The Robot Ate Me

The Robot Ate Me
"Djien" from Good World (2006)
Background information
Origin	San Diego, California, U.S.
Genres	Indie rock, indie pop, indie folk, folk, art rock, experimental rock, experimental pop, psychedelic rock, psychedelic pop
Years active	2002 – current
Labels	Swim Slowly Records 5 Rue Christine Kill Rock Stars
Associated acts	Ryland Bouchard
Website	therobotateme.com
Members	Ryland Bouchard
Past members	David Greenberg, Are-Jay Hoffman, William Haworth, Alan Lechusza

The Robot Ate Me is an experimental indie rock band formed by Ryland Bouchard in 2002 which has been through many distinct phases incorporating aspects of folk, jazz, psychedelia and avant-garde rock. Their critically acclaimed albums alternated between accessible pop and obscure musical art projects. After releasing Good World in 2006 Babysue described the band as "one of the most unpredictable and obtuse underground bands around."

In 2002 Ryland Bouchard released They Ate Themselves, his first record as The Robot Ate Me and played his first shows in San Diego opening for notable touring acts such as Daniel Johnston, Tegan and Sara, Metric, Stars and The Blackheart Procession. Skyscraper magazine described this release as "Quite possibly the year's most arresting experimental pop record, They Ate Themselves is a dizzyingly vibrant trip through death and multi-layered dissonance".

The controversial and highly experimental On Vacation was released in 2004 in which Adam Gnade declared "It's not even music outside the margins. Here the margins were never there, and if they were to encroach, The Robot Ate Me would probably up and croak. "Punk Planet followed suit describing the album as "A hypnotic two-disc record that will score your twisted nightmares and fanciful dreams."Splendid summarized "It is impossible to understand a Robot Ate Me album from a written description." The band Oh No Oh My named themselves after the song "Oh No! Oh My!" from On Vacation.

After the release of On Vacation in 2004 he signed with Kill Rock Stars and toured the US heavily the next few years playing close to 600 shows in the following three years playing with countless bands including The Mae Shi, Barr, The Fall, Hella, Mount Eerie, Karl Blau, The Winks, Doveman, I Need Sleep, The Gossip, Oh No! Oh My!, Okkervil River, Emperor X, and Drew Danburry. His shows relied heavily on audience participation and were known for being fairly unpredictable. As part of his shows he would sometimes be dragged across the floor by attendees, wear masks, scream loudly, have the audience play the supporting instruments for his songs without rehearsal, or abruptly leave after playing one song.