Run to your grave: Mae Shi loses member ahead of UK dates

LA’s the Mae Shi will be heading over to the UK for a short string of dates later this month.

First up for the act is a Drowned in Sound-sponsored appearance at Bardens Boudoir in Dalston, London. The indie punk-cum-pop collective will go on to play five further dates in the capital, in and around shows in Birmingham, Liverpool and Nottingham.

Sounds reasonable to me:

January
21 Cardiff Buffalo Bar
22 London Bardens Boudoir
23 London Old Blue Last
24 London Macbeth
26 London Barfly
27 Nottingham Stealth
29 Liverpool Korova
30 London Gramaphone
31 London Hoxton Bar and Grill

February
1 Birmingham TBC
2 London the Mean Fiddler

More news from inside the Shi camp: bass player and founding member Tim Byron-Martinez is planning a grand final bow after deciding to leave the band. Speaking through a MySpace bulletin, Byron-Martinez revealed that tonight’s (3 Jan) show at the Smell in downtown Los Angeles would be his last.

“Here's where you come in -- I've sketched out how this last show is supposed to go and I need your help. Mid-show, I am going to hand the bass to Bill (Gray), at which point he will become the new bassist for the band.

“At that point, I want to exit the band BY CROWD-SURFING OFF THE SMELL'S STAGE. I have been in a band for five years but I have never crowd-surfed. I need 6-10 people in the front row to carry me off the stage and into my new life as a law student.”

It’ll be a particularly sharp ending for the bass player, who started the Mae Shi in 2002 “simply to get a chance to play at the Smell”.

With next album HLLLYH scheduled for an 11th of February release through Moshi Moshi, it seems he’s quitting on the verge of getting quite a bit more, but that’s neither here nor there now. Silver Daggers drummer Marcus Savino is also joining the Mae Shi, both new members presumably on board for those UK dates mentioned earlier.