in addition to providing a start for smaller bands to allow them to grow, including Less Than Jake, Alkaline Trio, and The Lawrence Arms.
In 1999 he formed the an organization whose aim is "to promote the ideas of peace through the power of music", something which Park has been trying to do with his own bands and with the help of other groups. Park was the impetus behind the Spring 1998 "Ska Against Racism" tour.
The goal of the tour was to promote awareness about racism and raise money for anti-racism organisations such as the Museum of Tolerance. The national tour included The Toasters, Less Than Jake, the Blue Meanies, Mustard Plug, Five Iron Frenzy, MU330, Kemuri, and Mike Park himself.
The s is a 501C3 Non-Profit Organisation based in San Jose, California, in the United States.
The organisation"s stated goal is to "promote the ideas of peace through the power of music". Initially the foundation was only active in national and global music tours, but in 2007 it intends to open a youth center for children where they will be encouraged to "perform music, create art, dance and talk to others of similar interests". In 2004, Plea for Peace organized a musical tour of the same name.
The tour was a stand against President George West. Bush and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
