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THE AUTOMATIC MUSIC EXPLOSION describes themselves as "The MC5 covering The Archies". It all began in January of 2006 when Matt, who had recently relocated from New York City to Los Angeles, met Max at an LA record store. Within a few days the two agreed to start a band. A week later they were joined by Chris, fresh from Cleveland. The three of them immediately started rehearsing five nights a week. Within a couple months, Detroit city rocker Jodie and Philly transplant Jeff were added & the line up was complete. The newly formed group found common ground in high energy bands ranging from The Dave Clark Five to AC/DC as well as the early 70’s sleazy Sunset Strip glitter scene. It was now their mission to take that spirit & energy into the future.

The AME played their first two shows on the same night, August 1, 2006. They booked themselves at two different clubs on opposite ends of Los Angeles with an hour in between each show. A perfect start for the band that Sam Lanni (Owner - Safari Sam’s, Los Angeles) calls the “The hardest working band in Los Angeles”. Immediately, the band began playing anywhere & everywhere they could, building their reputation as well as their live show. Along the way, they recorded & released a 4 song EP entitled “This Is!” This led to airplay by Rodney Bingenheimer, Los Angeles' KROQ & Indie 103.1 as well as all of the songs being licensed for various MTV programming, most recently the April '08 Season Premiere of "The Real World - Hollywood".

The band continued to work hard, spending their nights playing clubs from Santa Barbara to San Diego & their days performing at local High Schools. Now it was time to record a full-length record. The AME chose to work with acclaimed and Legendary Producer Mike Chapman. Having written & produced over 140 top ten hits & sold over 350 million records worldwide with artists such as Blondie, The Knack, The Sweet, Suzi Quatro & many more, he was the perfect producer for The AME’s style of rock & roll.

When asked how a band with no record deal & no management were able to get the attention of a Producer like Chapman, Matt explains, “I Googled his name for weeks and found out where he lived. I basically stalked him." After sending Chapman a copy of their EP and getting no response back, the band took all the money they had & in a bold move, flew Matt back East to meet Chapman in person. A month later Chapman flew to Los Angeles to see the band perform live & he was blown away. Mike says, “I have been in this business a long time & I have never seen anything like them in my life”.

Max speaks with an excited energy when he talks about the future of the band, “We’ve got a finished record that we’re really proud of. The next step for us is to build our team & then decide how we are going to get this record out there”. With such personality & a powerhouse of music, THE AUTOMATIC MUSIC EXPLOSION is a band that knows what it wants & will do what it takes to get it.

-Michael Fields (freelance writer - SPIN, Alternative Press)
photo: Jillian Schroeder