Mushroomhead Live

Okay - Halloween may have ended on October 31 - but for Nu-Metal industrial rockers Mushroomhead, every day is Halloween in a sense. The Cleveland based rockers are filming for their new DVD, and have made a shout out to fans to bring pumpkins to their November 2 show at Streeter’s Ground Zero Night Club.
“We want people to carve Mushroomhead related pumpkins - bring them to the show, and we will put them on stage,” said Jeffery Nothing, vocalist and original member. “It is really important for this November show at Streeters, because it is after Halloween - so get carving those jack-o-lanterns.”

A MUSHROOMHEAD GROWS
Nothing and his bandmates got their start in 1993 when they were members of other Cleveland based bands, and they got together to jam.
“The eight of us were in a variety of bands that played all different styles, and all of us had a passion for industrial metal, so we started jamming,” said Nothing. “When we had a chance to play publicly, we donned masks so people wouldn’t recognize us from the other bands we played in.”
Founding member and drummer Skinny wasn’t sure at first if it was going to work.
“Yeah, in the beginning, I think it was our second show, people were yelling ‘you suck’ and ‘get off the stage,’ and we were wondering if it was going to work,” said Skinny. “We would have shows where only 25 people would show and we had 27 on the guest list, so we had some doubts; but we kept going because we all were in these other serious bands.”
Eventually their gothic-vaudevillian look, coupled with band member names like “Skinny” and “Gravy,” and their big, heavy guitars with industrial beats and screaming distorted vocals quickly brought on a cult following for Mushroomhead in the greater Cleveland area. By 1997 they were selling out major venues in their backyard and stirring interest in a major label deal.
“It wasn’t that we couldn’t get a deal, it was getting the right deal,” said Skinny. “The offers were favoring the label and not us. That is where this issue with Slipknot came to the forefront. When we turned down Roadrunner Records in 1999, they went searching.”

CONTROVERSY BETWEEN BANDS
The Slipknot controversy dates back to 1995 when the band formed in Des Moines, Iowa. The group had a similar nu-metal sound as Mushroomhead, minus the costumes. Eventually Slipknot donned costumes, and when Roadrunner Records came calling in 1999, Slipknot mysteriously took on a likeness similar to Mushroomhead.
For years members of Slipknot have denied ripping off Mushroomhead, and the band claims to have never even heard of or seen Mushroomhead until after the controversy began. Yet three outfits were identical to Mushroomhead’s, including their bass player having a pig’s head.
Slipknot hit it big and the battle lines were drawn. At a 1999 concert in Cleveland, Slipknot was touring in support of their debut release. Mushroomhead fans flocked to the concert and pelted Slipknot with various objects, forcing them to cancel the show. The incident intensified the two band’s rivalries. Both bands forged ahead, taking different roads in capturing success.
“When you work for years developing your image and someone takes off without you, it was very discouraging. We never asked our fans to do what they did but I think they felt called - they were with us from the beginning,” said Skinny. “Despite it all we never thought about giving up, just working harder.”

TWO-GUITAR ATTACK
Mushroomhead’s two-guitar attack with techno beats mixed with rap/rock samples, tribal drumming, and extreme eclectic sounds brought and continued an underground following. They continued to combine their mechanized sound with permanent Halloween costuming and a psychotic stage presentation that evolved into a huge worldwide following - a following that led them from the obscurity of the Cleveland warehouse district to the international metal music assembly line. Their popularity led to a major two-album deal with Universal Records.
But Mushroomhead found that their style wasn’t compatible with major label politics and expectations, and, despite the success of the group’s debut Universal release, XIII, both parities opted out of working together on another project, leaving Mushroomhead with a label deal and furthering the speculation of the group’s future.
“Parting ways with Universal was a business decision,” said Skinny. “For eight years we succeeded on an independent label, and shortly after leaving Universal we got a call from Megaforce Records, and last fall we released Savior Sorrow with them.”
For Skinny and his bandmates, Savior Sorrow marks a slightly different direction for the band.

A MUSHROOMHEAD EVOLUTION
“It’s a new chapter in Mushroomhead’s evolution. There are sounds on this album that sound so brutal and huge,” said Skinny. “We focused on delivering some vicious hardcore mixed with heavy melodic hooks. Lyrically, it definitely reflects where the world is at this moment in time.”
Mushroomhead is winding up their 2007 tour that has included around the clock filming both on and off the stage for a DVD to be released in 2008. The Streeter’s Ground Zero Show is the second to last show on the tour, and the band plans to film a lot of the Streeters show.
So what does Skinny attribute to the band’s longevity with fans?
“Everybody in this band fights for what they want in a song,” said Skinny. “Everyone gets their way, and that’s our strength. A song will start out sounding like metal until a cool piano part comes in or the turntables turn it into a rap song. That gives the music diversity.”

For a sneak peak into Mushroomhead’s high-energy stage show, check out videos at myspace.com/mushroomhead. For advance tickets to their November 2 concert at Streeters, purchase online at streetersonline.com, or call the box office at (231) 932-1300.

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