Michael J. Farrell is no stranger to drum corps. Hailing originally from Rockford, Illinois, he started his musical path at the age of 10 in the fall of 1980 with the Saganaires/Eagles Drum and
Bugle Corps playing soprano in parades throughout the state of Michigan. When his family moved back to Rockford the next year, he and his brother joined the Phantom Regiment Cadets. There he enjoyed undefeated Cadet Corps International championship seasons in '82, '83 (as Assistant Drum Major), '84 and '85. The 1984 Phantom Regiment Cadets are additionally the last ever VFW National champions. In '86, '87, and '88 he marched soprano with the Phantom Regiment, while also performing regionally as the lead singer in the midwest with rock band Shattered Plastix until '94. During this time he additionally played trumpet with the MSU Spartan Marching Band, and also formed rock band Dandelion Wine as chief song writer, lead singer and rhythm guitarist. He resumed his drum corps career in the drum line of Bridgemen Alumni, first playing cymbals in '15 and bass 1 in '16. For the '17 season he performed with Bridgemen Alumni (bass), Highland Regiment (glockenspiel) and soprano with the NY Skyliners Alumni. He is a board member of Highland Regiment, a Drum Corps Associates (DCA) start up corps based in Flemington, NJ.

Academically he holds a bachelor of arts degree in Finance from Michigan State University, an MBA in Management from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, a certificate of foreign studies on the business, economic and cultural aspects of the Kingdom of Thailand earned on site at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand, and is a Certified Fraud Examiner.

In his spare time he enjoys attending music performances, reading, architecture, and the occasional round of golf. He is the father of Mason, Eirinn, and Emmeline Farrell, who reside with their mother in Spring Hill, Florida.