[1] Self was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina as William Lee Self Jr to the liberal Baptist minister and theologian Dr. Rev Bill Self and music teacher Carolyn Shealy Self.

[2] Before moving to Athens, Georgia in 1980 he worked as a “hired gun” guitarist and bassist in New Yorks burgeoning punk scene of the late 70's.

In Athens, Self founded the rock band Tanzplagen together with Michael Stipe, David Pierce and Neil McArthur.

After releasing a single with the label 46 Records in Cologne and an extensive tour throughout the U.K. with Glen Matlock's London Cowboys Silent Rite broke up.

With Kastrierte Philosophen he worked on various recordings including the Insomnia album and supported the band on NDR radio concerts.

Among other things he composed Einar Schleef's "Totentrompeten" for the Staatstheater Mainz und Monika Steil's "Noises Off" for the Hamburg Kammerspiele.

After another recording session in 2012, Marc Balance left the band in order to focus on his electronic project "Brakk"[9] and multi-instrumentalist David Mautz was brought in on bass.