When asked how he feels at the end of a day at work, Mike Sereny answers: “Funky.” 

It’s an emblematic response from the charismatic co-partner and founder of Toronto’s independent R&B, Soul, and Jazz label, Groove United, who spends his days advising younger brother Dave and playing keyboards on tracks recorded by Groove United artists. Occasionally, he plays the drums too. 

Born and raised in Toronto, Mike grew up grooving hard and going crazy to Harry Belafonte, Trini Lopez and The Beatles. He credits his harmonica-playing and singing father and younger brother Dave with being the greatest musical influence on his life, along with the universe. But it was his mother (“she is like a classical musicologist but without a college degree”) who really stoked the fires, purchasing a drum kit and guitar for four-year-old Mike to play along with The Beatles. The guitar met an untimely—and mysterious—end “Pete Townshend-style” after Mike discovered The Who; the drumkit fared better.

His guitar-smashing days behind him, and with a solid background in Royal Conservatory instruction, Mike undertook a stint in a business career that lasted long enough for him to realize that music was his true calling. He continued pursuing music, drawing from records—from rock to blues to jazz and beyond—gigs, and learning from other musicians.