Unmixed with Infected Mushroom

Unmixed with Infected Mushroom

3 December, 2009 | 9.30PM

• Written by: ClubDistrictCOM
• Filed under: Music News : duvdev, erez, infected mushroom, legend of the black shawarma

Psy-Trance innovators Infected Mushroom have evolved into one of the biggest electronic bands on the planet. Twice ranked among the world’s 10 best DJs by the bible of the scene, the U.K.’s DJ Magazine, the Israel-bred, L.A. based duo bring 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.

Infected Mushroom’s latest album ‘Legend of the Black Shawarma’ finds the Israeli-bred, L.A.-based electronic duo, taking their Psy-Trance fusion of bruising, metallic rock and unstoppable dance-floor beats to a new level. “It’s a really diverse record,” Duvdev relates of the band’s follow-up to 2007’s Vicious Delicious, “it’s even more aggressive–both on the metal side and on the breakbeat side.”

Released on Paul Oakenfold’s Perfecto label, this album is some very potent Mushroom indeed and boasts some high-profile guests. The lead single “Smashing the Opponent” features a scorching vocal from Korn’s Jonathan Davis, while Jane’s Addiction/Porno for Pyros frontman and alternative-rock patron saint Perry Farrell lends his inimitable pipes to the follow-up single , “Killing Time.”

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 will honor that tradition finishing up 2009 and ushering in 2010 with a vengeance.

ClubDistrict.com presents UNMIXED with Infected Mushroom!

CD: I’m going to ask a very cliché first question just to get it out of the way. I can’t seem to find any details on how you finally settled on the name ‘Infected Mushroom’; is there a psychedelic secret to the name?

Duvdev: No secret…it is an old Israeli punk band that never really made anything of themselves so we stole the name, plain and simple. You’d think by our music we’d be original ;-)

CD: You both have similar childhoods learning piano at such an early age, and as teens Erez was into Psy-trance while Duvdev was into metal and punk, how different would Infected Mushroom sound today if both of you came from straight electronic roots?

Duvdev: Who knows! Impossible to tell, and I’d hate to imagine! Eisen was in a band too, don’t discount his rock roots…I think we both bring a unique musical perspective to the table which is why our chemistry jives well…

CD: So here we have Erez and Duvdev both coming from two somewhat unrelated musical backgrounds, how were those first jam sessions? Was is difficult?

Duvdev: Like I said, our musical backgrounds were not completely unrelated…but it did take us a while to get to where we are (our first musical experiments together were nothing to call the Grammys about)

CD: You are a full band, that is one of the beauties of Infected Mushroom, how does the full band fit into writing tracks? Is it just you two or a collaborative effort?

Duvdev: Well, Erez and I produce the tracks, and when we bring it to the band we tell them how we’d like the fundamental rhythms and/or chords played live…they definitely add in their own flare on stage and we encourage their creativity. As far as the studio album, Legend of the Black Shawarma, a majority was our own work in the studio.

CD: As a band your roots are in Psy-trance, but that classification does not do your style justice. If you were to create a new genre for your style what would you call it?

Duvdev: Rock-Trance… or Exercise-Trance haha!

CD: What I find unique in your tracks is the use of distortion, heavy handed beats and what sounds to me like some Israeli influence. You also experiment with beats ranging from 130 to 160 BPMs, which American band would you say is your rock equivalent?

Duvdev: Well, I don’t know about equivalent because it is hard to compare Infected to any other sound but some of our influences are System of a Down, Korn and Primus.

CD: Great to see you guys working with Paul Oakenfold. I would love to see an Infected Mushroom remix of an Oakenfold track, can we expect to see any such collaboration in the future?

Duvdev: Yeah! Oakenfold did a remix of Killing Time…and yes it is very great to be working with him, a big honor. We are doing a remix for his next album in return. As far as the future, we have some other great collaborations in the works which I can’t tell you about yet, but you’ll like them, promise!

Legend of the Black SharwarmaCD: Legend of the Black Shawarma is the title song of the album bearing the same name, so what is the legend?

Duvdev: The album title was inspired by a close friend of ours who enjoys being on the ocean… Basically, I’m a little crazy in the head from my Goa days, so don’t ask me why, but I thought up a story about sharks deep at the bottom of the ocean who have an old legend, nearly forgotten, about a special dark shawarma that once sank from the mysterious surface waters above. As my story goes, one day this ocean-loving friend of ours was enjoying a nice day on the ocean when all of a sudden he fell out of his boat…As he began to sink, the sharks looked up and realized the Legend of the Black Shawarma is alive! The sharks were happy needless to say :-)

Read the rest on http://www.clubdistrict.com/blog/98

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