The Bar

Waylon Reavis- Vocals
Jeffrey Nothing (Jeff Hatrix)- Vocals
Steve Felton “Skinny”- Drums
Rick Thomas “St1tch”- Samples/ Water Drums
Dave Felton “Gravy”- Guitar
Jack Kilcoyne “Pig Benis”- Bass
Tom Schmitz “Shmotz”- Keyboard

Developed in 1993 out of Cleveland, Ohio, Mushroomhead’s music has been described as a synthesis of alternative, heavy metal, and electro-industrial influences. They have recorded seven albums, the latest being 2006’s “Savior Sorrow”. This crazy group of musicians have been tearing up the stages ever since.

With their second show ever, they played in front of 2000 people and opened up for GWAR. They have also shared the stage with Avenged Sevenfold, Meshuggah, Motograter, Dope, Chimara, Psyclon Nine, and Godsmack. After wrapping up a tour of the Midwest and east coast, they were generous enough to share their stage with Human Factors Lab out of Ft. Lauderdale, FL., Within Chaos from Austin TX., and our very own Richmond Virginia boys, Saint Diablo.

Their image is not mistakable. They have the famous “X-face” logo on their masks which are confirmed by producers to be them coming back from hell after being killed in war. Although their masks didn’t come without drama, they still wear them proudly.

Personally, having just got off tour with Mushroomhead, I have come to know that they definitely work their asses off. For every member of the band every night is a physical and mental workout. They all tranform into their characters on stage. They are not the normal Waylon or Gravy or even Jeff, they all play a part and their role. No one can do it like they can. Excluding seeing normal drama of spending everyday with the same group of guys, you couldn’t ask for a better band to be on the road with. I wouldn’t want to say they are “normal”, because there isn’t anything normal about what they do. But I can say this, they are awesome they make you feel at home and a part of the family. Being around bands on a regular basis, I know for a fact they are a group of extremely talented musicians. They definitely know how to put on a show.

Let’s not forget their wonderful tech’s, who do an excellent job of taking control when needed and keeping the show going. Little Dan, Skinny’s drum tech, king of the water drums - and lets not forget crowd surfing. Big Dan and Bryan, lights, water drum tech and kickass security.

Lucky for me, I was able to catch three of them to do our band questionnaire. Thank you again Skinny, Waylon and Shmotz you guys are the best.

THE BAR: What is the origin of the band name?
Group answer: A member of Gravy’s old band had a huge afro and he used to call him Mushroomhead. We thought “Hey that would be a cool name for a band, so we stole it.”

THE BAR: Who would you list as the bands biggest influences?
Waylon: Mr. Bungel, Faith no more.
Shmotz: 80’s metal, Metal Church, Trouble and Metallica.
Skinny: Faith No more, Ministry, German Techno (Gabbers and Rotterdam)

THE BAR: What is your favorite song live?
Waylon: Save Us
Shmotz: Born Desire, lots of strings and keys.
Skinny: Whatever is the last on the list, then I can take this fucking mask off and this nasty ass suit and sit down and relax.

THE BAR: You sit on your butt all day and relax…..
Skinny: Yeah but with other guys….

THE BAR: If you could do a show with anyone, who would it be and why?
Waylon: Tool…..Because its Tool.
Shmotz: We already did a show with Tool but it was before you ha ha!! Sorry dude.
Skinny: Slipknot. Oh c’mon like you really need an explanation. Because they are SOO different from us.

THE BAR: I sense a little sarcasm skinny, ya know its like second language to me.
Skinny: Nope not at all…..(Evil smirk on his face)

THE BAR: At this point what has been your favorite show you’ve played?
Waylon: Sounds of the Underground.
Shmotz and Skinny (in unison): European Ozzfest at Castle Donnington.

THE BAR: What do you want the audience to take home after seeing one of your shows?
Waylon: A black eye.
Shmotz: Some of my semen in their hair, more in their mouth. And the girls can take……
Skinny: Merch/T-shirt/CD we got bills to pay. And please please please take your girlfriend home, don’t leave her near the bus, she will never be the same the next morning.

THE BAR: Have we had a little experience with that?
Skinny: Nope not at all I don’t know what your talking about. (laughing hysterically)

THE BAR: What have been the biggest complications you’ve run into since becoming a band?
Waylon: Normal band drama.
Shmotz: Becoming a band, remaining a band, dealing with the band members, traveling with the band, and finding a place to shit in the morning.
Skinny: You mean the afternoon, that’s usually when you roll off the bus. My answer is easy, no money. We’re musicians….We’re poor.

THE BAR: Top five albums ever.
Waylon: Don’t listen to music.

RYAN: (I know its hard to believe guys, but he was serious and I know for a fact its true he didn’t listen to music the entire time, he played video games and slept, he doesn’t even listen to music at home.)

Shmotz:

• Faith No More- The Real Thing
• Led Zepplin - All of them.
• Metallica - Kill ‘em All and Ride the Lightning.
• Slayer - Reign in Blood.
• Trouble - The Skull and Song 69

Skinny:

• Pink Floyd - The Wall
• Accused - More Fun Than an Open Casket Funeral.
• Fiona Apple- Win the Pond
• Down - Album 1 and 2
• Slipknot- Iowa (ha ha)

THE BAR: Any Plugs or Announcements you guys would like to make?
Waylon: Volume 2 DVD comes out August 2008.
Shmotz: I’m single………..Again………So come and get it, were gonna fuck like pigs tonight.
Skinny: After this tour, I’m going home.

www.myspace.com/mushroomhead
www.mushroomhead.com
www.myspace.com/humanfactorslab
www.myspace.com/withinchaos
www.myspace.com/saintdiablo

Recent Posts by Rylee

• Band Interview: Ventana - August 26th, 2008
• Awake (2007) - December 5th, 2007
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End - May 26th, 2007
• Rocky Balboa - May 25th, 2007