As a teenager, Stephen McIntyre made records on New Zealand's coolest record label Flying Nun before spending a decade busking in Japan - sometimes earning thousands of dollars a night playing in the country's crowded subway stations. In 2000 he returned home and formed Mars; continuing a love affair with the creation of highly-crafted, multi-layered, textured guitar pop-inflected rock. Since then the group have produced two EPs and one album to great critical and popular acclaim. Real Groove called the How 'Bout You? EP "ideal summertime listening", while New Zealand's premier music magazine Rip It Up awarded the Live From Hempfields album four out of five stars, describing it as "absolutely stunning".