U.S. Maple was an American noise rock band. The group formed in Chicago in 1995. The band consists of Al Johnson (lead singer), Mark Shippy (guitarist), Pat Samson (drummer), and Todd Rittmann (guitarist). History Formation and first single U.S. Maple was formed in 1995 at DeKalb's Northern Illinois University by former members of Shorty and the Mercury Players. Two members from each band met at the corner of Grand and Western Avenues, and as the band would reveal later on their website, began discussing how the group could erase rock and roll from their collective minds. The assembled group set out to devise a working method for reorganizing Rock and Roll, keeping only what they felt were its most important core elements. Recognizing they were kindred spirits, the group decided then and there to unite in an attempt to realize some of their musical ambitions. U.S. Maple inherited vocalist Al Johnson and guitarist Mark Shippy from Shorty, while drummer Pat Samson and second guitarist Todd Rittman were transplants from the Mercury Players. The band's first recording came in the form of a two-song 7" single produced by Doug Easley and recorded in September 1995 at Easley Studios in Memphis, Tennessee (during these sessions a cover version of AC/DC's "Sin City" was also recorded, and eventually released on Skin Graft's "Sides 1-4" 7" compilation). U.S. Maple's first single featured the songs “Stuck” and "When a Man says Ow!” The independent label Skin Graft Records took an interest in the band and signed them to the label, releasing the "Stuck" single in the fall of 1995. Skin Graft The band recorded their first album, Long Hair in Three Stages, late in 1995 at Illinois' Solid Sound Studios located in Hoffman Estates. The album was produced by indie music producer and future Sonic Youth guitarist Jim O'Rourke, and was fueled with jarring guitar noodling, vocal wheezes and howls, and spastic drumming — all staples of the band's elastic song structures. Skin Graft released the album in October 1995 in both vinyl and CD formats; the vinyl pressings included a bonus track and hand-made sheet metal jackets manufactured by the bandmembers themselves. The band then embarked on a six-week, twelve country, European tour in support of their first album. While in England, the band recorded a Peel session for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show. When the band returned home from their European tour