An Alternative/Industrial Metal band from Cleveland, Ohio formed in 1993 in Cleveland Warehouse District. The band was originally established as a side project; to differentiate itself from the members' existing bands and to dispel any misconceptions about the group's sound and musical content, Mushroomhead used costumes, masks, and pseudonyms.
The band's imagery and energetic live shows resulted in both a good relationship with the band GWAR and a feud with Slipknot, which was largely a Fandom Rivalry due to fans perceiving a similarity between the two bands' respective images, and the fact that both bands have a large amount of members (currently eight) to accent an atmospheric style. Sound-wise, however, the two bands couldn't be more different; keyboards play heavily into Mushroomhead's sound.
Current Members
- Steve Felton (Skinny) - drums, percussion (1993-present); water drums (2007-present)
- Rick Thomas (ST1TCH) - turntables, samples, programming (2001-present); water drums (2006-present); keyboards (2015-present)
- Ryan Farrell (Dr. F) - bass (2012-present); keyboards (2015-present)
- Robbie Godsey (Roberto Diablo) - additional percussion (2013-present); drums, keyboards (2015-present)
- Jason Popson (J Mann) - harsh and rapping vocals (1993-2004, 2013-present)
- Steve Rauckhorst (Mr. Rauckhorst) - clean vocals (2018-present)
- Tommy Shaffner (Tankx) - guitars (2018-present)
- Jackie LaPonza (Ms. Jackie) - clean vocals (2020-present)
Former Members
- Joe Lenkey (DJ Virus) - turntables, samples (1993-1998)
- Joe Kilcoyne (Mr. Murdernickel) - bass (1993-1996)
- Richie Moore (Dinner) - guitars (1993-1999)
- John Sekula (JJ Righteous) - guitars (1993-2001)
- Marko Vukcevich (Bronson) - guitars (2001-2006); samples (1998-2001), dancing (1993-1995)
- Jessica Haney (Roxy) - dancing (1993-2000, no musical contributions)
- Dave Felton (Gravy) - guitars (1999-2012)
- Jack Kilcoyne (Pig Benis) - bass (1995-2012)
- Daniel Fox (Lil' Dan) - additional percussion (2009-2012)
- Waylon Reavis - lead vocals (2004-2015)
- Tom Schmitz (Shmotz) - keyboard (1993-2015)
- Jeff Hatrix (Jeffrey Nothing) - lead vocals (1993-2018)
- Tommy Church - guitars (2012-2018)
Independent studio albums
- Mushroomhead (1995)
- Superbuick (1996)
- M3 (1999)
Major label studio albums
- XX (2001) note
- XIII (2003)
- Savior Sorrow (2006)
- Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children (2010)
- The Righteous & the Butterfly (2014)
- A Wonderful Life (2020)
Mushroomhead provides examples of the following tropes:
- Punny Name: Former bassist Pig Benis.
- Shout-Out: Pre-The Righteous & the Butterfly era, J Mann wore facepaint stylized after the film Dead Presidents.
- Crisis of Faith: Like the below example, this is often found in Mushroomhead's works. Though it is typically in the form of a deconstruction or subversion, in the decision that the faith they had is no longer needed (or is drastically changed). "The Need" is a good example of this trope's deconstruction
- Restored My Faith in Humanity: Many works deal with trying to invoke this, or hoping for this, with the best examples perhaps being "Save Us" and "Embrace the Ending". Though subverted in that faith in humanity itself isn't truly restored, more that there's a deep hope for humanity to live up to its potential.
- Genre Mashup: They are an Alternative Metal outfit that mix industrial, goth, rap, electronica, punk, and even death metal into a unique sound.
- Lead Drummer: Skinny is the only founding member left and he also is the band's manager.
- Sampling: Their early albums featured samples from such films and TV series as Twin Peaks, Ed Wood, Se7en, Reservoir Dogs, The Silence of the Lambs, Reefer Madness, Wayne's World and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
- Soprano and Gravel: Like Jeff Hatrix before him, Steve Rauckhorst usually handles a lot of the singing, while J Mann tends to favor shouts and screams. Waylon could utilize both.
