Maè

Mae
Mae performing at the Soundwave festival 2008.
Background information
Origin	Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.
Genres	indie rock,emo
Years active	2002–2011, 2013–present
Labels	Tooth & Nail, Capitol, Cell, Spartan Records
Associated acts	River James, Schematic, My God It's Full of Stars
Website	www.whatismae.com
Members	Dave Elkins Zach Gehring Jacob Marshall Rob Sweitzer Mark Padgett
Past members	William Clark Jacob Clemons

Mae is an American rock band that formed in Norfolk, Virginia in 2001. The band's name is an acronym for "Multi-sensory Aesthetic Experience", based on a course taken by drummer Jacob Marshall while a student at Old Dominion University.

Jacob Marshall and Dave Elkins began what would become Mae by writing their first song, "Embers and Envelopes", in Marshall's living room. The band signed with Tooth and Nail Records and released their first album, Destination: Beautiful, in 2003. They released their second full-length album, The Everglow, in 2005. The band toured extensively to promote it, and also performed on the Vans Warped Tour. Mae re-released The Everglow in 2006, adding three new songs and a two-hour DVD.

Later in 2006, the band signed to Capitol Records for their third full-length album. Mae began recording the album in the fall of 2006, working with producer Howard Benson (who has produced albums for Saosin, My Chemical Romance, Blindside, and Relient K). The album, titled Singularity, was released on August 14, 2007. On June 19, 2007, the band released the first single from Singularity, "Sometimes I Can't Make It Alone".

On September 24, 2007 Padgett and Sweitzer parted ways with Mae. The following year, Mae announced that they had split ways with Capitol Records. They also stated that they would embark on a new, experimental project, releasing one new song for each month of 2009. Each song would be available to download on their website for a minimum donation of $1, with proceeds going to humanitarian projects of Mae's choosing. Additionally, they would be compiling the monthly songs into three separate EPs entitled (m)orning, (a)fternoon and (e)vening, respectively.

In July 2009, Mae announced they were starting their own label called "Cell Records" through which they would release their three-EP set. In order to get in-store distribution Mae returned to their original label Tooth and Nail Records and signed a distribution agreement with the label. The (m)orning EP was released in stores and online on September 22, 2009. There was a limited edition scratch-and-sniff disk that was only available on their spring US tour and which was scented like the ocean (the band encouraged members in the crowd of their live shows to smell the disc during their song "The Ocean"). Mae released the (a)fternoon EP in stores and online March 30, 2010. The final EP, (e)vening, was initially available in a limited edition on the band's "Goodbye, Goodnight" tour. The EP was then released in stores and online on March 8, 2011 bundled with a DVD of their hometown farewell show filmed at The Norva in Norfolk, VA. The farewell show features 20 songs, with songs from each of their full-length records and their three most recent EPs.