Hy Maya

The experimental Cleveland musical collective Hy Maya was first conceived and visualized by Robert Bensick (The Robert Bensick Band/Fins aka The Finns/Berlin West), in the Spring of 1972 as a performance piece debuting at Robert's Cleveland State University artist of the year show. The group’s core members included drummer/percussionist Scott Krauss (Pere Ubu/Home & Garden/Cinderella Backstreet), synthesist Allen Ravenstine (Pere Ubu/Red Crayola), and electric and acoustic bassist Albert Dennis (Cinderella Backstreet/Wolves). Pianist Bob Friedhofer (Froggy & the Shrimps), conga player/percussionist Richard Schneider, and Mellotron player Cynthia Black (Cinderella Backstreet/Peter & the Wolves) also contributed significantly to the collective at various times.

Hy Maya created sounds that were heavily driven by an artistic and spiritual foundation and were undeniable and pivotal influence upon Pere Ubu (and, for that matter, related bands that came in between such as the aforementioned Fins and The Robert Bensick Band). Hy Maya were usually namechecked as a mere footnote in Ubu’s pre-history despite the fact that two of Hy Maya’s members (Ravenstine and Krauss) would go on to co-form Pere Ubu in September 1975.