Originally formed in Brooklyn in 1997, Shagg combines the sounds of classic funk and soul with modern pop/rock songwriting. Shagg is Aaron Mitchell (vocals), Michael Preston (guitar), Eddie Rubeiz (piano, vocals), and a rotating cast of friends and acquaintances.
Shagg started humbly with apartment jams and coffeehouse performances. As our lineup grew, our writing evolved from folksy, roots-based songs to full-blown compositions borrowing liberally from jazz, funk, soul, and world music.
We recorded our first demo in early 2000 with producer Stephen Shirk (PJ Loughran, HearYa.com Live Sessions), whose apartment studio was the perfect setting for our homegrown sound. Those sessions resulted in the Peach EP, featuring the songs "Shade of Melancholy" and "Just Ain't Enough," both finalists in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest that year.
We returned to the studio in 2002 with producer Joe DeVico (Joe Elefante, Dave Murphy), best known for his work with jazz ensembles. The goal was to make a record that captured our live sound, with a minimum of overdubbing. The record took three days to record and three years to mix, finally resulting in Buh Ba Ba Ba, a diverse set of 12 songs ranging from the exuberant funk of the title track to the jazzy James Merrill tribute "Renewal" to the eletronica-inspired "City in the Sky."
Based on rough mixes from the Buh Ba Ba Ba sessions, we were selected by the editors of CMJ to compete for the 2003 Coca-Cola New Music Award, which was the unsigned artist category of Dick Clark's American Music Awards. In 2006, the editors and fans of mtvU chose us to compete for a recording deal with Definitive Jux Records.
Shagg continues to write, record, and perform in New York City.
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