1993–1996: Formation and Subliminal Plastic Motives Self was formed in 1993 in
Murfreesboro, Tennessee by
Matt Mahaffey. Simultaneously, his band Ella Minopy with
Seth Timbs disbanded, and
Spongebath Records was founded by the two and talent manager Richard Williams. Mahaffey began writing his debut album after encouragement from Williams, recruiting his brother
Mike Mahaffey as a guitarist into Self for recording assistance. After a public performance in
Nashville, Tennessee, he received and accepted a
recording contract from
Zoo Entertainment in March 1995. followed by "
So Low" in 1996.
Jesse Peretz directed music videos for both songs, airing them on
MTV. The album was commercially successful, with sales exceeding 40,000 units by 1997,
1997–1998: The Half-Baked Serenade and ''Feels Like Breakin' Shit'' After touring, Tim Nobles was removed from the band. In an interview with
Silent Uproar, Mahaffey stated that "it just wasn't working out". He additionally felt that his first album gave the band an inaccurate public image, reinforced by Mahaffey's discomfort with his extravagant new lifestyle. significantly reducing guitar usage and leaning into
electropop instrumentation. and sold exclusively through mail order via Spongebath. disagreements over
singles for the album,
Breakfast with Girls was finally released via DreamWorks and Spongebath on July 13, 1999. As consolation for the delays, the EP
Brunch was given to customers who pre-ordered the album, as part of the soundtrack for the 1998 film
Dead Man on Campus. It was nominated for Song of the Year at the 1999 Nashville Music Association Awards. Another single for the album, "Meg Ryan", received airplay as the album's radio single. On August 4, 1998, the band released a
cover version of
Depeche Mode's "Shame" as part of the tribute album
For the Masses.
1999–2001: Gizmodgery and B-side releases While spending weekdays working on
Breakfast with Girls, Mahaffey began producing a fourth studio album on his weekends. Originally conceived as an idea in 1995, he was inspired by the
Pianosaurus album
Groovy Neighborhood (1987) to create an album entirely with
toy instruments.
Gizmodgery released through Spongebath on September 5, 2000, as an
HDCD. The album's sole single, "
Trunk Fulla Amps", has been commonly cited as a fan favorite. A music video for it was published in February 2001 as part of
MTV's "Indie Day", but wasn't aired due to Self's DreamWorks connection. Retrospectively, Todd Olmstead of
Vice described the album as Self's best-known. The compilation features scrapped songs and demos from the writing sessions of
Gizmodgery.
2001–2005: Film songs and Ornament & Crime The band contributed the song "
Stay Home" to the 2001 animated
fantasy comedy film
Shrek. Originally composed for its opening sequence, it was moved to the end credits in favor of
Smash Mouth's "
All Star", but still opens the
soundtrack album. This was followed by the song "
Out with a Bang" appearing in the 2001
sci-fi comedy film
Evolution, a track that would later appear on Self's fifth studio album. They began recording it in 2002, planning to return to the
rock styling of the band's debut. Before the album could be released, DreamWorks Records was bought and dissolved by
Universal Music Group, who left the album indefinitely unreleased. Additionally, when Mahaffey was offered work for the 2004 film
Shrek 2, they wrote "This is Love" and covered
the Archies' song "
Sugar, Sugar", but were not featured. In 2005, Self released their third compilation album,
Porno, Mint & Grime. It consists primarily of scrapped songs and demos from
Ornament & Crime, along with songs made for commercial work, including "This is Love".
2005–2008: Unreleased DVD and Wired All Wrong On May 25, 2005, Mike Mahaffey died in his sleep, driving the band into a hiatus shortly after. which was posted as a
bootleg recording on January 31, 2006. In 2005, a
live video album was recorded at
Spaceland. Its performance of "I Love to Love Your Love My Love" was posted to
YouTube in mid-2006, with the DVD itself being stuck in
development hell. In 2008, Mahaffey posted a cover of
AC/DC's song "
Back in Black" done solely on an
omnichord and drums, also from the album.
Self - Live at Spaceland Acoustic was made available for
pre-order in April 2008, though it was never released due to copyright issues involving the cover. In January 2005, Self was announced to be part of a
They Might Be Giants tribute album, covering the song "
Ana Ng". The song was previewed on MySpace in May, while
Hello Radio: The Songs of They Might Be Giants was released on July 11, 2006. Self's cover was praised by Tim O'Neil of
PopMatters for its
power pop approach and interpolation of another They Might Be Giants song, "Thermostat". On March 21, 2006, Self released the song "Sucked out the Center" on
MySpace. Multiple
remixes of the song were made by fans, with eight being posted on the band's page through April. Matt Mahaffey continued performing as Self while on hiatus but without other band members, who began working 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.
2007–2017: Super Fake Nice and re-issues in Los Angeles, California in 2014 A project titled
Super Fake Nice was announced in 2007, initially slated to be the band's sixth full-length studio album. releasing it on March 7, 2011. On May 10, 2010, Self released the single "Could You Love Me Now?" alongside a music video, followed by the track "
Looks and Money" on November 28, 2011. In January 2012, Mahaffey finished building a home studio in
Franklin, Tennessee, and began writing and recording more songs. Later in the year, Self began working with
El Camino Media, an independent label they would later sign to for the project's distribution. Self contributed the song "Stranger than Strange" to the compilation
Songs for Blake - Embracing Autism on May 13. which placed at number ten on
Rolling Stones top 20 music videos of 2014. The EP was released on July 29, followed by Self's TV debut on
Jimmy Kimmel Live! the next day. Jamie Good of
WRLT praised the track, comparing the updated instrumentation to the style of
Matty Healy. On November 29, 2024, he contributed the song "Merry Christmas, Santa" under the pseudonym Elfs to the album
Christmas in Space by Cake in Space, a composer collective by Mahaffey. Less than six months later in January 2026, the band had reached over a million monthly listeners on the platform. On March 9, Mahaffey revealed the title of Self's sixth album to be ''You've Been Tricked'', and requested
Discord users to post their favorite songs by the band for idea interpretation. ==Discography==