Full Name: Mike Coolen

Date of birth: 09-06-1975

Band member since: 2011

Hobbies: Playstation 3, sports (running), trying to play the guitar, recording in homestudio, reading (Stieg Larsson)

Favorite music: Stone Sour, Muse, Foo Fighters, Nine Inch Nails

Favorite movies: StarWars, Minority Report, War of the Worlds, LOTR


Mike Coolen was born in Tilburg on June 9th, 1975. He started playing drums at the age of 10 and started his first band with high-school friends when he was 13 years old. In 1999 Mike joined the Dutch crossover metal band Brotherhood Foundation in which Ruud Jolie was playing. Next he joined Chillburn, a Dutch Elektro Rock band, where he played the drums from 2001 until 2005.

In 2005 he played for the first time with Within Temptation as an additional percussionist at the Java Eiland concert in Amsterdam. In 2007 he joined the band again at the Beursgebouw Eindhoven show and in 2008 for the band’s first theatre tour.

2009 was the year of ‘singer-songwriter’ band Cloudmachine and in 2010 Mike also joined the band Maiden United as their drummer.

After joining Within Temptation again in 2010 for their second theatre tour Mike became their new drummer as from February 2011 on.

Besides playing the drums himself, Mike also teaches drum classes and is the proud father of his son Storm, born in October 2009.