Michelle Mae | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Michelle Mae [1] |
Origin | Washington, United States |
Genres | Rock 'n' roll, post-punk |
Occupation | Musician |
Instrument(s) | Bass guitar, vocals |
Years active | 1990–present |
Labels | Kill Rock Stars, Dischord, K, Southern |
Michelle Mae is an American musician from the state of Washington, who is known for playing in rock 'n' roll groups such as The Make-Up and Weird War.
Mae began playing with underground bands in Olympia, Washington in the mid-1990s, including a single recording with Witchy Poo, [2] and a period with Kill Rock Stars artists The Frumpies [3] before moving to Washington, D.C. to help form The Make-Up in 1995. After The Make-Up dissolved in 2000, Mae joined Weird War with some of her former Make-Up band mates.
Her style is heavily funk inflected, influenced by Funkadelic's Billy "Bass" Nelson, Larry Graham, and The Slits, as well as Northwest stalwarts Dead Moon.[ citation needed ]
Typically focusing on the bass guitar, in Weird War she plays a Fender Jazz Bass through a Sunn cabinet, though in The Make-Up she often played Hagström and Epiphone guitars through Kustom amplifiers.[ citation needed ]
Mae is based in Washington, D.C., where she continues to work as a musician and practitioner of mysticism. [4]
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The Make-Up is an American post-punk band from Washington, D.C. formed in 1995, consisting of ex-Nation of Ulysses frontman Ian Svenonius on vocals, James Canty on guitar and organ, Steve Gamboa on drums, and Michelle Mae on bass guitar. The Make-Up were joined in late 1999 by a fifth member, Alex Minoff, who played guitar with the group until the band's dissolution in early 2000.
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