The kings of PsyTrance have spoken. Duvdev’s candor and Erez’s quiet wisdom provided for an enlightening conversation about new music, the trials and tribulations of touring, and Duvdev’s insane desire to cover his bald head with a wig (which he has a bunch of, by the way). Infected Mushroom is taking the world by storm with their newly named EP ‘Friends on Mushrooms’, which was almost called ‘Infected Mushroom and Friends’, officially released Tuesday, January 22, 2013.
Currently touring with Infected Mushroom is Jonathon Kane, known as Shreddie Mercury. For a 22 year-old, under-the-radar producer from Columbia, Missouri, Shreddie totally threw down at Brooklyn Bowl moments before Infected Mushroom took the stage. According to Shreddie, his genre is electro-house with metal, tech-y and video game influences, specifically the Castlevania soundtrack. He’s already opened for Major Lazer (he even had nachos with Jillionaire after the show), and recently won Beatport’s Play remix contest for ‘Spectrum’ by Zedd. Shreddie certainly has a bright future ahead of him, so get on the @Shredlobster bangwagon ASAP!
Infected Mushroom @ The Brooklyn Bowl Photo Album
Have you ever played a show at a bowling alley?
No, First time. First time in Brooklyn. I’ve been to Brooklyn but I’ve never performed in Brooklyn, per se. And this is “no sleep till Brooklyn” territory.
Well, welcome back to New York. What do you guys like to do when you’re around here during your free time?
First thing when we come to New York is pizza. Because pizza in New York is a different league from all around the country. Why? I do not know, but it is. And we love pizza, so first thing when we come to New York is pizza, then it’s shows and friends. Some in Brooklyn!
So, you’ve done a few shows so far for FungusAmongUS. How’s it going?
Great, really good. You know what, we didn’t know how at first they would react and if it was going to take our shows to a different level but it did, and at least we see it that way. And we enjoy doing it because it’s something new for us, so it’s really great.
How is this tour different from the rest?
Well, if you follow Infected Mushroom, the last few years it was a live band on stage, guitarist, drums, everything, but now we are back into a form of just me and him [Erez] on stage. More tweaking machines, like we used to do back in the day. And of course when you add the visual elements, the structure, the spheres and everything, its more of a…I call it the psychedelic movie that is an Infected Mushroom show.
Why now?
Amon Tobin. There’s a show by Amon Tobin called “Isam.” When we saw it online like one and a half or two years ago, we were blown away by the visuals and we said, you know what, we want to go in that direction. And that’s what we did. There’s always something to look at- music wise, visual wise. If you don’t look out, you’re just blind.
Good point. Now, you’ve been producing music for over a decade. What are some major changes you’ve seen in the music industry over the years? How do you feel about the EDM explosion in the United States?
First of all there was no EDM when we came here. Besides really underground scenes and stuff. It’s unheard of. I’ve never thought in my life that EDM would become this movement in the US, and it did. It partially contributed to dubstep, which took it to that level. And it’s great. There’s good parts of being commercial and there’s bad parts of being underground, but for us, as long as people are listening to electronic music, it’s cool by us. You choose what you want to listen to.
Do you like playing at festivals better or independent shows?
It actually depends on the vibe of the show itself. If this show will rock tonight, I will remember it. Even if it’s a 700 people venue and it’s sold out, it’s a small venue for us, but these are fans that come to see us, and if it will rock I will remember it. But if I see 20,000 people I will remember that as well, so we love them both.
(Someone from Brooklyn Bowl walks in and brings a plate of pita and hummus)
Oh, Israelis in the house so they bring some hummus! Thank you!
So we read that you changed the name of your new EP to “Friends on Mushrooms,” is this an official switch? Why did you change it?
Duvdev: Correct! It’s because of the fans. Our hardcore fans, when they heard the name of the album…um, what was the original name?
Erez: Um, “Infected Mushroom and Friends.”
Duvdev: Infected Mushroom and Friends! Which, me and Erez thought about it, because it’s a collaboration EP. Then they went and said, “Why not friends on mushrooms?” Because many years when we did collaborations, we did it as the name of the artist “on mushrooms.” And then they said, “[Infected Mushroom and Friends] is a bad name, why not call it “Friends on Mushrooms”?” And we agreed. The problem of changing the name, it was already submitted to iTunes and all the systems out there, so we had a bit of a drama.
Erez: We didn’t want to delay the date.
Duvdev: The album was already submitted with the artwork and everything. So we needed to switch it out with all the websites- Amazon, iTunes, Beatport…
WRR: Sounds like a pain in the ass.
It IS a pain in the ass! And we said, you know what, let’s try and make it. If not, it’s gonna be Infected Mushroom and Friends. But they all went with it, and it’s Friends on Mushrooms. Here it is.
WRR: Well congratulations on the successful switch.
Congrats to the fans, you know, because they changed the name.
We’re really excited for this EP release, and we’ve noticed a more moombah and reggae feel to it. Who were your main influences for Friends on Mushrooms?
Duvdev: You know, we listen to everything that’s going on in the moment. In this new EP, you’re gonna hear, uh, collaborations with like, Pegboard Nerds, Savant, Sevon Lions, Zedd, Porter Robinson. These are the people, [also] Steve Aoki, that lead the dance today, and we listen to it, you know, and we like it. We are happy to collaborate and bring the Infected Mushroom sound to their sound. So, we listen to everything that is coming out. To say that we like moombahton? That would be ‘no,’ but when we heard Porter Robinson did this track, “Bitch”?
Erez: “100% In the Bitch.”
Duvdev: We love that track! And we said, hey, that’s a good fucking moombahton track. Actually I said it to Porter, that’s the only reason we went and did a track like that, because that was the first time we said, sounds good, and before that no. So, reggae, we’ve done many, many times before, and we love reggae. Reggae’s always fun to do, we’ve done it with Muse Breaks, we’ve done it before. We like to explore new domain, like now we are doing glitch hop and this is mainly because of Opiuo, and KOAN Sound, and these kinds of artists that we love, you know? So, when we hear something that we like, we go for it. Even though it’s not our domain. We are trance, psych, whatever.
Erez: We enjoy new music, you know. If it’s something new for us to do it’s more exciting.
Duvdev: It’s a challenge for us, you know.
You two are very agreeable with all of the changes that have happened over the years and new sounds.
We enjoy it, that’s what we like. We’re having fun doing music. Even though it’s a job, it’s not really a job because we like it. Is it a job to play PlayStation? For some people it is, you know?
What do you not like that’s currently popular?
[Simultaneously] 90%. 90% of what is current we do not like. You asked, there it is.
And what are your favorite dance records right now?
Duvdev: “Clarity” by Zedd, amazing. KOAN Sound, their last release, I don’t remember the name, fucking amazing. And Feed Me. Opiuo, it’s called Wigglesticks, Australian artist, amazing.
Erez: Kill The Noise.
Duvdev: Kill The Noise. The new release was amazing. Wow.
All good stuff. So, we know you aren’t performing in the pods tonight at Brooklyn Bowl.
You will see it. If you’re from New York, we’re coming to New York. We actually did this show in New York at Terminal 5 last August, but that was a test of the show. It’s not with the proper…whatever. The new Fungusamongus will come, definitely to New York. I hope either Ezoo or Electric Daisy, so let’s see.
Are you guys headed to Ultra too?
Yup.
Aside from the pods, what’s your ideal setup on stage like?
In this Fungusamongus show, it’s first of all, everything works with our projection, which is the main brain of the whole show. It’s such a hassle of a projector, it’s kind of an IMAX projector that sometimes works or not. So, every show it’s like, we don’t know if it’s gonna happen. If it works, I gotta say, the most enjoyable show I had this tour is Boston. Boston, everything worked, everything was on top. We had everything, you know? We know the venue very well [House of Blues], and that show, everything worked. Like, from 0 to 100. When that happens, it makes our lives so much easier and the crowd enjoys what it’s intended to be. Boston treated us always well, from small venues to the big venues.
What about your “bad” crowds? We heard about a show in Pittsburgh a while back that got shut down because it was just too crazy.
Duvdev: That was a good show. We played 3 or 4 tracks, but the place was oversold, which was not a good thing by the promoter. The crowd went so ballistic it was dangerous, so there’s 2 options. And the fire marshal and the police took the logical option, the crowd didn’t like it, we didn’t like to be stopped, but hey, that was dangerous, you know? We’ve played many shows like this but it was a good show. A bad show is like, no energy and shit like that, but I don’t remember many shows like that.
Erez: Of all territories, maybe Miami.
Duvdev: The Miami scene, not Ultra, is too commercial for us. Take Ultra aside because Ultra is an amazing festival, and the crowd goes mental for us over there, but that’s not a Miami crowd. You gotta understand, Ultra is an international crowd besides the United States, so that’s easy for us. But Miami as a scene for us, and I’m not talking Florida, because Pompano is great for us, Tampa is great for us, Orlando is great…Miami itself is a bit too commercial for us. But Ibiza was the same, and we played Privilege last year, 2 shows, it was amazing, you know? So it depends on the moment and the shows.
How do you handle the power you have to oversell a venue and shut down a show?
You feel good about it, but at the same time, people came to see you, and they enjoyed only 3 or 4 tracks of the show. It’s a mixed feeling. You’re not that happy that a place got shut down. If it was after the show, then I would say, oh yeah, fuck yeah that was great.
What software do you use to produce music?
IM: Cubase.
What’s it like going on tour without the rest of the band?
Each to his own, you know. Our drummer is a big session drummer in LA, he plays shit loads of shows, and same as our guitarist. So they have their own projects and do music and stuff, scores for movies and shit. We’re good friends and we just hung out last Christmas. We go every Sunday home, we have families and kids, and that’s the reason we don’t stay on the road, basically. We go visit the kids when we can even if it’s for 2 days, and then we go off again.
Can we expect anything different from you guys in the near future, like a radio show or podcast, perhaps?
Always expect something different from us, because if we like the idea, we go for it. We wanted to do our own Internet TV show. The idea is good but we are lazy, so that’s why it didn’t come out. The idea was great, and we have shit loads of funny stuff. I hope we can do it in the future. Most of the stuff that we do today, like interviews, if somebody would tells us to do it, if somebody would enforce it, I would like to do a TV show.
What would the show be like?
A weekly show on YouTube or whatever. Us, wherever we are, either it’s in the studio…but you can expect like every Tuesday, Wednesday, or whatever, an Infected Mushroom weekly show, I would like to do that. It’s easy to make, we’re just too lazy. It will be like the Wayne’s World of EDM. Fuck yeah. I’m gonna have a blonde wig, because I need a wig. I always have wigs.
Photo and Interview credit goes to Sara Wasserman.
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