[clarification needed] Mikhail also composed the piano soundtrack to Ruta Sepetys' New York Times bestseller Between Shades of Gray which was released in 2011.

[4] Turning his attention to mainstream music, Mikhail spent the next four years at Purdue University, in West Lafayette, performing in bands as lead vocalist and keyboardist while pursuing a degree in finance.

Throughout the next two years in his A&R role, Mikhail assisted in the signings and promotion of acts including Blake Shelton, Clay Walker, Daryle Singletary, The Wilkinsons and Georgia Middleman.

Winning the "Lay It Down and Mix It Up in the UK" fan-vote contest sponsored by Eventful, Tunecore, and Solid State Logic in October of that year, he traveled to Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios in England to record.

[5] In early 2008, Mikhail was featured as an "internet sensation" by Billboard magazine in its "Underground" video series[6] and later that year was invited to perform alongside Matt Wertz, Matthew Perryman Jones, and Jeremy Lister for the Nashville Songwriters Association International Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival in Nashville.