Michelle Mae is an American

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

from the state of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, who is known for playing in

rock 'n' roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

groups such as The Make-Up and

Weird War Weird War, briefly known as Scene Creamers, is an indie rock band based out of Washington, D.C. The current lineup consists of Ian Svenonius on vocals, Michelle Mae on bass guitar, Alex Minoff on guitar, and Sebastian Thomson on drums. Weird W ...

Biography

Mae began playing with underground bands in

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region. European ...

in the mid-1990s, including a single recording with Witchy Poo, and a period with

Kill Rock Stars Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but was originally known ...

artists

The Frumpies The Frumpies were an American lo-fi punk rock band formed in 1992 in Olympia, Washington, United States. The original line-up consisted of singers/guitarists Tobi Vail, Kathi Wilcox, and Billy Karren (all of whom were also a part of the legendar ...

before moving to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

to help form The Make-Up in 1995. After The Make-Up dissolved in 2000, Mae joined

with some of her former Make-Up band mates. Her style is heavily funk inflected, influenced by

Funkadelic Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. The band and its sister act Parliament, both led by George Clinton, pioneered the funk music culture of the 1970s.John, Bush. Funkadeli ...

Billy "Bass" Nelson William "Billy Bass" Nelson (born January 28, 1951) is a U.S. musician, who was the original bassist for Funkadelic. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic. Caree ...

Larry Graham Larry Graham Jr. (born August 14, 1946) is an American bassist and baritone singer, both with the psychedelic soul/funk band Sly and the Family Stone and as the founder and frontman of Graham Central Station. In 1980, he released the single "O ...

, and

The Slits The Slits were a punk and post-punk band based in London, formed there in 1976 by members of the groups the Flowers of Romance and the Castrators. The group's early line-up consisted of Ari Up (Ariane Forster) and Palmolive (a.k.a. Paloma R ...

, as well as

Northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

stalwarts

Dead Moon Dead Moon was an American punk rock band active from 1987 to 2006, formed in Portland, Oregon. History Fronted by the singer/guitarist Fred Cole, the band also included the bass guitarist Toody Cole and the drummer Andrew Loomis. Veterans ...

. Typically focusing on the bass guitar, in

she plays a

Fender Jazz Bass The Fender Jazz Bass (often shortened to ''J-Bass'') is the second model of Bass guitar, electric bass created by Leo Fender. It is distinct from the Fender Precision Bass, Precision Bass in that its tone is brighter and richer in the midrange a ...

through a

Sunn Sunn (stylized in all lowercase) amplifiers was a brand of musical instrument amplifiers based in Tualatin, Oregon, United States. History In early 1963, the Kingsmen, a band based in Portland, Oregon, became known for their hit version of ...

cabinet, though in The Make-Up she often played

Hagström Hagström () is a musical instrument manufacturer in Älvdalen, Dalecarlia, Sweden. Their original products were accordions that they initially imported from Germany and then Italy before opening their own facility in 1932. During the late 1950s ...

and

Epiphone Epiphone is an American musical instrument brand that traces its roots to a musical instrument manufacturing business founded in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos in Smyrna, Ottoman Empire, and moved to New York City in 1908. After taking over his f ...

guitars through Kustom amplifiers. Mae is based in

, where she continues to work as a musician and practitioner of

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...

Discography

Witchy Poo

7 inch singles

*''Mixed Metaphor'' (Kill Rock Stars/5RC) (released 1995, recorded 1992-1994)

The Frumpies

Albums

*''Frumpie One Piece'' (Kill Rock Stars/5RC) (1998)

7 inch singles

*''Babies & Bunnies'' (Kill Rock Stars/5RC) (1993) *''Safety First'' (Wiiija) (1993)

The Make-Up

Studio albums

*'' Destination: Love - Live! At Cold Rice'' (Dischord) (1996) *'' Sound Verite'' (K Records) (1997) *''

In Mass Mind ''In Mass Mind'' is an album by The Make-Up, released in 1998. All tracks were written and composed by The Make-Up, except for tracks #1, #13, and #14. "Black Wire Pt. 1" and "Black Wire Pt. 2" are attributed as inspired by the MC5. "Caught u ...

'' (Dischord) (1998) *'' Save Yourself'' (K Records) (1999) *'' I Want Some'' (singles compilation) (K Records) (1999)

Live albums

*'' After Dark'' (Dischord) (1997) *'' Untouchable Sound - Live!'' (Drag City/Sea Note) (2006)

DVD / video

*''Blue is Beautiful'' (included on '' In Film/On Video'') (Dischord) (1998) *'' In Film/On Video'' (Dischord) (2006)

Weird War

Studio albums

*''

'' (Drag City) (2002) *'' I Suck on that Emotion'' (as Scene Creamers) (Drag City) (2003) *'' If You Can't Beat 'Em, Bite 'Em'' (Drag City) (2004) *'' Illuminated by the Light'' (Drag City) (2005)

DVD / video

*appears on '' Burn to Shine 01: Washington DC 01.14.2004'' (Trixie) (2005)

References

External links

Official Weird War website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mae, Michelle American rock bass guitarists American women guitarists Women bass guitarists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Guitarists from Washington (state) The Frumpies members The Make-Up members Weird War members 21st-century American women