List of Mushroomhead band members
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Mushroomhead is an American alternative metal band, they have undergone many lineup changes, leading every studio album to have a different lineup, with the only constant member being drummer, percussionist, water drummer, keyboardist, DJ, producer and director Steve "Skinny" Felton. Their lineup currently consists of Felton, vocalists Jackie LaPonza, Steve Rauckhorst and Scott "Strike" Beck, guitarists Dave "Gravy" Felton and Joe "Jenkins" Gaal, bassist and keyboardist Ryan "Dr. F" Farrell, percussionist Robert "Roberto Diablo" Godsey, drummer Aydin "Aylien" Michael and touring water drummer Jordan Gannon.[1][2]
History
[edit]The band was founded in 1993 by vocalists Jeff "Nothing" Hatrix and Jason "J Mann" Popson, guitarists John "JJ Righteous" Sekula and Richie "Dinner" Moore, bassist Joe "Mr. Murdernickel" Kilcoyne, keyboardist Tom "Shmotz" Schmitz, drummer Steve "Skinny" Felton and DJ Joe "DJ Virus" Lenkey.[3] Live performances also featured dancers Jessica "Roxy" Haney and Marko "Bronson" Vukcevich, the latter also being video editor, alongside hired talent such as fire-breathers and gymnasts.
After releasing a demo and their self-titled debut album in 1995, Kilcoyne was replaced by his brother, Jack "Pig Benis" Kilcoyne. Lenkey departed the band in early 1999, and was replaced by Bronson. Next to depart was guitarist Richie Dinner, who was replaced by Skinny's brother Dave "Gravy" Felton. JJ Righteous also left a year later, in his absence, Bronson moved to guitar, and Rick "St1tch" Thomas joined as DJ, moving to more experimental electronics by 2003.
In mid 2004, Popson left the band to establish a relationship with his estranged terminally-ill father.[4] He was replaced by Waylon "Wizlo" Reavis.[5] Bronson departed in May 2006, he was not replaced, meaning the band had only one guitarist.[6] Later in 2006, the band were joined by touring water drummer Daniel "Lil' Dan" Fox, who later became an official member in 2009 with St1tch and Skinny gradually becoming more prevalent on the instrument as well.
In February 2012, Gravy, Lil' Dan and Pig Benis were all fired. They were replaced by Tommy Church, Ryan "Dr. F" Farrell and Robert "Roberto Diablo" Godsey respectively. Dr. F had previously contributed electronic elements to the previous 2 albums in the studio. Popson also returned in August 2013,[7][8] performing vocals along side Hatrix, Reavis, and Skinny's wife Jackie LaPonza as the first female vocalist.[9]
Schmitz departed in 2015 causing turmoil within the band, leading to Reavis being violently fired soon after and schisms occurring between key members. Skinny and St1tch were often labelled the aggressors.[10] The former members weren't replaced, St1tch moved onto keyboards, eventually splitting duties with Skinny and Dr. F, with Hatrix and Popson continuing as dual vocalists. Hatrix and Church both departed in March 2018 as a result of further conflict.[11][12] They were replaced by roadies Steve Rauckhorst and Tommy "Tankx" Shaffner respectively.[13][14] LaPonza went on hiatus and Shaffner departed in mid-2021, the latter being replaced by Joe "Jenkins" Gaal.
In 2022, J Mann and ST1TCH went on touring hiatus and Skinny suffered back injuries. As such the line-up was reworked to feature Skinny as both DJ and water drummer in addition to visual design, new members Scott Beck and Aydin Michael joined as a new vocalist and drummer respectively, and onstage Jordan Gannon became a touring water drummer.[15] The band were also rejoined by Gravy, returning to a dual guitarist line-up.[16] Gravy and LaPonza's return, Popson's retirement and Skinny's reconciliation with Reavis are considered indicators of the winding-down of conflict, however tensions still exist between the band, Hatrix and Church. As such, in 2024, following the announcement of Call the Devil, Hatrix attempted to form 'Jeffrey Nothing's Mushroomhead', composed of other former members of the band, confirming members Church and Marko "Bronson" Vukcevich.
On August 16, 2024, it was reported that Jeffrey Nothing had filed a lawsuit against Felton in regard to unpaid royalties and copyright infringement.[17][18] Nothing's attorney Ronald Stanley alleged that Felton had siphoned income under the alias of 'Tenafly Viper' as well as an unknown publicist and unknown writer. Stanley claims Nothing is owed at least $3.5 million and is entitled to use of band insignia.[17][19]
Members
[edit]Current
[edit]| Image | Real name (stage name) | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Felton (Skinny) | 1993–present |
|
all releases | |
| Dave Felton (Gravy) |
|
guitars | all releases from XX (2001) to Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children (2010) and from Call the Devil (2024) to present | |
| Ryan Farrell (Dr. F) | 2012–present |
|
all releases from Savior Sorrow (2006) to present | |
| Robert Godsey (Roberto Diablo) |
|
all releases from The Righteous & the Butterfly (2014) to present | ||
| Jaqueline La Ponza (Ms. Jackie) | 2013–present (hiatus 2021) | vocals | ||
| Steve Rauckhorst | 2018–present |
|
all releases from Volume 3 (Video Album) (2018) to present | |
| Joe Gaal (Jenkins) | 2021–present | guitars | all releases from A Requiem for Tomorrow (2021 music video) to present | |
| Aydin Michael (Aylien) |
|
|
all releases from Call the Devil (2024) to present | |
| Scott Beck (Strike) | 2022–present[20] | vocals | ||
| Jordan Gannon |
|
none |
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Former
[edit]| Image | Real name (stage name) | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeffrey Hatrix (Jeffrey Nothing) | 1993–2018 | vocals | all releases from Mushroomhead 4 Song Demo (1993) to The Righteous & the Butterfly (2014) | |
| Tom Schmitz (Shmotz) | 1993–2015 |
|
all releases from Mushroomhead 4 Song Demo (1993) to The Righteous & the Butterfly (2014) | |
| Jason Popson (J Mann) |
|
vocals | all releases from Mushroomhead 4 Song Demo (1993) to XIII (2003), and from The Righteous & the Butterfly (2014) to A Wonderful Life (2020) | |
| John Sekula (JJ Righteous) | 1993–2001 (died 2010) | guitars | all releases from Mushroomhead 4 Song Demo (1993) to XX (2001) | |
| Richie Moore (Dinner) | 1993–2000 | all releases from Mushroomhead 4 Song Demo (1993) to M3 (1999) | ||
| Joe Lenkey (DJ Virus) | 1993–1999 |
|
all releases from Mushroomhead 4 Song Demo (1993) to Home Video (Video Album) (1997) and XX (2001) | |
| Joe Kilcoyne (Mr. Murdernickel) | 1993–1995 | bass | all releases from Mushroomhead 4 Song Demo (1993) to Mushroomhead (1995) and XX (2001) | |
| Jack Kilcoyne (Pig Benis) | 1995–2012 | all releases from Superbuick (1996) to Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children (2010) | ||
| Marko Vukcevich (Bronson) | 1999–2006 |
|
all releases from M3 (1999) to XIII (2003) | |
| Rick Thomas (St1tch) | 2001–2022 |
|
all releases from XX (2001) to A Wonderful Life (2020) | |
| Waylon Reavis (Wizlo) | 2004–2015 | vocals | all releases from Savior Sorrow (2006) to The Righteous & the Butterfly (2014) | |
| Daniel Fox (Lil' Dan) | 2009–2012 (touring 2006–2009) |
|
Your Soul Is Mine (2009) and Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children (2010) | |
| Tommy Church | 2012–2018 | guitars | The Righteous & the Butterfly (2014) | |
| Tom Shaffner (Tankx) | 2018–2021 | A Wonderful Life (2020) |
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Timelines
[edit]
Recording timeline
[edit]| Role | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mushroomhead
(1995) |
Superbuick
(1996) |
M3
(1999) |
XX
(2001) |
XIII
(2003) |
Savior Sorrow
(2006) |
Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children
(2010) |
The Righteous & the Butterfly
(2014) |
A Wonderful Life
(2020) |
Call The Devil
(2024) | |
| Vocals | Jeffrey Hatrix | Steve Rauckhorst | ||||||||
| Jason Popson | Jason Popson | Scott Beck | ||||||||
| Waylon Reavis | ||||||||||
| Jackie LaPonza | ||||||||||
| Guitars | Richie Moore | Dave Felton | Tommy Church | Tom Shaffner | Dave Felton | |||||
| Joe Gaal | ||||||||||
| John Sekula | Marko Vukcevich | Ryan Farrell | ||||||||
| Bass | Joe Kilcoyne | Jack Kilcoyne | Ryan Farrell | |||||||
| Drums, percussion | Steve Felton | Ayden Kerr | ||||||||
| Daniel Fox | Robbie Godsey | |||||||||
| Water drums, additional percussion, supporting drums | ||||||||||
| Rick Thomas | Steve Felton | |||||||||
| Turntables, electronics, samples | Joe Lenkey | Marko Vukcevich | Rick Thomas | |||||||
| Production | ||||||||||
| Steve Felton | ||||||||||
| Keyboards | Tom Schmitz | Steve Felton | ||||||||
| Rick Thomas | ||||||||||
| Ryan Farrell | ||||||||||
Line-ups
[edit]Please note this pertains only to members constant to both studio and live line-ups.
| Period | Members | Releases |
|---|---|---|
| 1993–1995 |
|
|
| 1995–1999 |
|
|
| 1999–2000 |
|
|
| 2000–2001 |
|
|
| 2001–2004 |
|
|
| 2004–2007 |
|
|
| 2007–2012 |
|
|
| 2012–2015 |
|
|
| 2015–2018 |
|
none |
| 2018–2020 |
| |
| 2020–early 2021 |
|
|
| Early–late 2021 |
|
none |
| Late 2021–mid 2022 |
| |
| Mid 2022–present |
|
|
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Mushroomhead's Steve "Skinny" Felton Explains Latest Lineup Changes -". mxdwn Music. July 4, 2022. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
- ^ Hextall, Adrian (September 6, 2020). "Interview with Steve 'Skinny' Felton – Mushroomhead". Your Online Magazine for Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
- ^ Henderson, Alex. "Mushroomhead Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & Mor..." AllMusic. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
- ^ "Former MUSHROOMHEAD Singer Explains His Departure". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. February 26, 2005. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
- ^ Iwasaki, Scott (October 6, 2006). "It's about music, not masks". Deseret News. Archived from the original on October 6, 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
- ^ Vukcevich, Marko. "Marko Vukcevich | LinkedIn". LinkedIn. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
- ^ wookubus (August 24, 2013). "Mushroomhead Welcome Back "J Mann", Announce Dates For 20th Anniversary Tour". Theprp.com. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
- ^ "Jason Popson – Old school, new school, this is the WHOLE..." Facebook. Archived from the original on February 26, 2022. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
- ^ Epting, Chris (July 30, 2014). "Mushroomhead's Skinny on Family, Legacy + More". Loudwire. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
- ^ Blabbermouth (October 6, 2015). "Ex-MUSHROOMHEAD Singer WAYLON REAVIS On Decision To Leave: 'My Heart Wasn't There'". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
- ^ "JEFF HATRIX Exits MUSHROOMHEAD". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. March 7, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
- ^ Blabbermouth (March 9, 2018). "MUSHROOMHEAD Guitarist TOMMY CHURCH Quits". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
- ^ "Watch MUSHROOMHEAD's New Lineup Perform Live For First Time". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. March 27, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
- ^ "Interview: MUSHROOMHEAD Drummer Skinny Discusses Founding Vocalist's New Replacement, Latest Album, & Plans for a Film". Metal Injection. July 20, 2020. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
- ^ "MUSHROOMHEAD's STEVE 'SKINNY' FELTON Explains Band's Latest Lineup Changes". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. July 1, 2022. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
- ^ "MUSHROOMHEAD Rejoined By Guitarist DAVE 'GRAVY' FELTON At BLUE RIDGE ROCK FESTIVAL (Video)". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. September 11, 2022. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
- ^ a b Blabbermouth (August 15, 2024). "Founding MUSHROOMHEAD Singer JEFFREY HATRIX Sues STEVE 'SKINNY' FELTON Over Unpaid Royalties". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
- ^ Lucas Daprile, cleveland com (August 14, 2024). "Ex-vocalist for Cleveland metal band Mushroomhead sues fellow co-founder, accusing copyright infringement". cleveland. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
- ^ BraveWords. "Former MUSHROOMHEAD Singer Sues Fellow Co-Founder, Accusing Copyright Infringement". bravewords.com. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
- ^ a b "MUSHROOMHEAD's STEVE 'SKINNY' FELTON Explains Band's Latest Lineup Changes". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. July 1, 2022. Retrieved April 19, 2024.