History

The Mojo Wire bashed its way through the Isla Vista/UCSB college-town scene before suddenly imploding, leaving a stretch of four self-recorded, self-released albums, twenty-three slapdash, scattershot gigs, and a whole lot of loud, messy fun. Guitarists Adam Hill and Bryn DuBois formed a blues band called The Clap in Dana Point, CA during 1996, shortly adding Keir DuBois and Kevin Nerison as a rhythm section. Soon renamed in honor of Hunter S. Thompson's annoying fax device, they moved to Santa Barbara in 1997 and switched drummers, adding Brandon Klopp for about a year before shifting the lineup again in 1999 to add Joe Zulli on guitar, moving Bryn to drums. The band's sound morphed along with its membership, from blues to surf to psychedelic to roots to garage rock, but always present was a bent, bizarro sensibility infecting anything they did.