This article needs to be updated.(June 2017) |
M.I.R.V. | |
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Origin | San Francisco, California, United States |
Genres | |
Years active | 1993 | –2000s
Labels | Prawn Song, Poison Eye |
Past members |
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M.I.R.V. was a band based in the San Francisco, California, Bay Area. The band was founded in 1993. Its musical style includes elements of hard rock, heavy metal, funk, country, opera, experimental, electronica, and polka.
Founded in 1993, M.I.R.V initially consisted of the band's namesake guitarist and singer, Marc "Mirv" Haggard, bassist Craig McFarland, and drummer David Kobza. Former Fungo Mungo drummer Jeff Gomes replaced Kobza in 1994. The band recorded Feeding Time on Monkey Island and Dancing Naked in a Mine Field. Guitarist Bryan Kehoe contributed to the vocals and keyboards. Kehoe left the band in 2001 to form The Kehoe Nation, and was replaced by Spent Poets singer Adam Gates, aka "The Filthy Ape". The band played shows as a 5-piece band with both Kehoe and Gates. Gates formed Madame Blavatsky Overdrive with McFarland and Gomes and recorded the Debut album Idiot Jones will Have His Day with engineer Craig McFarland.
Kehoe-era M.I.R.V. shows often featured songs punctuated by interludes of lunacy, usually featuring a verbal interchange between Haggard and Kehoe. Often Haggard would announce a contest for the women in the audience, after which the winner would be cajoled into grabbing Kehoe's groin, causing him to sing in a high-pitched operatic voice. Kehoe would often sing the Neapolitan standard "''O sole mio" following the antics. M.I.R.V. shows would regularly feature Haggard playing an electric saw during portions of the concerts.
M.I.R.V.'s first album, Cosmodrome, was written and recorded by Haggard and featured a character named Granddad, later revealed to be Primus' Les Claypool, who also put the record out on his own Prawn Song label. The album features songs interspersed with skits and is generally regarded as a concept album. The next two records were released on Poison Eye, M.I.R.V.'s own label, and primarily feature music. These latter two albums saw the band form into a four-piece touring outfit, as opposed to a studio project.
The band toured worldwide alongside acts like Jerry Cantrell, Fishbone, Primus and played with groups like Cheap Trick, Run DMC, Papa Roach and Nuclear Rabbit. [1]
In 2014, both Mirv and guitarist Bryan Kehoe played several gigs with Les Claypool across the U.S.
The band's song, "Monkey Boy", was featured in a commercial for the game Fighting Vipers on the Sega Saturn.
M.I.R.V.'s song "Shave My Face Off" was featured in the sixth season of MTV's Beavis & Butt-head on March 7, 1996, after changing the channel from another that showed Hum's song "Stars". [2] Neither Beavis or Butthead showed approval or disapproval of the video, but their discussion mainly centered on the protagonist's ownership of a television, a recliner and some beer.
Leslie Edward Claypool is an American rock musician, best known as the founder, lead singer, bassist, and primary songwriter of the band Primus since its formation in 1984. Frequently considered to be one of the greatest bassists of all time, his playing style mixes tapping, flamenco-like strumming, whammy bar bends, and slapping.
Primus is an American rock band formed in El Sobrante, California in 1984. The band is currently composed of bassist/vocalist Les Claypool, guitarist Larry "Ler" LaLonde, and drummer Tim "Herb" Alexander. Primus originally formed in 1984 with Claypool and guitarist Todd Huth, later joined by drummer Jay Lane, though the latter two had departed the band by the beginning of 1989, and were replaced by LaLonde and Alexander respectively.
Sailing the Seas of Cheese is the second studio album and major label debut by the American rock band Primus. It was released on May 14, 1991, through Interscope Records. It spawned three singles: "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver", "Tommy the Cat", and "Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers".
Suck on This is a live album by the American rock band Primus, released in 1989. At the time of recording, the featured lineup of bassist/vocalist Les Claypool, guitarist Larry LaLonde and drummer Tim Alexander had only been playing together for "about two months". This release, along with Jane's Addiction's self-titled live album, are seen as popularizing the then-underground alternative metal genre.
Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People is a career-spanning retrospective DVD plus bonus EP by American band Primus, released on October 7, 2003. The title was inspired by a crayon-made story book written by guitarist Larry LaLonde's son, and the cover depicts a sculpture made by long-time Primus collaborator Lance "Link" Montoya. The DVD features all of the band's music videos to date, plus short films and live footage from as far back as 1986, whereas the bonus EP features five new songs written and recorded specifically for this release. When promoting the release, bassist Les Claypool remarked that "It seems of late that bands are adding supplemental DVD material to their album releases to promote record sales. We've done the opposite. We've added a supplemental audio recording of brand new music to an extremely comprehensive DVD of classic visuals."
Frizzle Fry is the debut studio album by American rock band Primus. It was released on February 7, 1990, by Caroline Records. Produced by the band and Matt Winegar, the album was recorded at Different Fur Studios in San Francisco in December 1989. In 2015, Primus frontman Les Claypool ranked Frizzle Fry as his favorite Primus album.
Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains (C2B3) was an experimental rock supergroup featuring bassist Les Claypool, guitarist Buckethead, keyboardist Bernie Worrell and drummer Brain.
Blind Illusion is an American progressive thrash metal band from Richmond, California. The band’s original line-up formed in 1978 by lead guitarist and songwriter Mark Biedermann. Since Blind Illusion’s inception the band has had several line-up changes, with Biedermann remaining the only constant member. Blind Illusion is also notable for featuring Les Claypool and Larry LaLonde, both later of Primus, who performed bass and guitar respectively on their 1988 debut album The Sane Asylum.
Highball with the Devil is a studio album by Les Claypool and the Holy Mackerel, released in 1996. "Les Claypool and the Holy Mackerel" is Claypool's first solo effort. In addition to his usual bass guitar and vocals, he also plays most of the drums and some guitar. He also self produced and engineered the album at his own studio, "Rancho Relaxo". Credited musicians include Charlie Hunter on guitar for "Me and Chuck;" Marc "Mirv" Haggard on guitar on songs such as "El Sobrante Fortnight" and "Hendershot," as well as on the saw for "Cohibas Esplenditos"; Adam "Bob Cock" Gates on vocal; Jay Lane on drums; and Henry Rollins narrating "Delicate Tendrils."
Colonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade is a musical project with rotating personnel, led by American singer/bassist Les Claypool. The Frog Brigade was formed during a hiatus from Claypool's main group Primus.
Todd Richard Huth is an American guitarist, best known as an original member of the band Primus, along with bassist/lyricist Les Claypool.
Prawn Song Records is an independent record label owned by Les Claypool of Primus. The name and logo are a parody of Led Zeppelin's label Swan Song Records.
Sausage was a short-lived alternative/funk rock band featuring a reunion of the 1988 lineup of the San Francisco Bay Area band Primus. They released the album Riddles Are Abound Tonight in April 1994 through the Interscope Records imprint Prawn Song Records.
Adam Gates is a graphic designer and musician from Orinda, California.
Jay Lane is an American musician. He is a founding member of Bob Weir's RatDog, with Weir and Rob Wasserman, Wolf Bros, Furthur, Golden Gate Wingmen, Dead & Company and Alphabet Soup. He was the 7th drummer to play in Primus, playing with the band for around eight months in 1988 and later rejoining the band from 2010-2013. Lane was a member of San Francisco Bay Area bands The Uptones from '83-'85, and The Freaky Executives '84-'89.
Videoplasty is the third home video by Primus, following 1993's Cheesy Home Video and the fan club exclusive Horrible Swill. Videoplasty was released at the end of 1998 to complement the band's recent covers EP Rhinoplasty, and is composed mostly of highlights from a live show performed on October 14 that year at The Phoenix Theater in Petaluma, California. This live footage is interspersed with montages of clips filmed during previous tours and at other recent shows, footage shot backstage and in the studio, animations by bassist Les Claypool, and the band's then-current music videos, spanning the previous two years back to the recording of the Brown Album and presented in approximate reverse-chronological order.
Green Naugahyde is the seventh studio album by rock group Primus, released by ATO Records and Prawn Song on September 12, 2011, in Europe, and on September 13, 2011, in the United States. It is the band's first album since 1999's Antipop, and features their first new material since 2003's Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People EP. It is the only Primus album to feature Jay Lane on drums, as he left the band in September 2013.
Reid Laurence "Larry" LaLonde, also known as Ler LaLonde, is an American musician. He has been the guitarist for the rock band Primus since 1989, where he is known for his experimental accompaniment to the bass playing of bandmate Les Claypool. Previously, he played guitar for several groups including Possessed and Blind Illusion. He also has collaborated more recently with artists such as Serj Tankian and Tom Waits.
Duo de Twang is an American country duo formed in 2012. It features Primus bass guitarist Les Claypool and M.I.R.V. guitarist Bryan Kehoe, who has been Claypool's friend since high school.
Four Foot Shack is the debut album of Duo de Twang, a country music duo formed by Primus bassist and vocalist Les Claypool and M.I.R.V. guitarist Bryan Kehoe. This album contains one original song and fourteen cover songs. It was released on February 4, 2014 by ATO Records.