Infected Mushroom

Last updated

Infected Mushroom
Infected Mushroom - Shuni 2015 01 (cropped).JPG
Infected Mushroom performing in Binyamina in 2015
Background information
Origin Kiryat Yam, Haifa District, Israel [1]
Genres Psychedelic trance, electro house, electronica, dream trance, electronic rock, glitch hop, classical music, industrial, experimental, progressive psytrance
Years active1996–present
LabelsBNE, Hom-Mega, Dim Mak, Perfecto, Monstercat
MembersAmit Duvdevani
Erez Eisen
Website infected-mushroom.com

Infected Mushroom is an Israeli musical duo formed in Haifa in 1996 by producers Erez Eisen and Amit Duvdevani. [1] They produce and perform psytrance, electronica, dream trance and psychedelic music. They are one of the best-selling groups in Israeli music history in terms of both domestic and international sales. [2]

Contents

They employ a variety of musical sources, including acoustic guitars and complex synthesized basses. Their compositions often contain changes of drum beat and tempo. Infected Mushroom's live shows feature vocals and analogue instruments in performances that are set against a multimedia backdrop.

Members

Infected Mushroom at the DNA Lounge in 2002 InfectedMushroom02.jpg
Infected Mushroom at the DNA Lounge in 2002

Erez Eisen was born on 8 September 1980 in Qiryat Yam, Israel. He began classical musical training at a young age, learning to play the organ at the age of four [3] and studying classical piano at the Haifa Conservatory from the age of eight. Eisen later became involved with computerized music, beginning with Impulse Tracker and later moving to more advanced musical composition software. [4]

Eisen had collaborated with DJ Jörg and other notable psytrance artists by the age of 18, [5] and has released three albums and many singles under other psytrance monikers, including Shidapu and Shiva Shidapu. [5] [6]

Amit Duvdevani was born on 7 November 1974 in Israel and has a similar musical background as Eisen. He started to play classical piano at age seven and continued to do so for nine years. He then progressed to heavy metal music and punk rock. Duvdevani played keyboards and wrote most of the material for the Haifa punk rock band Enzyme [7] —he attended his first trance party in 1991. [8]

Duvdevani was conscripted into the Israel Defense Forces, where he was first nicknamed, "Duvdev". [9] After he finished his conscription in Israel, Duvdevani lived in India for a year, [10] primarily in the Indian state of Goa. [11] Duvdevani later collaborated with a member of Shiva Shidapu on four tracks, but they were never released. [5]

Career

1996–2004: First four studio albums

Eisen and Duvdevani first began to play together in 1996. [12] A few of their early efforts were released under the name Shidapu & Duvdev. The duo then renamed themselves Infected Mushroom, a name they stole from a local punk band that had been disbanded. The young duo drew inspiration from The Prodigy and Metallica. In an interview with Psychedelic Magazine, the duo stated they were naturally attracted to the psytrance genre through its popularity. [12] In 1998 the group began work on their first album, 1999's The Gathering, inspired by Simon Posford, X-Dream and Transwave. [9] This album featured a dark, rhythmic sonic atmosphere exemplified by its popular track, "Psycho", using a sample from the movie Batman & Robin.[ citation needed ] It was one of the first albums to bring Israeli psytrance to mainstream audiences, and contributed to the genre's worldwide popularity. [13]

Their 2000 album, Classical Mushroom, contained "Bust a Move". The album is commonly referred to as one of the group's best efforts, one in which they continued their sonic evolution, and it remains one of the best-known albums in the genre.[ citation needed ]

The duo's 2001 B.P. Empire is notable for the musical epic "Dancing with Kadafi", which segues numerous styles of music, most notably through middle-eastern style melodies and a classical break which showcases Erez and Amit's piano skills. The name "Dancing with Kadafi" may be a reference to Erez's cat, who was named Kadafi.

Converting Vegetarians (2003), was a two-disc set. The 'Trance Side' disc contained trance-like dancefloor material comparable to their earlier work, while the disc entitled 'The Other Side' contained genre-bending experimental music. 'The Other Side' included Duvdev's vocal debut on the title track, the down-tempo "Elation Station", and the electro-pop tracks "Blink" and "Illuminaughty".

2004–2007: IM the Supervisor and increasing popularity

Vegoose festival, Sam Boyd Stadium, 2007. Infected Mushroom at Vegoose 2007 02.jpg
Vegoose festival, Sam Boyd Stadium, 2007.

The 2004 release of IM The Supervisor, continued to mix psytrance with other musical genres and became Infected Mushroom's best-selling album to date. It was psychedelic in a way that dance music rarely had been prior to its release. Certain parts of IM The Supervisor, most notably the gamelan-like noises, cut-up samples, and the old-school sequencer throb of "Bombat," were lauded as innovative at the time.[ citation needed ]

Guitarists Thomas Cunningham and Erez Netz joined the group in 2004, the same year as the band relocated from their Haifa base to a studio in Los Angeles, California. Brazilian percussionist Rogério Jardim was recruited later on, in 2007.[ citation needed ]

Infected Mushroom rose to #9 in the influential DJmag Top 100 DJs poll [14] and were the highest placed psytrance DJs in the category's 2007 debut appearance, a reflection of the role the group had played in the genre's increased worldwide popularity.

2007–2012: Vicious Delicious and Legend of the Black Shawarma

Infected Mushroom in Russia (2011) Infected Mushroom in Russia.jpg
Infected Mushroom in Russia (2011)

Vicious Delicious, considered by some as their most diverse musical effort up until that point[ citation needed ], was released in 2007. The album includes "Becoming Insane"—a Spanish-guitar-led track containing Spanish lyrics—a collaboration with Gil Cerezo of the Mexican band Kinky, and the hip hop-influenced "Artillery" featuring rappers Swollen Members. The overall album features more guest vocalists than previous albums, as well as live guitars and drums. [15]

Legend of the Black Shawarma [16] was released in 2009. It includes a remix of The Doors song "Riders on the Storm", [17] and continues the stylistic variety and use of guest vocalists. The album title refers to an Australian who wanted to go to sea in a shark-proof cage and was told that he would seem like "black shawarma", a West Asian delicacy, to the sharks.[ citation needed ] The success of Legend of the Black Shawarma led to a three-year tour.[ citation needed ]

2012–2015: Army of Mushrooms and Friends on Mushrooms

Infected Mushroom during their show in Amphi Shuni, September 2015. Infected Mushroom - Shuni 2015 02 (cropped).JPG
Infected Mushroom during their show in Amphi Shuni, September 2015.

The band's album, Army of Mushrooms , was released on 8 May 2012 on the Dim Mak Records label. It features tracks influenced by the psychedelic trance, dubstep, house and drum and bass genres, such as the up-tempo, breakbeat track "The Rat". The album includes a cover of "The Pretender" by the Foo Fighters, the progressive heavy-hitter "Drum n' Bassa" and "Nation of Wusses"—released as a single on 3 April 2012—and "U R So Fucked", [18] released as a single/video on 14 February 2012. [19]

A large-scale North American tour was launched on 12 May 2012, called "The Unveiling", and featured revamped stage production and novel audio/visual live aspects. The new live production featured Erez and Duvdev within two specially designed hollow spheres placed on stage, among other high tech additions to the band's live set-up and multimedia backdrop. [20]

January 2013 saw the duo embark on their FungusAmongUS tour across North America, with special guests The M Machine. The "FungusAmongUS" tour was designed by Vita Motus and V Squared Labs, the creators of Amon Tobin's ISAM production and Skrillex's live Cell production. [21]

The duo released a collaborative EP named Friends on Mushrooms Vol. 1 in January 2013, again under Dim Mak Records. The EP consists of tracks featuring Astrix and Hatikva 6. In July 2013, the duo released Friends on Mushrooms Vol. 2, also under Dim Mak Records, which consisted of collaborations with Pegboard Nerds, Savant and Kelsy Karter. [21] In mid-2013, Infected Mushroom embarked on a tour in support of the Vol. 2 release that featured the duo "set against an incredible three dimensional landscape that brings INFECTED MUSHROOM's visual and sonic journey to life." [21]

In August 2013, due to the leaked song "Aura", Infected Mushroom was revealed as a production team on Lady Gaga's third studio album Artpop . [22] Friends on Mushrooms Vol. 3 was released on 17 June 2014 and includes a collaboration with Savant. [23] [24]

On 1 April 2014, Duvdevani said that Infected Mushroom will be releasing a new album at the end of the year. It was later revealed that Infected Mushroom will in fact be releasing a compilation of the tracks from the Friends On Mushrooms extended plays, bundled together with two new tracks, "Kafkaf" and "Kazabubu". This was released on 6 January 2015. [25]

2015–2018: Converting Vegetarians II, Return to the Sauce, and Monstercat

Gnome-mime-sound-openclipart.svg
Animatronica (Converting Vegetarians II)
Audio clip of "Animatronica" by Infected Mushroom from the album Converting Vegetarians II
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Following their Animatronica tour, the band officially announced that their new album will be a follow-up to their widely acclaimed 2003 album Converting Vegetarians. It was also announced that the vocals of Sasha Grey will be featured on the track "Fields of Grey". The album was released on 11 September 2015. [26]

On 27 January 2017, the band released their eleventh studio album, Return to the Sauce , which features their signature psy-trance sound. [27] This is in stark contrast to Converting Vegetarians II , which is more ambient and down-tempo in style. The release of Return to the Sauce was preceded by two singles, "Liquid Smoke" and "Nutmeg".

On 24 November 2017, the band released their single Spitfire on the Canadian independent record label Monstercat. [28]

2018–present: IM21 Pt.1 and Monstercat albums

On 9 March 2018, the band released IM21, Pt.1 under the label Hommega. [29] It is composed of remixes of "Bust a Move", "Suliman", "Saeed", "Yamakas in space", and an acoustic live remix of "i-Wish". These were remixed by groups such as Bliss, No Comment, Paranormal Attack and Modulation. The acoustic remix of "i-Wish" was done by the band itself.[ citation needed ]

On 30 October 2018, the band announced a new full-length album titled Head of NASA and the 2 Amish Boys . [30] The album was released through Monstercat on 12 December that same year. There are seven tracks on the album which are mainly electronic with psytrance influences and include one hip-hop collaboration song with Israeli artist Tuna and Israeli girl band A-WA in Hebrew, Arabic and English – Lost in Space. [31]

In 2020, the group released their 12th album More Than Just a Name . [32] It features collaborations with Astrix and Bliss. The track Infected Megamix features a montage of past popular Infected Mushroom songs.

On July 7, 2022, Infected Mushroom released the single "A Cookie from Space", announced to be the first single from their 25-year anniversary album, IM25. [33]

In October 2023 Infected Mushroom released the single "Tirkod LaNezach" (תרקוד לנצח, lit. "Dance Forever") alongside the Israeli singer Omer Adam, dedicated to the victims of the Supernova music festival massacre. [34]

Touring

On average, the band completes 120 live annual performances, including the Ultra Music Festival in Miami, US; the Virgin Festival in Baltimore, US; Mexico's OMIX; California, US' Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival; Brazil's Ipanema Beach; Melbourne, Australia's Metro Club; and the 2009, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2022 and 2024 Burning Man Festivals in Black Rock City, Nevada, US. [35] [36] Infected Mushroom have been twice ranked among the world's "10 Best DJ's" by readers of U.K.'s DJ Magazine . [21]

Discography

Related Research Articles

Psychedelic trance, psytrance, or psy is a subgenre of trance music characterized by arrangements of rhythms and layered melodies created by high tempo riffs. The genre offers variety in terms of mood, tempo, and style. Some examples include full on, darkpsy, forest, minimal (Zenonesque), hitech psy, progressive, suomi, psy-chill, psycore, psybient, psybreaks, or "adapted" tracks from other music genres. Goa trance preceded psytrance; when digital media became more commonly used psytrance evolved. Goa continues to develop alongside the other genres.

Goa trance is an electronic dance music style that originated in the early 1990s in the Indian state of Goa. Goa trance often has drone-like basslines, similar to the techno minimalism of 21st century psychedelic trance (psytrance). Psychedelic trance developed from Goa trance. The typically long songs built on progressive beat changes are said to put the listener in a “trance”.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astrix</span> Israeli psy trance music DJ and producer

Avi Shmailov, known by his stage name Astrix, is an Israeli trance music DJ and producer. His specialty lies in the subgenre of progressive psychedelic trance. In 2006, Astrix achieved the 41st position in DJMag's "Top 100 DJs" annual ranking, alongside several other Israeli musicians, with Infected Mushroom ranking the highest at #9. The following year, in 2007, Astrix climbed to the 18th spot on the list, marking a significant representation of the Israeli electronic music scene in the global rankings.,

Koxbox is a Danish musical group formed in 1990 that produced psychedelic trance. It consisted of Peter Candy and Frank É Madsen. Ian Ion, their studio producer, is also sometimes mentioned as part of the group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Analog Pussy</span> Psychedelic trance group

Analog Pussy is a psychedelic trance group that originated in Israel, now located in Germany.

Suomisaundi, also known as suomisoundi, suomistyge or spugedelic trance, is a style of psychedelic trance that originated in Finland around the mid-1990s. "Suomisaundi" literally means "Finnish sound" in Finnish. Suomisaundi's biggest proponents are said to be Tim Thick and his label Thixx'n'Dixx.

Asher Swissa is a member of the band Skazi. Based in Israel, Asher Swissa, has been producing psytrance since 1998. Their first CD "Animal" was released in September 2000. He is the owner of the Chemical Crew label, and has worked with many artists, including Infected Mushroom, Astrix, GMS, Talamasca, Eskimo, Void, Exaile, Psychotic Micro.

<i>Legend of the Black Shawarma</i> 2009 studio album by Infected Mushroom

Legend of the Black Shawarma is the seventh studio album by psychedelic trance duo Infected Mushroom released on September 8, 2009. The album is named after a shawarma, a Middle Eastern wrap/sandwich; the equivalent of the döner kebab in Turkey or the gyros in Greece. The title was also inspired by Shawarma Hazan, a shawarma restaurant where Erez and Amit used to eat in their hometown, Haifa.

<i>Army of Mushrooms</i> 2012 studio album by Infected Mushroom

Army of Mushrooms is the eighth studio album by Infected Mushroom released on May 8, 2012 under Dim Mak Records. It features a cover of "The Pretender" by Foo Fighters, "Serve My Thirst", and "U R So F**ked".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oforia</span> Musical artist

Ofer Dikovsky, better known by his stage name Oforia, is a music producer and DJ from Israel. Besides having a solo career as Oforia or Noor, he has been involved with various musical groups/formations such as Indoor, Tandu and OB1, and has worked on several musical projects such as Pigs in Space and Phreaky.

<i>Vitamin D</i> (album) 2012 studio album by Datsik

Vitamin D is the debut studio album by Canadian dubstep producer and artist Datsik, released on April 10, 2012. The album was co-produced by various electronic music producers such as fellow Canadian dubstep producer Downlink, Israeli psytrance and electronica production duo Infected Mushroom and American DJ Z-Trip. The first official single from the album is "Fully Blown", which was released on January 31. The second single, "Evilution", which was co-produced by Infected Mushroom and features vocals from Jonathan Davis of the nu metal band Korn, was released on March 13.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seven Lions</span> Musical artist

Jeff Montalvo, known professionally as Seven Lions, is an American DJ, record producer, instrumentalist and remixer from Santa Barbara, California. Active musically since 2010, his music combines styles as diverse as trance, melodic dubstep, drum and bass, glitch hop, and electro house. He has released eight EPs, multiple singles, and official remixes for record labels such as Casablanca Records, Owsla, Viper Recordings, Anjunabeats, Republic Records and Monstercat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electrowavez</span> Arab psychedelic trance group

Electrowavez is an Arab psychedelic trance group formed in 2008, comprising two members, the brothers Charlie Shaabi and Richard Savo.

Vini Vici is an Israeli psytrance DJ duo from Afula. The group was originally formed in 2001 under the name of Sesto Sento by the producers Matan Kadosh, Aviram Saharai, and Itai Spector; Spector left in 2011. In 2013, Kadosh and Saharai continued their musical activities under the name 'Vini Vici'.

Psydub is a fusion genre of electronic music that has its roots in psychedelic trance, ambient and dub music. Incorporated dub elements are melodic basslines, deep reggae roots and producing techniques like dynamically adding extensive echo, reverb, panoramic delay, and occasional dubbing of vocal or instrumental snippets from the original version or other works. An incorporated ambient element is an emphasis on tone and atmosphere. Incorporated psytrance elements are low-bass frequencies and hypnotic melodies and the use of samples. Those samples mostly contain references to drugs, parapsychology, extraterrestrial life, existentialism, out of body experiences, dreams, science, time travel, spirituality and similar mysterious or unconventional topics. Psydub is also highly influenced by the music of India.

<i>Converting Vegetarians II</i> 2015 studio album by Infected Mushroom

Converting Vegetarians II is the ninth studio album by Israeli psychedelic trance duo Infected Mushroom. It was released on September 11, 2015 on Dim Mak Records. It is a sequel to the band's 2003 album Converting Vegetarians.

<i>Return to the Sauce</i> 2017 studio album by Infected Mushroom

Return to the Sauce is the tenth studio album by Israeli psychedelic trance duo Infected Mushroom. It was released on January 27, 2017, under HOMmega Productions.

<i>Head of NASA and the 2 Amish Boys</i> 2018 studio album by Infected Mushroom

Head of NASA and the 2 Amish Boys is the eleventh studio album by Israeli psytrance duo Infected Mushroom. It was released on 12 December 2018, and is the duo's first album on Canada-based electronic record label Monstercat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Infected Mushroom discography</span> Discography

The discography of Israeli psychedelic trance duo Infected Mushroom consists of twelve studio albums, one compilation album, four extended plays, thirty singles, and ten music videos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Au5</span> American electronic musician (born 1992)

Austin Collins, better known as Au5, is an American electronic musician from New Jersey. Au5's music encompasses a range of electronic genres such as dubstep, house, trance, drum and bass, drumstep and ambient, and he is known for fusing the characteristics of trance and dubstep in his music. Au5 is best known for his releases on Canadian label Monstercat, some of which have received millions of views on YouTube.

References

  1. 1 2 "THEY'RE INFECTIOUS". Los Angeles Times. 24 January 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
  2. ↑ Billboard8 Mar 2008, Vol. 120, No. 10, Published by Nielsen Business Media, Inc, p. 52.
  3. ↑ "Biography of Infected Mushroom". Resident Advisor. Resident Advisor Ltd. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  4. ↑ "Infected Mushroom Interview | EM Interviews Infected Mushroom Erez Eisen and Amit Duvdev Duvedevani on Recording Legend of the Black Shawarma". Emusician.com. 1 September 2009. Archived from the original on 17 September 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 ShivaS. "Interview with Erez Eizen (Shidapu / Infected Mushroom)". Isratrance.com. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
  6. ↑ "Goa Psychedelic Trance (Psych Trance) Music Artists". Enchantinggoa.com. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
  7. ↑ "Infected Mushroom Interview – 2001". Implant Magazine (20). 2001. Archived from the original on 19 February 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
  8. ↑ "INFECTED MUSHROOM". IsraPost. Archived from the original on 3 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  9. 1 2 "Infected Mushroom Biography". The DJ List. The DJ List, Inc. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  10. ↑ "Infected Mushroom biography". AllMusic. Rovi Corp. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  11. ↑ "Infected Mushroom: Powerful not poisonous – NovaFM Features". Novafm.com.au. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
  12. 1 2 "Infected Mushroom interview". Psychedelic Magazine. 11 April 2015.
  13. ↑ "Infected Mushroom with a view...on trance, Israeli bands and whether Palestinians rock" . Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  14. ↑ "DJmag.com: Top 100 DJs 2007". DJmag.com. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
  15. ↑ "Infected Mushroom Vicious Delicious". exclaim.ca. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  16. ↑ "Infected Mushroom / Bio". ReverbNation. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  17. ↑ Shim, Dave. Legend of the Black Shawarma review Retrieved on October 13, 2009.
  18. ↑ Patrick Dunn. "Infected Mushroom Army of Mushrooms". Ear Candy, Real Detroit Weekly. Real Detroit Weekly, LLC. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  19. ↑ Jake Cohen (10 May 2012). "Click here to find out more! Album Review: Infected Mushroom – Army of Mushrooms". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  20. ↑ Ifeanyi, KC (14 May 2012) "A Fantastic Voyage: Behind Infected Mushroom's Psychedelic New Show" – 'FastCocreate'
  21. 1 2 3 4 "Infected Mushroom To Release 'Friends On Mushrooms, Vol. 2' On July 16, 2013". Contact Music. Contactmusic.com Ltd. 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  22. ↑ "ARTPOP songwriting credit revealed". Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  23. ↑ Stoney Roads (14 June 2014). "WIN: Infected Mushroom Merch + New EP 'Friends on Mushrooms Vol.3'" . Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  24. ↑ "Friends On Mushrooms, Vol. 3 [Dim Mak Records]". Beatport . Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  25. ↑ "Friends On Mushrooms (Deluxe Edition) on Amazon.com". Amazon.
  26. ↑ Infected Mushroom – Fields Of Grey (feat. Sasha Grey) on SoundCloud
  27. ↑ "Infected Mushroom return to psytrance in 'Return to the Sauce'". Dancing Astronaut. 31 January 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  28. ↑ Fleury, Landon (25 November 2017). "Listen to Infected Mushroom's Monstercat Debut, "Spitfire"". Your EDM. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  29. ↑ "IM21, Pt. 1 from HOMmega Productions on Beatport". www.beatport.com. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  30. ↑ "Infected Mushroom on Twitter..." www.twitter.com. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  31. ↑ "Infected Mushroom Break Down 'Head Of NASA and the 2 Amish Boys' Album: Exclusive". Billboard. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  32. ↑ "More Than Just A Name – Infected Mushroom | Album Review". The Review Geek. 17 May 2020. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  33. ↑ Akshay, Bhanawat (7 July 2022). "Legendary Psytrance Duo Infected Mushroom Announce Highly-Anticipated 25-Year Anniversary Album 'IM25' With First Single "A Cookie From Space"". T.H.E Music Essentials. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  34. ↑ Heffler, Jason (27 October 2023). "Infected Mushroom Dedicate New Song to Victims of Terrorist Attack on Israeli Music Festival". EDM.com.
  35. ↑ "RA: Infected Mushroom". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  36. ↑ "Burning Man 27/08/2017 ★ Lineup ★ News ★ Videos ★ Information - ELECTRONIC-FESTIVALS.COM" . Retrieved 10 January 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.