Mahjongg

Mahjongg fuse the sharp edge of electronic textures with the wry humor and tuneful instincts of indie rock plus the loose rhythmic drive of funk and Afro-beat, yielding an intelligent yet club-ready style that quickly positioned them among the most discussed outfits in Chicago’s active music community. The band originated in Columbia, MO, during 2001 when singer and guitarist Jeff Carrillo joined forces with percussionist, keyboardist, and vocalist Hunter Husar. They swiftly built a regional following, yet Husar remarked to an interviewer, “When you’re in your early twenties, you want to take on the world and take over a city.” Acting on that impulse, the group moved to Chicago in 2004 and, still that same year, issued their first EP, Machinegong, on Cold Crush Records, the independent imprint operated by Derek Fudesco of Pretty Girls Make Graves and Steve Akoi of Dim Mak Records. Their debut full-length, Raydoncong 2005, arrived the next year, after which the members toured relentlessly. Buoyed by favorable notices and expanding audiences, they joined the roster of the established independent imprint K Records and delivered their third album, Kontpab, at the start of 2008. In promotional materials the band described “Kontpab” as a deity its members revered and framed the songs as an account of a spiritual passage beyond “the Grid” and into “the Sphere,” although Carrillo later explained to journalist Andy Hermann that the title was in fact a fabricated term assembled from the German phrases “kontra-punkte,” signifying counterpoint, and “pab,” roughly meaning spam. After Carrillo’s departure the remaining lineup—Husar, Mikale De Graff, Josh Johannpeter, and Dan Quinlivin—steered the project toward a stronger dance focus on the 2010 release The Long Shadow of the Paper Tiger. De Graff and Johannpeter also perform together in the electro-rock group Lazer Crystal.