Brittany Alexandria Sheets, known by her stage name Mars Argo, is an American singer, songwriter, and internet personality.[2]
Sheets is prominently known for her portrayal of a fictionalized stage persona of herself on YouTube. She became known as the lead singer of the indie rock band of the same name, named after her main stage persona.[3] Mars Argo (the band) released their only album, Technology Is a Dead Bird, on November 6, 2009. The band continued to release extended plays such as Internet Sessions and Linden Place throughout 2010 and 2011. In a 2013 Vice article, the band stated that they were working on their own TV show along with a second album,[2] but both projects were later abandoned.
Besides releasing music, Sheets co-produced, wrote, and directed content for her YouTube channel grocerybagdottv (renamed shouldicleanmyroom in 2022), formerly co-operated by her former partner Titanic Sinclair. The channel's content was often satirical, revolving around society and Internet culture. However, after the duo separated in early 2014, all but three videos (the music videos for "Using You", "Runaway Runaway", and a satirical video called "Delete Your Facebook") were removed from the channel. [4]
In 2022, Sheets released her debut solo single "Angry", and a subsequent audio video was uploaded onto the channel. On March 15, 2023, she released another single titled "I Can Only Be Me".
Early life
Brittany Alexandria Sheets was born in Saginaw, Michigan. Growing up, she played piano and sang in her church choir. She has stated that her mother never allowed her to play video games as a child, believing that they were a distraction from her studies. Before launching the YouTube project grocerybagdottv, Sheets attended university and pursued a major in biology.[5]
Career
2009–2011: Career beginnings, Technology Is a Dead Bird, and Computer Show
After meeting Corey Michael Mixter (P.K.A. Titanic Sinclair) on Myspace,[6] they cameoed[7][8] and worked[9][10] on the YouTube channel titled digitalfuntown.[11] Sheets and Mixter later formed the alternative pop band Mars Argo. They also co-operated a YouTube channel under the title Grocerybagdottv (stylized in all lowercase), where they uploaded music-related content and a series of social commentary videos, initially dubbed Video Blog and later renamed Computer Show. Their most popular non-music video is a 2014 episode of this series, titled "Delete Your Facebook",[12] mocking social media usage and the website of the same name. The music video for "Using You", the most well known single from the project, already counts more than 25 million views on the channel.
The band released their debut album, Technology Is a Dead Bird, on November 6, 2009.[13][14] It was followed up with an acoustic EP, Internet Sessions, in 2010,[15] and another EP, Linden Place, in 2011.[16][17] They began working on an eventually scrapped and heavily delayed second album with Chicago-based producer, Johnny K, soon after Technology Is a Dead Bird was released.[18][19][2]
2015–2019: Mars Argo breaks up
Sheets and Mixter moved to Los Angeles in 2012, where they filmed and released the remainder of the YouTube channel's uploads, followed by the romantic separation of the couple in 2014. The band continued to perform during the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas,[20] before going on a hiatus, being briefly revived in December of the same year, although permanently splitting up sometime in March 2015. According to a 2018 lawsuit filed by Sheets, the dissolvement of both the relationship and band was due to Mixter's incessant verbal abuse and physical violence.[21]
Sheets resurfaced in April 2018, by addressing her absence, and promising new music in the future to her fans.[22][23]
2020–present: Dinner in America, Angry and future projects
On November 13, 2023, Sheets released her most popular single, "Using You", on Spotify, over nine years after its initial release. The track is the original studio recording of the song, however Sinclair's backing vocals have been removed.[27]
Lawsuit against Sinclair and Poppy
On April 17, 2018, Sheets filed a 44-page lawsuit against Corey Mixter and his then-collaborator Poppy (real name Moriah Rose Pereira) alleging copyright infringement, stalking, and emotional and physical abuse being inflicted upon her by the former.[28][29][30] That same day, Sheets posted a message on her social media pages addressing the lawsuit, thanking fans for their support and confirming new music to come. On May 7, Poppy put forth a public statement about the "frivolous" lawsuit, stating that Sheets was attempting to manipulate her psychologically. She called the suit a "publicity campaign" and a "desperate grab for fame".[31]
The lawsuit was dismissed on September 14, having been settled outside of court with agreements that Mixter and Pereira would not be in contact with Sheets, and with Sheets gaining all rights, title and interest to the Mars Argo music and brand.[32][33][34] Pereira later publicly split with Mixter in December 2019, and alleged that she was a victim of "manipulative patterns" by him.[35] However, Pereira has never publicly retracted her initial statements regarding the lawsuit and said that she was not controlled by Mixter.[36] All parties agreed to not contact each other directly and to only do so via their legal counsel.[37][38]
^"Using You" was originally featured on the EP Linden Place, where the production was handled by Sinclair. A remixed version of the song was released in 2014 as a single, this time being produced by Johnny K.
