While Mike Bark, a principal at Edge Advisors LLC in West Allis, spends most days in the accounting world where “everything is buttoned up,” but outside of the office he lets loose with what he calls “an aggressive, energetic form of music.”
The heavy metal hits of Metallica.
Bark, who has played the guitar for the past 25 years, belongs to the band “Roast Beef Sandwich,” which covers the songs of Iron Maiden, Anthrax, Slayer and Metallica.
“I don’t think it’s something that’s necessarily expected out of an accountant,” Bark said.
“Roast Beef Sandwich,” comprised of Bark on bass guitar, Pat Pfohl on lead guitar and Jason Osten on drums, formed nearly three years ago among friends with a shared interest in heavy metal and a shared passion for playing music.
The three get together about once a month to jam at a band member’s house.
Bark credits bandmate Pfohl for conceiving the name “Roast Beef Sandwich” off the cuff.
In learning new heavy metal classics, Bark relies on the same structure and order he uses when computing numbers in the office.
Mastering songs and crunching numbers is a lot like piecing together a puzzle, he said.
“The same things that makes someone a good accountant makes someone interested in music,” Bark said.
While “Roast Beef Sandwich” has yet to perform in public, the band has its sights set on a live show. Bark, Pfohl and Osten just have to find the time, the right lead singer and the right venue for their head banging renditions.
“Maybe at some point somebody will want Metallica played at their wedding,” Bark said. “You just have to find that one person.”
