Michelson was the founding member of the Chicago-based punk/pop group I.U.D. He played guitar, sang lead vocals, and wrote many of the group's crowd favorites (i.e., "More Than My Love" and "Birth Control Pills"). Approached by Ken Kurson of the Lilacs (and Green) in a bathroom at Brixie's (Brookfield, IL) in 1992, he accepted the offer to become the bassist for Kurson's power-pop outfit The Lilacs.