Michael Adam Kandel, known professionally as Tranquility Bass, was born in 1967/1968 in Chicago, Illinois, and was an American musician whose music has been variously categorized as ambient house, trip hop, and funk rock. He began playing guitar and keyboards at age 12 and started recording experimental electronic music by 15. After attending the Chicago Academy for the Arts and CalArts in Los Angeles, he co-founded the Exist Dance label with Tom Chasteen in 1991. The duo released several singles, including "They Came in Peace", which appeared on the Mo' Wax compilation album Headz in 1994. After Chasteen's departure, he collaborated with Tyler Vlaovich to record his full-length album, Let the Freak Flag Fly, released by Astralwerks Records in 1997. The album featured the song "We All Want to be Free", which gained popularity through airplay on MTV's Amp. In 2002, he released his second album, Heartbreaks & Hallelujahs. He died on May 17, 2015, in Buffalo Grove, Illinois.
