John Maus

John Maus
Maus in New York City in 2012
Background information
Born	(1980-02-23) 23 February 1980 (age 37)
Origin	Minnesota, U.S.
Genres	Synth-pop avant-pop lo-fi hypnagogic pop experimental
Occupation(s)	Musician singer-songwriter composer record producer
Years active	1999–present
Labels	Upset The Rhythm Human Ear Music Mistletone Demonstration Bootleg Ltd.]]
Associated acts	Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti Panda Bear Holy Shit! R. Stevie Moore
Website	www.upsettherhythm.co.uk

John Maus (born February 23, 1980) is an American avant-garde musician, singer-songwriter and composer. A keyboard player for Panda Bear and Ariel Pink, he has released three albums of his own music to acclaim. He grew up in Minnesota. He is known for his eclectic samples when composing, "an almost absurd mix – a stand-off between taut, bass-driven post-punk, whooshing electro-pop and, thanks to the chants and bleak intoning, Medieval and Gregorian disco."

Maus was born in February 1980 in Austin, Minnesota. Experimenting with music from an early age, his first efforts were strongly influenced by Nirvana and film scores of the 1980s. He later studied music at the California Institute of the Arts. As a college student he was interested in experimental music, such as the work of Michael Pisaro, as well as Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music. When he befriended and began to work alongside Ariel Pink, he took a greater interest in pop music. While continuing to make music, Maus went on to study philosophy at the European Graduate School in Saas Fee, Switzerland, where he earned his master's degree. He was awarded a doctorate in political philosophy from the University of Hawai'i, where his thesis advisor was Michael J. Shapiro.