The self is an individual person as the object of his or her own reflective consciousness. The self has been studied extensively by philosophers and psychologists and is central to many world religions.

The philosophy of self seeks to describe essential qualities that constitute a person's uniqueness or essential being. There have been various approaches to defining these qualities. The self can be considered that being which is the source of consciousness; the agent responsible for an individual's thoughts and actions; and/or the substantial nature of a person which endures and unifies consciousness over time.

The philosophy of a disordered self, such as in schizophrenia, is described in terms of what the psychiatrist understands are actual events in terms of neuron excitation but are delusions nonetheless, and the schizo-affective or schizophrenic person also believes are actual events in terms of essential being. PET scans have shown that auditory stimulation relates to certain areas of the brain and imagined similar events occur in adjacent areas but hallucinations occur in the same areas. In such cases, external influences may be the source of consciousness and the person may or may not be responsible for "sharing" in the mind's process; and/or the events which occur, such as visions and auditory stimuli, may endure and be repeated often over hours, days, months or years -- and the afflicted person may believe themselves to be in a state of rapture and/or possession, which their artistic expression may tend to confirm. Whether art has moral responsibility is difficult to relate to the idea of a unique source of consciousness and rapid thinking may lead to an insubstantial nature of the enduring person's consciousness over time; it can be said in view of these two exigencies that the person is vulnerable.

Gizmodgery is the fifth album by alternative pop/rock band Self, released in 2000 by Spongebath Records. The LP was recorded entirely with children's toy instruments.

The album contains a cover of the Doobie Brothers' hit song "What a Fool Believes" and is also notable for being released in the short-lived HDCD format. The track "Trunk Fulla Amps" appears twice on the album, the second version with the expletives removed. The song references and parodies a variety of rock artists, including Freddie Mercury/Queen, ELO, Glenn Danzig/Danzig, and Lenny Kravitz. Japanese import version of the album contains the bonus track "Resurrect", and alternate artwork.

Two songs from Breakfast with Girls ("Suzy Q Sailaway" and "Uno Song") had originally both been recorded for inclusion on Gizmodgery but both songs were added to Breakfast at the insistence of DreamWorks Records. (Both songs obviously and sonically stand in stark contrast to the rest of Mahaffey's tones on Breakfast with Girls.)

All songs written and composed by Self. 

Matt Mahaffey (born June 9, 1973) is an American multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and recording engineer best known for his band Self.

Matt grew up in Kingsport, Tennessee and was involved with music from a young age. He started writing songs and playing the drums at age 4 and would often perform with his brother, Mike Mahaffey, when they were growing up. By age eleven, he was playing drums at Dollywood, Dolly Parton's theme park in Pigeon Forge. In the mid-nineties he moved to Murfreesboro, TN and attended MTSU where he would live and work for 10 years and co-founded Spongebath Records. He also formed the band Self in 1994.

In the early 2000s, Matt relocated from Murfreesboro to Los Angeles, in order to be closer to his record label, Universal Records, and to produce.

He is married with one daughter.

Matt has performed with and produced for many artists. Some well-known artists he has worked with include Pink, Beck, Liz Phair, Tenacious D, Lupe Fiasco, Phantom Planet, Beyoncé, Butch Walker, Hellogoodbye, Forever the Sickest Kids, Miranda Cosgrove, The White Tie Affair, Cash Cash, The Sounds, L.E.O. and Smash Mouth. In 2005, Matt began producing with Jeff Turzo (God Lives Underwater) under the moniker Wired All Wrong. Wired All Wrong's first full production, Hellogoodbye's Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs! yielded the platinum single, "Here (In Your Arms)". Matt recently contributed vocals to Lupe Fiasco's album Lasers.

Elizabeth Clark "Liz" Phair (born April 17, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist.

Phair began her career in the early 1990s by self-releasing audio cassettes under the moniker Girly Sound, before signing with the independent record label Matador Records. Her 1993 debut studio album Exile in Guyville was released to acclaim: by the turn of the 21st century, it had been ranked by Rolling Stone as one of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Ten years after the release of her debut, Phair's fourth album, Liz Phair, was released on Capitol Records and her music began to move in a more pop rock-oriented approach. Phair has sold nearly three million records worldwide. Her latest album, Funstyle, was released on July 3, 2010.

Phair was born in New Haven, Connecticut, but was raised in Winnetka, Illinois, by wealthy adoptive parents. She graduated from New Trier High School in 1985. During high school, Phair was involved in student government, yearbook, and the cross country team, and took AP Studio Art her senior year, among many other advanced-level classes. She attended Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, and majored in art history.

Arthur Steven "Artie" Lange, Jr. (born October 11, 1967) is an American actor, comedian and radio personality best known for his tenures with the The Howard Stern Show and the comedy sketch series MADtv.

Lange performed his first stand-up comedy routine at 19 years of age. He took up work as a longshoreman to help support his family, following the death of his quadriplegic father. In 1995, Lange starred in the first season of MADtv before leaving halfway through the second due to cocaine abuse and his subsequent arrest. After a period of rehabilitation, Lange featured in Dirty Work with Norm MacDonald, who brought Lange into the second season of his sitcom, The Norm Show. In 2001, Lange replaced Jackie Martling on The Howard Stern Show and stayed until late 2009, before a suicide attempt in early 2010 led to an eight-month stay in a psychiatric ward. Lange has released recordings of comedy performances – It's the Whiskey Talkin' (2004) and Jack and Coke (2009). He co-wrote, produced and starred in his film Artie Lange's Beer League in 2006, and co-wrote, with Anthony Bozza, the book Too Fat to Fish in 2008, which entered The New York Times Best Seller list at number one. In 2011, Lange returned to radio with Nick DiPaolo to co-host The Nick and Artie show.