GLU’s Michael Shuman on new EP ‘Pony Boy’, album plans and why Queens Of A Stone Age won’t headline stadiums

GLU’s Michael Shuman has spoken to NME about his new EP ‘Pony Boy’, his plans for an album, and returning to intimate venues after playing stadiums with Queens Of The Stone Age. Shuman, who also plays bass in QOTSA and is known to many as ‘Mikey Shoes’, launched solo project GLU in 2022 with the single ‘Cold Sweat’, after releasing three albums with LA psych-pop trio Mini Mansions. He returns this week (August 14) with GLU’s third EP, ‘Pony Boy’, a four-track collection featuring singles in the form of the title track and ‘LA’, plus a cover of Jennifer Paige’s ‘Crush’. Most of the original tracks were written as part of the first batch of songs Shuman wrote for the project four years ago, with final track ‘Bombs Below’ an unreleased track written for Mini Mansions. “Everything was a little bit mid-tempo, except for ‘Boogie Man’,” Shuman said of his previous EPs, 2023’s ‘My Demons’ and 2025’s ‘Boogie Man’. “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 i...