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Self
Self performing at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, California in 2014
Background information
Origin	Murfreesboro, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres	Alternative rock
Years active	1993–present
Labels	El Camino Media, Zoo Entertainment, Spongebath, DreamWorks
Spinoffs	Wired All Wrong
Members	Matt Mahaffey Chris James Mac Burrus Jason Rawlings Brian Rogers
Past members	Timm Nobles Mike Mahaffey
Website	self.is

Self (stylized as sElf) is an American alternative pop rock band from Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The band is led by Matt Mahaffey. The band currently consists of Chris James (keyboards, piano, samplers, guitar, backing vocals), Mac Burrus (bass guitar, keyboards, horns, backing vocals), and Jason Rawlings (drums). Past members include Matt's older brother, Mike Mahaffey (lead guitar, keyboards, vocals) and Timm Nobles (bass guitar). Mahaffey cites Electric Light Orchestra, Prince, and Pixies as some of his biggest musical influences.

History

Formation, Subliminal Plastic Motives (1993-1997)

Self began with founders Matt and Mike Mahaffey recording songs in their childhood home in the early 1990s, following brief forays with other groups. The band's debut album, Subliminal Plastic Motives, was released in 1995 on the Spongebath Records, a label the Mahaffeys helped found. During this early period, the band featured Matt on vocals and guitar, Mike on lead guitar, Tim Nobles on bass, Chris James on keyboards and samplers, and Jason Rawlings on drums.

The album was followed in 1997 by The Half-Baked Serenade, an album released exclusively through a mail order catalog, and in 1997, an album released for free via the Internet called Feels Like Breakin' Shit. Around this time, bassist Timm Nobles was replaced by Mac Burrus, formerly of Murfreesboro rock band The Plain.

Signing with Dreamworks, Breakfast with Girls (1998-2001)

An EP titled Brunch (1998) and the album Breakfast with Girls (1999) were co-released by the Spongebath and DreamWorks labels. In addition to these releases, Self contributed and covered "Shame" to the Depeche Mode tribute album For the Masses

Back at Spongebath, Self released Gizmodgery in September 2000, an album created entirely with children's toy instruments. Self released two more free Internet-only albums, Self Goes Shopping on December 16, 2000; and released song batches of Selfafornia throughout the summer of 2001. Self released the song Trunk Fulla Amps as the lead single of their album Gizmodgery in February 2001.

Unreleased music, Porno, Mint & Grime (2002-2005)

Self released the song Stay Home, composed for the 2001 DreamWorks animated fairy tale comedy film Shrek, solely under Matt Mahaffey’s name in 2002. Self also covered the Archies’ song Sugar, Sugar, and created the song “This is Love” exclusively for Shrek 2, but the songs were not featured for unknown reasons.

Self also created the song “Scotty Doesn’t Know” for the movie EuroTrip in 2004, but their song was rejected and replaced with the band Lustra’s version of “Scotty Doesn't Know”.

An album entitled Ornament and Crime was completed in November of 2003 and was set to become the band's fifth commercial release in August 2004. When Universal Music Group acquired DreamWorks Records, the band's label at the time, the album was shelved indefinitely. A few songs from Ornament and Crime had been featured on the band's MySpace. In 2005, Self again released an album for free on the Internet. Porno, Mint & Grime consists of demos recorded during the 2001-2004 sessions from Ornament and Crime, including “This is Love”.

A live video, intended to be released on home video formats, remains unreleased. Recorded in 2005 at Spaceland, the performance includes a cover of AC/DC's hit song "Back in Black." Several videos of songs from the DVD, including the "Back in Black" cover, have been posted online on Mahaffey's MySpace and YouTube profiles.

Side projects and Super Fake Nice (2006–2016)

New music and live performances since the release of Porno, Mint & Grime became sporadic. Lead guitarist Mike Mahaffey died in May 2005, and his role in the band has yet to be filled, though the remaining members played a show in his honor on October 9, 2005. They have performed since as a full band and Matt Mahaffey has appeared as Self in solo performances. Despite this, members of the band have been working primarily on other projects. Rawlings played drums in a group called Suburban Tragedy, and Mahaffey also formed a new band, Wired All Wrong, with former God Lives Underwater member Jeff Turzo. Wired All Wrong released their first album, Break Out The Battle Tapes on September 12, 2006. Additionally, Matt has worked as a producer and performer for other artists including Beck and Hellogoodbye and as a composer for children's TV shows including Nickelodeon's Ni Hao, Kai-Lan.

Self covered "Ana Ng," for the They Might Be Giants tribute album Hello Radio: The Songs of They Might Be Giants, released in July 2006.

On January 13, 2007, Mahaffey announced on his MySpace blog that a new Self album, tentatively titled Super Fake Nice, was in the works. In late 2008, several new tracks appeared on his MySpace. On May 19, 2010, Self-released the single "Could You Love Me Now?" for digital download. In July 2011, work on a new studio album was said to be progressing, and Mahaffey stated that he was considering Kickstarter as a means of funding the project. On November 30, 2011, Self made available the track "Looks and Money" for digital download. Matt Mahaffey officially announced the production of a new “Self album” on December 15, 2011.

As of 2012, Mahaffey has permanently returned to the Nashville area. Self played a sold-out reunion show in Nashville on December 29, 2012 at Exit/In with Fluid Ounces guitarist Brian Rogers filled Mike Mahaffey's guitar slot.

After a long delay, Self released the single “Runaway” on July 11, 2014; and a music video which helped the song go viral. Self released their EP entitled Super Fake Nice on July 29, 2014.

Self released the single “Monogamy” with its B-side being the previously released “Could You Love Me Now?”. Released on Record Store Day 2015 alongside bands like Crooks On Tape, and In This Moment.

Ornament and Crime, Hiatus, Independent work (2017-present)

After the album spent thirteen quiet years in limbo, Ornament and Crime was released on August 25, 2017 via El Camino Media, who had previously released Super Fake Nice in 2014.

In 2017, Chris James famously worked alongside Prince for their final studio project, Hit n Run Phase Two.

Ever since 2017, music from Self has been stagnant; in 2022, Matt announced via his Instagram account that he was making new Self music for the first time in nearly 10 years. Self released the single “Love You Less” on November 6, 2024, and released the song “Merry Christmas, Santa” under the pseudonym “eLFs” for Matt’s singer collective Cake in Space’s “Christmas Sampler” on November 29, 2024.

Discography

Studio albums

• Subliminal Plastic Motives (1995)
• The Half-Baked Serenade (1997)
• Breakfast with Girls (1999)
• Gizmodgery (2000)
• Ornament and Crime (2017)

References

1. "Self | Biography & History". AllMusic.
2. Flippo, Chet (August 9, 1997). "Murfreesboro Emerges As an Unlikely Music Mecca". Billboard. pp. 7, 65–67. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
3. Ryan, Mike (August 17, 2018). "Don't Tell Scotty but Here's an Oral History of 'Scotty Doesn't Know'". Uproxx. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
4. Matt Mahaffey mini biography Archived 2011-07-14 at the Wayback Machine
5. "sElf - Back In Black". YouTube. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
6. ^ "Matt Mahaffey interview with Rocksellout.com". Rocksellout.com. Retrieved November 13, 2009.
7. Masters, Andrew. "Epic Home Studio Set-Up 2022". YouTube. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
8. "Matt building". self-centered.org. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
9. "Kickstarter". self-centered.org. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
10. "sElf / Matt Mahaffey". Facebook.com.
11. "sElf / Matt Mahaffey". Facebook.com.
12. "Matt Mahaffey Returns To Tennessee With New Studio". Musicrow.com. January 23, 2012.
13. "Super Fake Now". Self.is. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
14. "Ornament & Crime; Porno, Mint & Grime". Mattmahaffey.com.
15. "RSR075 – Chris James – Grammy Nominee – Best Engineered Album for Prince – Recording Studio Rockstars". 10 February 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2019.

External links

• Allmusic - Self biography
• Matt Mahaffey / Self MySpace page
• Self's discography at the Discogs database

• Alternative rock groups from Tennessee
• Fat Possum Records artists