Being at the crossroads between dance music and rock music is sometimes a difficult position to be in. Not so for scene leaders Infected Mushroom. Well known for their guitar heavy riffs and rock star attitude, these scene leaders are racing up the top 100 DJs list, taking their distinctive sound around the world. Tom Godwin went to check out riffs, gigs and sunsets.
Ahead of their debut for The Gallery this Friday 24th July I caught up with one of the biggest electronic dance music duos in the world; Infected Mushroom. In terms of names in dance music they don’t get much bigger than this and the guys will be touching down for an exclusive DJ set this Friday night. If you haven’t already heard their stadium destroying sound then welcome back to the rest of the world! So before we get them to answer a few quick fire questions, here’s a brief history.
Psy-Trance innovators, Infected Mushroom have become one of the biggest electronic bands on the planet. Twice ranked among the world’s 10 best DJs in DJ Mag’s Top 100 poll, the Israel-bred, L.A. based duo brings a frenetic rock energy to the form. Their explosive show, featuring guitars, live drums, intensely passionate vocals and an ambitious multimedia backdrop, ranks among the genre’s most unpredictably joyous events. And their recordings continually venture where other electronic acts fear to tread.
Amit “Duvdev” Duvedevani and Erez Eisen make up the Mushroom and have been working for nearly two years on an aggressive new album – their first since 2007’s critically acclaimed Vicious Delicious – for dance-music legend Paul Oakenfold’s Perfecto label. Having first released tracks under the guise of Shidapu & Duvdev, it was only later that the concept of Infected Mushroom was born and they began their journey to superstardom. Their first official release came in the form of the double sided Intelligate / Small Moves in March 1999 and was quickly followed by album, The Gathering, released on YoYo Records in Israel, Balloonia in Germany and Victor Entertainment in Japan.
By their third album BP Empire they had already began to move away from the simple psy trance sounds of their beginnings and the seeds of their rock sound was sown, though it was the two sided Converting Vegetarians that really rocked the boat in terms of the sound they were pushing forward. One CD featured a continuing development to their trance sound, while the second CD showcased a more diverse and unpredictable sound, from R’n’B to electro to chill and more. This album began to both lose fans as well as gain them, they’ve said themselves they feel they lose 10% but gain 90% more, and it certainly hasn’t stopped their near unstoppable rise.
From the Ultra Fest in Miami to the Virgin Festival in Baltimore, from Mexico’s OMIX to Cali’s Coachella, from Brazil’s Ipanema Beach to Melbourne’s Metro Club, Infected Mushroom has averaged about 120 live performances per year and this year the band have kept up that tradition with a 17-date US tour already.
The psy sound remains a global phenomenon with a wealth of events but now there’s an ever increasing market place seen with Infected Mushroom working closely with the likes of legendary Paul Oakenfold and his Perfecto label and as the band grows larger with additions like guitarists Tom Cunningham in the states, Erez Netz everywhere else and percussionist Rogério Jardim joining, their transformation from producers to full on electronic music band is complete.
Straddling the divide between dance and rock, you can also often see them simply DJing but one thing to note about Infected are that they are one of a small but ever growing number of artists who only play their own material, an important milestone in the development of electronic music. Now based in Los Angeles in 2006 their experimental route to their productions has already seen them work with the likes of Jonathan Davis the lead singer of Korn. Who knows what is next?
Good morning gentlemen, how are you on this summer’s day?
Doing great! In Israel right now for a massive show, then off to Costa Rica and Guatemala this weekend, the fun never stops!
This has been a busy year for Infected Mushroom, can u tell us what you’ve been up to?
Yes, extremely busy. Erez and I had babies at the beginning of the year (not with each other, with our wives, haha). Also, the first part of ’09 marked the completion of our highly anticipated upcoming album, Legend of the Black Shawarma; it will be out world wide first week of September. And of course, we have been touring non stop – we have averaged nearly 150 shows per year for the last few years. Basically, we are keeping the train running!
What 3 tracks are really doing the business for you at the moment?
Well, we only play our own music, so in that sense, we are kind of disconnected from new tracks by other artists. But I’ll tell you there are three of our tracks from the new album that are being well received by new audiences: Sa’eed, Smashing The Opponent (featuring vocals by Korn’s Jonathan Davis), and Killing Time (featuring vocals by Jane’s Addiction’s Perry Faffel). Speaking of Killing Time, Paul Oakenfold just completed his remix and it sounds great!
Who would you say we should we be looking out for this year in terms of rising talent DJ / producer wise?
Well we always enjoy seeing what comes from our friends from Israel – I’ve been seeing really good stuff from Astrix recently.
Where has your favourite gig been so far this year?
That is a tough one; there have been many memorable shows…
Where has your favourite sunset/sunrise been this year?
In bed at home with my wife and kid; I think Erez can say the same.
Are you playing any festivals this year? Where and when?
Every year we play many festivals. This year we have done Ultra Music Festival in Miami and Electric Daisy carnival in LA. In Europe we are looking forward to ID&T’s Tomorrowland in Belgium as well as Creamfields Ukraine.
And finally, this is your Gallery debut, what can we all expect from you?
From us you can expect nothing less than wicked dirty beats. All I can say is that you had better reinforce the dance floor because you’ve never seen a hard surface bounce like a trampoline, seriously, haha, see you soon!
Additional reporting Adam Symbiosis.
Photos courtesy of the HarderFaster archive. Not to be reproduced without permission.
The Gallery is proud to welcome another debutant on Friday 24th July in the shape of worldwide psy trance sensation Infected Mushroom. In terms of names in dance music they don’t get much bigger than this and the guys will be touching down for an exclusive DJ set.
Psy-Trance innovators Infected Mushroom have become one of the biggest electronic bands on the planet. Twice ranked among the world’s 10 best DJs in DJ Mag’s Top 100 poll, the Israel-bred, L.A. based duo brings a frenetic rock energy to the form. Their explosive show, featuring guitars, live drums, intensely passionate vocals and an ambitious multimedia backdrop, ranks among the genre’s most unpredictably joyous events. And their recordings continually venture where other electronic acts fear to tread. Amit “Duvdev” Duvedevani and Erez Eisen have been working for nearly two years on an aggressive new album – their first since 2007’s critically acclaimed Vicious Delicious – for dance-music visionary Paul Oakenfold’s Perfecto label. From the Ultra Fest in Miami to the Virgin Festival in Baltimore, from Mexico’s OMIX to Cali’s Coachella, from Brazil’s Ipanema Beach to Melbourne’s Metro Club... Infected Mushroom has averaged about 120 live performances per year. The band have kept up that tradition in 2009 with a 17-date in the US and will be down-sizing from their usual Brixton Academy sell-out shows for this exclusive DJ set and debut at The Gallery on Friday night! Get your tickets now!
Joining them will be Gallery residents John Askew who makes a long ovedue return as well as The Viceroy both will be pumping it some in the world class surroundings of the Box after Infected Mushroom have done their thing with Genix providing the warm up. Over in the Bar, it’s all about Sneaky with another stellar line-up from this wicked up and coming promotion. DJs on the night include Evo N Jen, Nay Daze and Redz, with the Sneaky clan also taking over The Loft. Beatfreakz meanwhile have the honour of rocking it out in the Baby Box.
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interesting read, see you friday 
xxx