Los Angeles spazz-punks The Mae Shi have announced that several of their members are to form a new group.
The Mae Shi is the result of a longstanding friendship. Having known each other since High School Tim Byron and Ezra Buchla decided to take their more music a little more seriously, forming The Mae Shi.
Since then, the group have expanded and contracted more times than anyone cares to mention. Playing their first show in 2003, the band soon earned a reputation for their feral live shows.
Debut album ‘Terrorbird’ was followed by a 32 date, 31 day tour in which the band played all manner of venues. The Mae Shi built up a loyal fan base, who they later rewarded with the 70 minute mixtape ‘The Mae Shi 2004 Mixtape’ – containing pieces of over 1000 songs.
The band have moved beyond this to claim a form of respectability. Last year’s album ‘HLLLYH’ was a critical success, and saw The Mae Shi rein in their more unpredictable tendencies for something a little more streamlined.
However this could well be the last full length album released by the band. The Mae Shi have always gained and lost members, but this time the group could well be split into two, with three of the bands four full time members due to leave.
The Mae Shi contain six onstage members, which are set to be rapidly whittled down. The Los Angeles band are due to play a set at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago this weekend, after which they plan to split.
Three members of the band are due to leave and join a new group named Signals. The outfit already have a MySpace and a Twitter account, although very little has been posted on either.
A recent Twitter update simply states: “Chicago watup”.
American magazine Pitchfork states that the band will not split up, with founder member Jeff Byron due to retain the band name. The Mae Shi also confirmed that they will play a variety of old songs at the Pitchfork event, alongside a batch of new Signals songs.
Jeff Byron has yet to confirm what form The Mae Shi will now take.
