1988年5月Mike Vanportfleet组建了LYCIA,他带领着乐队的其他成员用音乐描述着一个荒凉的世界。短暂的加入的John Fair,几进几出的Will Welch,David Galas以及Tara Vanflower-Mike后来的终身伴侣。

发表歌曲

乐队风格 ：

乐队成员：

乐队历史：(1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006)

发表歌曲

1989年LYCIA在 Orphanage Records旗下发表了一张6首歌的EP:WAKE.那时的他们还是以吉他贝司为主要表现方法.1991年,lycia在Projekt发表了 IONIA,Mike在Will执意离开而使BYZANTINE这本来应该出版的作品流产后独自创作了全部的作品,那是一种荒凉,空旷的氛围音乐.含有大量的合成器声响.在随后的岁月里,Mike不断的创作着新的作品:93年的A DAY IN THE STARK CORNER 94年的LIVE(LYCIA首次演出的录音,David

Galas加入到乐队里来,同年两人组成了一个分支乐队BLEAK,并与95年发表了专辑VANE.不同于LYCIA的作品，VANE是一张暗淡的抑郁民谣作品)95年的THE BURNING CIRCLE AND THEN DUST是一个值得纪念的双专辑，并不是指音乐又回到了LYCIA那种混合了吉他贝斯与合成器的荒凉萧瑟的招牌音乐,而是第二张专辑中女歌手Tara Vanflower的出现,这位后来的MIKE夫人当年还是个小姑娘,她为LYCIA带来一种清澈的歌声,但丝毫也不损害以往LYCIA音乐中那种孤独和凋零的气氛,反之更加映衬出那种种荒芜背后的悲苦.96年COLD推出的背后是Mike的身体被病魔纠缠,这很不幸,LYCIA停止了所有的活动,消失在人们的视线里.在修养期间mike夫妇组建了Estraya,而David组建了自己的Snowblind,但都没有真正出品作品.97年,lycia已经濒临解散,但大家还是决定为它做一次好的巡演留做纪念.98年ESTRELLA发表,这张他独自创作的专辑本来应属于BLEAK的作品,mike考虑后还是用lycia发表了他在丧母与自身重病的情况下坚持完成专辑..99年TARA VANFLOWER在MIKE的帮助下发表了自己的首张专辑THIS WOMB LIKE LIQUID HONEY。一个诡异凄凉的黑暗音乐童话.同年还有一件大事就是mike成立了自己的厂牌Lycium Music. John Fair，Will Welch,David Galas都加入到这个厂牌下.2001年Estraya终于推出了自己的首张专辑,同年projekt也发表了两张LYCIA的精选集.

听LYCIA 及Mike其它分支组合的作品你会发现一张比一张荒凉,悲楚.有如从深秋走到隆冬.有人说是mike居住的俄亥俄荒野的小山令他的音乐如此,有人说是他那久治不愈的病痛令他的音乐如此,但我想主要还是他的内心世界本就如此荒芜吧.lycia虽然结束了，但Estraya完全继承了它的血脉.

乐队风格 ：

黑潮

乐队成员：

John Fair: bass, drum programs

David Galas: drum programs, synth

Mike VanPortfleet: guitars, bass, drum programs, synth, vocals

Will Welch: bass, drum programs, synth

乐队历史：

1988

May: Mike VanPortfleet forms Lycia, initially as a solo project, in Tempe, AZ.

Summer: Will Welch joins as an occasional collaborator.

November: John Fair joins Lycia. Will Welch's involvement fades.

1989

January: Lycia's guitar/bass style develops.

March: WAKE is recorded, and released as a 6 song cassette on Orphanage Records.

Fall: Lycia's sound begins to move towards a more synth/guitar direction.

1990

May: John Fair leaves Lycia and joins Caterwaul.

Summer: Will Welch rejoins. Lycia's sound moves in a harsher/industrial direction.

Fall: Work begins on Lycia's first release for Projekt.

1991

Spring: Lycia's first release, to be called BYZANTINE, is determined to be unmixable and is aborted. Will Welch quits Lycia. Mike VanPortfleet gathers song fragments from the previous year and works them into what becomes IONIA. Lycia's style becomes more darkly ambient.

August: The initial A DAY IN THE STARK CORNER songs are recorded.

September: IONIA is released by Projekt.

1992

Summer: Will Welch briefly rejoins Lycia then quits. Before leaving he collaborates on a few acoustic based songs.

August: A DAY IN THE STARK CORNER is finished.

Fall: Work starts on acoustic material that eventually evolves into disc one of THE BURNING CIRCLE AND THEN DUST.

1993

April: Lycia plays first live show, in Scottsdale, AZ. David Galas assists with the live performance.

May: Mike VanPortfleet asks David Galas to assist with the upcoming STARK CORNER tour.

September: A DAY IN THE STARK CORNER is released by Projekt. A short California tour follows.

October: WAKE is re-released by Projekt with additional out takes.

November: Mike VanPortfleet forms Bleak to explore the noisier, more chaotic side of Lycia, and asks David Galas to join as an equal collaborator. The work on VANE begins.

1994

February: VANE is completed.

March: David Galas joins Lycia as a permanent member. Work starts on THE BURNING CIRCLE AND THEN DUST, a release that hearkens back to Mike VanPortfleet's guitar based roots.

Summer: LIVE, recordings from 1993's STARK CORNER tour, is released by Projekt. Mike VanPortfleet and John Fair form the instrumental side project Dust. Dust's sound is comparable to the early, more up-tempo Lycia style. A full length release is recorded, but the final mix is muddy and sounds incomplete. The project is put on hold, with the better songs being parted out to comps.

August: THE BURNING CIRCLE AND THEN DUST is finished. Originally planned as a single disc (disc one).

September: Additional material is recorded for possible inclusion on THE BURNING CIRCLE AND THEN DUST. The new material returns to the synth/guitar style.

October: Tara Vanflower travels from Ohio to sing on two new songs, and is asked to join Lycia.

1995

January: More new songs are written. THE BURNING CIRCLE AND THEN DUST becomes a double disc, with the newer material slated for disc two.

February: VANE is released by Projekt.

April: THE BURNING CIRCLE AND THEN DUST is released by Projekt. The BURNING CIRCLE tour starts.

May: Lycia relocate to Streetsboro, OH during a break in the BURNING CIRCLE tour.

June/July: The BURNING CIRCLE tour continues.

September: David Galas quits the live band.

October/November: Lycia finish up the BURNING CIRCLE tour opening shows for Type-O-Negative.

December: Works starts on COLD, a release that Mike VanPortfleet states will return Lycia to it's STARK CORNER style.

1996

January: Mike VanPortfleet develops health problems, and soon after Lycia enter a period of inactivity. Tensions build within the band.

February: COLD is completed.

Spring: A rift develops within the band. Mike VanPortfleet and Tara Vanflower form the treated acoustic side project Estraya, and David Galas starts work on his Snowblind project. Both projects are soon abandoned. A second Bleak release is started, but also abandoned. Mike VanPortfleet later revamps his Bleak contributions on the ESTRELLA release.

Summer: Mike VanPortfleet plays a solo Bleak show in Chicago, a day after a Lycia performance at the first Projekt festival.

August: David Galas leaves Lycia and moves back to Arizona.

September: COLD is released by Projekt.

October: Mike VanPortfleet and Tara Vanflower get married.

1997

February: Mike VanPortfleet and Tara Vanflower end Lycia's period of inactivity. They agree to extensively tour in support of COLD. They prepare a live set of mostly instrumentals and unreleased songs.

April/May: The first leg of the COLD tour.

Summer: Lycia play several one-off shows, including Mexico City. The live set is revamped with new songs.

October: The second leg of the COLD tour.

November: The work on ESTRELLA begins.

1998

January: The ESTRELLA sessions are completed.

Spring: The initial work starts on Tara Vanflower's first solo release, called THIS WOMB LIKE LIQUID HONEY.

May: ESTRELLA is released by Projekt. Mike VanPortfleet describes the sound as a mixture of COLD and WAKE.

July: Lycia plays the three Projekt festivals, assisted by J Bennett on synth. Soon after, Mike VanPortfleet states that Lycia will never perform live again.

Fall: After struggling with health problems for over two years, Mike VanPortfleet quietly ends Lycia. Plans for a new all electronic project (to be called Polaris) and a Mike VanPortfleet solo release are also aborted.

1999

January: THIS WOMB LIKE LIQUID HONEY is completed. The style is quite experimental, and very unlike Lycia. Only months after making the decision to end Lycia, Mike VanPortfleet resurrects the band. Former members John Fair and David Galas rejoin Lycia, and the initial work starts on the band run label Lycium Music.

Spring: Work on the first Lycium Music release starts (the treated acoustic side project Estraya).

August: THIS WOMB LIKE LIQUID HONEY is released by Projekt.

September: The Estraya recording sessions end, and Mike VanPortfleet wraps up the final mix. The E.P. release is dubbed THE TIME HAS COME AND GONE.

November: Work starts on ESTRELLA's follow up, EMPTY SPACE. With the return of both David Galas and John Fair, Mike VanPortfleet refers to the restored band as "the Lycia reunion".

December: Mike VanPortfleet abruptly ends Lycia as the EMPTY SPACE sessions fall apart, and retires from music.

2000

January: Estraya's THE TIME HAS COME AND GONE is released as a limited edition by Lycium Music.

June: Five songs from the EMPTY SPACE sessions are briefly released as a mp3 only EP release on mp3.com.

July: Tara Vanflower performs two solo live shows, including the Cornerstone Festival in Illinois.

2001

January: COMPILATION APPEARANCES VOL. 1, featuring songs recorded in Arizona during the early 1990's, is released on Projekt.

Spring: Mike and Tara VanPortfleet relocate back to Mesa, AZ.

July: COMPILATION APPEARANCES VOL. 2, featuring songs recorded in Ohio during the mid to late 1990's, is released on Projekt.

Summer: Mike VanPortfleet mixes the four unfinished "instrumental" EMPTY SPACE songs, thus finally completing the nine song Lycia EMPTY SPACE release. Mike and Tara VanPortfleet secretly record Estraya's TRIPPING BACK INTO THE BROKEN DAYS.

2002

Spring: Several songs from 1996's COLD are licensed for use in the independent film Lana's Rain.

July: The treated acoustic/ambient TRIPPING BACK INTO THE BROKEN DAYS is released under the Lycia name by Projekt.

2003

October: Lycia leaves Projekt.

December: EMPTY SPACE is released by Silber Records.

2004

Spring: Mike VanPortfleet records solo debut, the dark ambient BEYOND THE HORIZON LINE.

September: BEYOND THE HORIZON LINE is released by Silber Records.

October/November/December: Tara Vanflower records her 2nd solo CD, MY LITTLE FIRE-FILLED HEART and writes her first novel, VIOLENT VIOLET.

2005

January: Mike VanPortfleet remasters Lycia's 1998 release ESTRELLA.

Winter/Spring: David Galas finishes first solo CD and signs to Vendlus Records. Tara Vanflower collaborates with Timothy Renner of Stone Breath on the new project called Black Happy Day. Mike VanPortfleet provides ambient backgrounds for Vlor and loops for The Unquiet Void.

March: Silber releases Tara Vanflower's MY LITTLE FIRE-FILLED HEART, and also reissues ESTRELLA

Summer/Fall: Mike VanPortfleet remasters Lycia's 1995 release THE BURNING CIRCLE AND THEN DUST.

2006

Winter/Spring: David Galas' THE CATACLYSM is released by Vendlus Records. Silber reissues Lycia's THE BURNING CIRCLE AND THEN DUST. John Fair forms the all instrumental project Paper Gods.