Mushroomhead

Mushroomhead

Mushroomhead are a band from Cleveland, Ohio. Formed in 1993 in Cleveland's Warehouse District, the band’s music can be described as a synthesis of alternative, heavy metal, and electro-industrial influences. The members of Mushroomhead have identified themselves by wearing masks. Mushroomhead is identified by its distinct “X Face” logo – commonly worn boldly on the masks of most members, as well as clothing and associated merchandise.

History

Mushroomhead, Superbuick, and M3

In 1993, Mushroomhead was established as a side project. To differentiate itself from members’ existing bands and to dispel any misconceptions about the group’s sound and musical content, Mushroomhead adopted costumes, masks and pseudonyms. They are considered Industrial Metal.

Mushroomhead played its first show in 1993. Days later, the octet found itself on stage alongside established metal band GWAR. “We played our first show on a Saturday,” said the band’s drummer, Skinny, in an article for Mushroomhead’s official website. “Three days later, we got a call to play with GWAR at the Cleveland Agora in front of 20.000 people – our second show ever!”.

In 1995, Mushroomhead released its self-financed debut album with Filthy Hands Co., “Mushroomhead”. For the members, Mushroomhead became a priority with their original bands breaking-up. The band’s line-up saw many changes throughout the 1990s, stayed active, steadily releasing music and gaining new fans.

In 1996 they released Superbuick which had added a more industrial element to their sound. The album was financed with their own record "Filthy Hand Co." also named as "Mushroom Co."

In 1999, Mushroomhead released M3 which was the final album they self-released.

XX And XIII

In 2001, Mushroomhead released a compilation album titled “XX” pronounced Double X, on the independent label Eclipse Records. Later in the year, the band signed with major label Universal Records and the compilation was remastered and re-released internationally. The release of this album led Mushroomhead to major tours, national and international including Ozzfest 2002 as well as television exposure via its first music video “Solitaire/Unraveling”. XX sold 300,000 copies.

2003 saw the release of XIII, their first album of entirely new material for Universal Records. The album produced the single "Sun Doesn't Rise" which was featured on MTV:Headbangers ball soundtrack and Freddy Vs Jason. Also featuring the hidden track "Crazy" a cover song originally by Seal. The album debuted at No. 40 on the Billboard Top 200 charts and sold 400,000 copies worldwide.

After an extensive world tour, singer J Mann (aka Jason Popson) announced that he had left the band in August 2004 due to exhaustion and personal reasons. A major reason for his departure was the fact that his father was sick and he wanted to be there for him. He was replaced by Three Quarters Dead singer Waylon Reavis.

In August 2005, Mushroomhead self-released its first DVD on its own Filthy Hands label – “Volume 1”. Produced, directed, shot and edited by the band, “Volume 1” covers the band’s rise in the 2000s with live performances, music videos and behind the scenes footage. Waylon is not featured in "Volume 1", though he is given a camera operator credit.

While on the road in 2005, Mushroomhead began the process of writing new material and recording a new album. In December 2005, Mushroomhead signed with Megaforce Records, ensuring the new albums availability nationally and internationally.

On June 6 2006, Mushroomhead launched MushroomKombat - an interactive flash feature as a part of the band's official website. The mini-game pits band members against each other in a Mortal Kombat-style environment, each member having a unique fatality.

Mushroomhead headlined with Dope, Nocturne, and New Orleans locals Invain played a show on The Music For Freedom Tour sponsored by Jägermeister at the House of Blues in New Orleans, Louisiana on Tuesday, August 16, 2005. This show was one of the last big acts to play in New Orleans for a long time due to Hurricane Katrina striking New Orleans on August 29, 2005.

Savior Sorrow

Savior Sorrow debuted at #73 on the Billboard 200 charts with sales exceeding 12,000. The band's label stated that sales were closer to 25,000 with the inclusion of sales made while on tour. SoundScan issued an apology the day following the release of sales data due to mistakes made in estimates. The primary reason given was the lack of inclusion of sales from the Best Buy retailer chain. Sales of Savior Sorrow were roughly 26,000 and the chart entry place was closer to the #30 spot than #73. Savior Sorrow's chart position was later officially adjusted to #50. Simple Survival, the pre-released single to Savior Sorrow, was placed at #39 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart one week after the release.

Drummer Skinny has stated that while on the Jägermeister-sponsored tour, Mushroomhead has been filming around the clock, capturing the action on and offstage. The footage will be compiled into the band's second DVD, tentatively titled "Volume 2," which was released on October 26, 2008.

On December 29, 2007, Mushroomhead won Video of the Year 2007 on the MTV2 Headbanger's Ball for "12 Hundred" from the "Savior Sorrow" record.

On September 17, 2008, it was announced that the band will release “Volume 2,” the follow-up to 2005’s “Volume 1,” on October 28 on Filthy hands/Megaforce Records.

The disc features two and a half hours of content, including live footage from the three-year “Savior Sorrow” tour; music videos including “1200,” “Simple Survival” and the brand new videos “Save Us” and "Embrace The Ending" ; video commentary and behind the scenes footage.

Stitch went on to say...“Most bands release DVDs that don’t have anything but live or backstage footage." “Keeping the spirit of the old Pantera home videos, we always try to have more of the behind the scenes antics and drama that shows the human side of Mushroomhead and what goes on when we are not onstage. Everything about this home video is personal and we filmed and edited all of the content. If you own Volume 1 then Volume 2 will blow your fucking mind.”

To support the DVD, Mushroomhead hit the road with The Autumn Offering, XFactor1 and Human Factors Lab from October 3 in Findlay, Ohio, until November 2 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After the tour, Mushroomhead will return to the studio to start recording their next album. The disc is scheduled for release in spring 2009.

Image

As stated above, the band originally adopted masks and stage names to not conflict with their original bands. The band's look has evolved over the years with each release. Their current masks, as one of their producers confirmed, are them coming back from hell after being killed in war. This decision to mask themselves did not come without controversy, see the section below for more information.

The new masks of Savior Sorrow are different from the old masks. Incorporating the "X" logo in a different way , they have decided for a change. In an interview Skinny says that they used the black and white masks with the "X" logo for a long time and they have to change the image as they change the singer. They have done different masks for every member and put their feelings in them.

Controversy

There was talk of Mushroomhead and the metal band Slipknot having a feud since 1994 because of the masks both bands wear on stage, and each of the bands believe that the other band stole the others idea. But both bands have stated that this is a purely fan based feud and the members have no actual problems with each other.

Discography

Main article: Mushroomhead discography

Independent Releases:

• 1995: Mushroomhead
• 1996: Superbuick
• 1999: M3

Official Releases:

• 2001: XX (compilation album and studio album)
• 2003: XIII
• 2006: Savior Sorrow
• 2009: TBA

Members

current

• "Jeffrey Nothing" – Vocals (1993 – present)

• "Waylon" – Vocals (2004 - present)

• "Gravy" – Guitars (1999 – present)

• "Pig Benis" – Bass (1995 - present)

• "Shmotz" – Keyboards (1993 – present)

• "ST1TCH" – Turntables, Electronics, Samples (2001 – present)

• "Skinny" – Drums, Percussion (1993 – present)

Former

• "DJ Virus" - turntables (1993 – 1995)
• "Mr. Murdernickel" - bass (1993 – 1995)
• "Dinner" - guitars (1993 – 1998)
• "Roxy" - dancing, electronics (1993 – 2000)
• "J.J. Righteous" - guitars (1993 – 2001)
• "Bronson" - dancing, samples (1993 – 2001), guitars (2001 – 2006)
• "J Mann" - vocals (1993 – 2004)

Touring

• "Lil Dan" Daniel Fox – water drums, percussion (2006 - present)
• "Chamberlain" – juggler (1993-1994, no musical contributions)

Guests

• Mandy Lascko – vocals ("Mommy")
• The Heathers - vocals ("Big Brother")
• Scot Edgell – vocals ("The Final Act", "The New Cult King")
• Devon Gorman – vocals ("Our Own Way", "One More Day")
• Jens Kidman – vocals ("The Dream is Over")
• Sean Kane – vocals ("Tattoo")

Former Line-up

1993-1995:

• JMann- Vocals
• JJ Righteous- Lead Guitar
• Dinner- Rhythm Guitar
• Mr. Murdernickel- Bass
• Skinny- Drums
• Bronson- Percussion
• Jeffrey Nothing- Vocals
• Schmotz- Keyboard
• Roxy- Electronics/Samples/Vocals/Additional Percussion
• DJ Virus- Turntables/Samples

2001-2004

• JMann-Vocals
• Jeffrey Nothing-Vocals
• Skinny-Drums
• Stitch-Turntables, Electronics, Samples
• Gravy-Guitar
• Pig Benis-Bass
• Shmotz- Keyboard

External links

• Official website
• Interview with Mushroomhead
• Template:Last.fm
• Russian fan-site (English version)
• Jeffrey Nothing and Skinny Interview on Maximum Threshold