Rollin' With Their Homies: The Mae Shi

Today The Mae Shi are Jonathan Gray, Jeff Byron, Bill Gray and Jacob Cooper, although over their six year history they’ve had a line-up more variable than your average girl group. Gigwise meets the band on Brighton pier, where they are later to play their gig as part of The Great Escape festival. The family pub at the end of Brighton pier seems an unusual venue for them to unleash their punk rawk chaos. Although the band seems to thrive when playing in such unlikely surroundings, as Jeff recounts: “The most unusual gig we’ve played was probably at a middle school, kids set up a skate ramp which we played on. It was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life just seeing all these kids on skate ramps and kids in the crowd watching us and then just behind them all these parents just looking at us.”

Wherever the band play their live show is typically the most thrilling, transcendental performance you’re likely to experience. Jonathan: “Recording is really fulfilling but it’s different. With a live show you have more of a good time. You don’t go into the studio just to have a good time, which you do with a live show.” Good times are most certainly guaranteed at a Mae Shi gig, with the band exuding a persistently frantic energy and breaking down the performer/audience barriers by spending most of the time performing in the crowd.

The band’s latest release HLLYH manages to capture their live energy. It is a veritable punk rock/electro/super pop beast of an album and one of the most exciting releases of the year. It’s the first of the band’s proper UK releases, on Moshi Moshi. Jeff says: “It’s really exciting to have someone who wants to put out our records in the UK.” This is particularly so as they don’t have a label in the US at present, after the recent close of the excellent 5RC.

HLLYH was released in the US on their own Team Shi label. Jeff: “Team Shi is really about us collaborating with friends.” The idea of the collaborative project was ignited when “the vocalist couldn’t play a show and it just ended up with all crowd members being asked up on stage to sing… it was like Karaoke Shi.” explains Jonathan. The collaborative and DIY ethic runs throughout all areas of the band’s work from the live shows and records to artwork, music videos and t-shirts (the latter, by the way, are the greatest band tees, simply reading ‘I’m Glad You’re Alive’).
Jonathan: “I think The Mae Shi is what all of us put into it.”