GLU’s Michael Shuman Reveals Album Plans After ‘Pony Boy EP’

Michael Shuman of GLU has discussed the arrival of his ‘Pony Boy EP’ with NME, while also revealing his ambitions for a full album and reflecting on returning to smaller rooms after performing in stadiums with Queens Of The Stone Age.

Known to many fans as ‘Mikey Shoes’, Shuman also serves as the bassist for QOTSA. He introduced his GLU solo project in 2022 through the song ‘Cold Sweat’, following three records with Los Angeles psych pop group Mini Mansions.

GLU’s third release, ‘Pony Boy EP’, arrives this week on August 14. The four song collection contains the title track, ‘LA’ and a version of Jennifer Paige’s ‘Crush’. Shuman originally composed most of the new material during his earliest writing sessions for GLU four years ago, while closing number ‘Bombs Below’ began as an unused Mini Mansions song.

Looking back at 2023’s ‘My Demons’ and 2025’s ‘Boogie Man’, Shuman explains why he wanted the latest project to carry greater speed and weight. “Everything was a little bit mid-tempo, except for ‘Boogie Man’,” he says. “So, with ‘Pony Boy’, I wanted to do stuff that’s faster-paced, maybe more aggressive. My goal with this is to have any boundaries and just do whatever the fuck I want to do, like how Beck does stuff. ‘Pony Boy’ was a good way to open up tempos and heavier guitars and bring that into the mix.”

Throughout the record, Shuman explores “being in your own personal hell and how to get out of that”. He also considers how remaining inside such a “claustrophobic” environment can occasionally feel “really freeing”. “If you’ve been there so long, it just feels comfortable, it feels like home, and you really do get used to it,” he says.

Powered by abrasive guitar work and Shuman’s rapid vocal delivery, ‘Pony Boy’ examines the unsettling experience of losing personal privacy. “Luckily, I’m not the face of a band, and I think that’s huge – that I get to be in Queens and not deal with the shit that Josh Homme has to deal with, because I do not envy him,” he says. “But I was dating an actress who was very in the spotlight and famous, and I got thrown into this world that I had never seen before. It was very prevalent in the UK, but then at home [in LA], it all of a sudden started to be at my house and on my street, which I’d never even thought of or experienced.”

Shuman found that attention deeply disturbing, especially because of how women are treated by photographers. “It was scary and so weird, especially for females, and trying to protect somebody where there’s men in public taking pictures, creeping around and being up in their faces. I don’t envy those people, and I don’t want to be any part of it.”

When questioned about how he would respond if GLU eventually reached that level of public recognition, Shuman remained ambitious but cautious. “I do want this to be as successful as possible. I think I’ve learned enough. I’m not a 23-year-old kid that got instant fame – that’s where it becomes an issue.”

He then pointed towards another respected musician whose approach to privacy he admires. “I reference him musically, but who I also think does a great job of [maintaining his privacy] is Damon Albarn. He’s in the media for interviews and things, but he keeps a pretty private life. So whatever he’s doing, I’m gonna keep watching out and following his lead.”

‘LA’ presents a warmer and more romantic portrait of life in the Californian city. The recording features Lily James, who previously dated Shuman. “I made that song for her,” he reveals. “She loves making music as well, so we were just like, ‘You should sing that part; let’s change some lyrics, and it’ll be good.’ We really enjoyed doing that together. I’ve got nothing but love for her – we’re great friends, and she’s an amazing person.”

Explaining how the atmosphere of ‘LA’ differs from the tension heard on ‘Pony Boy’, Shuman says: “They’re two different perspectives at two different times. It’s almost like you’re dreaming and then all of a sudden a nightmare comes in, and that’s where ‘Pony Boy’ begins. This carefree life you’re living in LA can get shifted real quickly and get a lot more neurotic and paranoid feeling.”

His cover of ‘Crush’ continues the record’s affectionate direction and was created while he had feelings for someone. “I was like, ‘OK, these are the words that I would have written at this moment for this person, so I’m just gonna put my own spin on it’,” he says. “Doing covers is a really easy thing for me to do – I can chameleon my way through those, and it’s really enjoyable because you can take yourself out of it and not have too many emotions, and focus on the music part of it.”

Josh Homme and Mikey Shoes of Queens Of The Stone Age at Dolby Theater, November 2025 (Photo by Harmony Gerber/Getty Images)

Considering Shuman’s musical history, Jennifer Paige may not seem like the most predictable artist for him to reinterpret. However, he enjoys transforming songs that sit beyond his familiar territory. “What am I gonna do if I do a Depeche Mode song – how the fuck am I gonna beat that?” he says.

Last month, Shuman presented the material during a brief run across the UK and Europe, shortly after QOTSA completed their stadium dates supporting System Of A Down. Before performing at The Lower Third in London, he described the recent GLU appearances as “the best shows I’ve had so far”, crediting that improvement to “people now knowing the songs and singing along”.

“I’ve been playing ‘LA’ live this whole time, but it wasn’t released,” he says. “Now it’s released, people can sing along. That’s such a great feeling when they sing it back to you. Even for Queens, when we were doing the System shows and having them sing back ‘No One Knows’, that was amazing in a stadium setting. So then having them sing back in a club setting is amazing, too. No matter what size band you are, it’s the best.”

His latest GLU concerts started only days after QOTSA finished touring with SOAD, creating a dramatic change in capacity that Shuman calls “a trip, but fun”. “There’s such a disconnect in a stadium – we don’t love playing stadiums,” he admits. “That’s not what we would want to do if we were as big as System. We’ve talked about that and we wouldn’t. So it’s a weird thing.”

Despite feeling more exposed on a smaller stage, Shuman values the physical connection that club performances allow. “[Club shows] are a little scarier because people are right up on you, but I also love it because it feels like what punk rock is – you can touch the people and people can touch you, and that’s really fun. Coming back to [these size venues], it didn’t feel like, ‘Oh no, where are all my things and people helping me?’ It just felt like it kicked right back in from when I did shows four months ago.”

Regardless of his established place within QOTSA, Shuman understands that GLU remains “a new fucking artist”.

He has watched numerous musicians struggle when audiences from their main bands do not immediately support a separate venture. “A lot of people who are in bigger or more successful bands try to do side projects, and it’s really difficult,” he says. “They give up because they go, ‘Oh shit, this isn’t as comfortable. I’m not making any money; I’m losing money. Where are all of our fans? How come there isn’t an instant translation from that band to this?’ Maybe because I’ve done that with Mini Mansion for so long, I know what that feeling is, and I know that doesn’t work that way. You have to grind it out. It takes a long time.”

Josh Homme and Michael Shuman of Queens of the Stone Age perform onstage during a 51st season taping of Austin City Limits (Photo by Rick Kern/Getty Images)

Having developed as a performer within punk and DIY communities before joining Queens Of The Stone Age, Shuman never assumed that music would offer him comfort or luxury. He “always expected to just be touring in a van and sleeping on floors”. “That was like, ‘This is my life; I would love to do that.’ Queens was a surprise and a luxury to get thrown into a different atmosphere.”

Shuman is already looking beyond ‘Pony Boy EP’ and has started planning GLU’s first full album. “I have 30 songs in the bank, and I just gotta choose and go for it,” he says. “That’s my goal, and I want to make sure it’s levelled up from these EPs.”

GLU will release ‘Pony Boy EP’ through FLG on August 14.