He has a flamboyant and hyperactive stage presence which contrasts sharply with Ron Mael's impassive demeanour.

The Mael brothers grew up in Pacific Palisades – a relatively affluent beach neighbourhood of Los Angeles – with their father Meyer, who was a graphic designer and caricaturist for the Hollywood Citizen-News, and their mother, Miriam (née Moskowitz), a librarian.

[4] Even though he played soccer and lacrosse all throughout high school, much of his inspiration came from his father taking him to the cinema as a child, where he developed an interest in film, visual arts and narrative.

An NME review described Russell's vocal range as a "stratospheric blend of Marc Bolan and Tiny Tim".

[15] In 2017, a reviewer noted that while the brothers' biographies recount a Los Angeles childhood in which they surfed and were both models for mail order catalogues, their private lives are otherwise almost entirely unknown.

Even to the question of whether they have partners or spouses, they refused to give an indication, insisting that "the vagueness is more interesting than the reality.