The Mae Shi

The Mae Shi is an American art punk and experimental pop band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2002. They are known for making frantic and joyous music that explores dark themes using a wide variety of sounds, instruments, and music genres. Their music has been described as "spazz rock," "avant-pop," "surprise music," "hyper-prog," and "punk with a bubblegum soul." They are closely associated with The Smell, an all-ages, volunteer-run venue in Los Angeles. Their third album, HLLLYH, was released to critical acclaim, with Pitchfork naming it the eighteenth best album of 2008.

The band was formed by Tim Byron and Ezra Buchla, who had known each other for years, having spent time growing up in the Los Angeles suburb of Claremont together—Jeff Byron and Buchla were classmates at Claremont High School and close friends. Originally, Tim played guitar, Buchla played a collection of 30-year-old Buchla modules and sang, and varying drummers accompanied them. When Jeff graduated from college, he joined the band on guitar and Tim moved to bass. After a few months of practicing together, the three met Brad Breeck, who was studying at the California Institute of Arts with Buchla and had performed versions of John Zorn's "strategy game piece" Cobra in an ensemble led by Buchla. (The ensemble also featured future Mae Shi drummer Corey Fogel).

The band began performing live in 2003. More shows throughout Los Angeles followed, and the band gained a reputation for its high-energy performances. Soon after, they released their first EP, To Hit Armor Class Zero, on the label Byron runs, Join or Die. They embarked on a tour in the summer of 2003, playing shows on the West coast. In Olympia, WA, they met Kill Rock Stars/5RC founder Slim Moon, with whom they kept in touch after the show.

Through the fall of 2003 and winter of 2004, they worked on their debut LP, recording songs in their living rooms and bedrooms using borrowed gear. They sent a CD-R of the record to Moon in April 2004, and one week later in an Instant Messenger conversation, he offered to release it on Kill Rock Stars' sister label 5 Rue Christine. Terrorbird was released in July 2004, and the band embarked on a 31-day, 32-show tour to promote it, without using a booking agent. The band played with bands such as Fat Day and Rapider Than Horsepower. To promote their first LP to say thanks to their mostly Los Angeles-based fanbase, they released The Mae Shi 2004 Mixtape. The 70-minute tape collects their favorite parts from their favorite 2000 songs.

In 2005, they released an EP (titled Heartbeeps for the U.S. version released by 5RC and Go Zbra by Swedish label Deleted Art), and a split LP with Rapider Than Horsepower called Do Not Ignore the Potential on Narshardaa in Europe (released in January 2006 on Strictly Amateur Films in the U.S). They embarked on a five-week tour of Europe in May 2005 with the band Rapider Then Horsepower. Upon returning to the US in June 2005, they were named "best punk/hardcore band" in the LA Weekly's 2005 Music Awards.

In October 2005, they embarked on another US tour. Corey Fogel, who joined the band in the middle of their European tour as a mid-tour replacement for Breeck when he suffered a family emergency, joined the band full-time as drummer, with Breeck switching to guitar, keyboards and drums. To help fund the tour, they released two limited edition CD-Rs, I and II.

Their debut DVD, Lock The Skull, Load The Gun, was released in April 2006 on 5RC. It combined 32 music videos made by friends and fans with an hour-long tour documentary chronicling their Celebration Tour. In July 2006, it was announced that Buchla had left the band approximately two months before. Fogel has also since left the band. Both departing members formed the group Gowns. Breeck returned to playing the drums, and it was announced in September/October 2006 that Jonathan Gray had joined the band as singer/guitarist.

Although the band decided to not play outside of their LA home after their Fall 2005 tour, they participated in a small two-week East Coast tour in August 2007 with Yea Big + Kid Static. On the tour, the band offered two limited edition CD-Rs, "III" ('HLLLYH' out-takes and demos) and IIII (Kingdom Come out-takes), along with a limited release of HLLLYH on cassette. The same year they appeared in the film What We Do Is Secret performing as The Screamers in The Masque scene, playing a cover version of the Germs' "Sex Boy" with Rich Moreno playing the role of Tomata du Plenty.