Mia Steal was an experimental punk band that Shawn McEntee spearheaded originally in New York City. He moved to South Florida in 1993 and found himself at Bob Wlos' L-7 Studios in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Shawn was one of the most unique songwriters and performers I've ever met.

I was hanging around L-7 Studios, working on Roosterhead, Trail Dust and other projects as they came up. I recorded several songs for Shawn for his 26 Souls Laughing album, and we later performed a show in 2003 at an American Legion, according to keyboardist Chris Korzen who posted this photo on Facebook in 2023.

Shawn passed away around 2023, but I was digging through old boxes in September 2025 and found this CD labeled "Shawn M Live 10-14-2001." After listening to these songs, I felt like they were so recorded so well and performed so tightly that they deserved some kind of exposure.

I believe I was playing Bob's vintage Ludwig kit with my cymbals, with John Tillman playing guitar, Bob Wlos playing bass and Shawn McEntee singing his songs. It sounds like me, and I remember doing "Searchingfor Toy (Tin) Soliders," "Shocked" for sure, but I know that Shawn played tracks, too.

I did find an album called Classified: From the Rocket Files at L7 on Bandcamp that appear to be the same recordings, but I have more songs on my CD. Go there to buy them and other Mia Steal albums and songs. I believe Chris Korzen uploaded them there and manages that Bandcamp account now that Shawn is dead.

Yes, they're weird songs. They don't follow standard songwriting rules. 

But there's something here, just on the edge of genius and insanity. The musicians did what they are supposed to do: Serve the song, make Shawn's vision sound good and create some energy.