After one of their shows on the ‘Fungusamongus' tour, we had a chance to catch up with Infected Mushroom on a variety of things. Infected Mushroom has been around for well over a decade, and have certainly seen the EDM in it's younger stages. It was a pleasure to talk to them, and get the perspective from guys who have been a huge influence in the game.
EDM Sauce: A lot of people say that being a DJ is no more than clicking buttons. Can you explain what goes on behind the booth?
Infected Mushroom: Well in our set-up with the two spheres, it has a few computers playing the music, Erez plays the keyboards, I sing and jump like a gorilla. There's a bunch of animated video going on with the show, so it's pretty much a live show with no musicians. When I say no musicians, I mean there's no guitarist and no drummer compared to Infected Mushroom live.
EDM Sauce: What's your take on all the emerging live acts, opposed to DJ sets?
Infected Mushroom: I think it's pretty cool that a lot of guys are going to the live elements, especially Pretty Lights and people who used to be behind the booth taking it to live aspects. Opiou has the band, there's so many bands out there doing it live. We've been doing it for so many years, and I think it gives a variety to the scene and I think it's cool.
EDM Sauce: How is it balancing Infected Mushroom with family?
Infected Mushroom: Well, we do three shows a week, and the other days we are flying back home and spending time with the family as much as we can, and then head back to the road. It's not easy, but it's not so bad as well. When we are home we are spending a decent amount of time with them.
EDM Sauce: What's the difference between playing a show in Israel, compared to the rest of the world?
Infected Mushroom: Well Israel is our home land. When we play there, we are the biggest electronic band out there, so we go fucking nuts. It's a different story than playing a show here in the states. It adds a little special thing to the show, but we go mental everywhere. What I can say about Israel besides the show, is that it has really good food, and we are able to spend time with our family and friends. Also, our guest list in Israel has 7,000 spots.
EDM Sauce: I was watching the making of the video of ‘U R So Fucked,' and you guys mentioned that you really enjoy Dubstep. How have you seen it change, and did you receive different reviews from your fans?
Infected Mushroom: A lot of people have a different take on Dubstep. It has been going on for years, up and down and so on. We like the half tempo of it. There's a lot of cool artists in Dubstep, we love Skrillex, Kill The Noise, Datsik. There's a few guys we like and a few guys we don't like. I don't like all the trance bands, I like a few. There's some good stuff about it, and some bad stuff about it, but the good stuff is really fucking good. We collaborated with Pegboard Nerds, we truly love them, and we collaborated with Savant in the past, and again for the new EP.
EDM Sauce: A while back you guys did a song with Datsik, and Jonathan Davis from Korn. How did that collaboration come forth?
Infected Mushroom: Well we know Jonathan Davis for a long time, but this track started with Datsik. Datsik met us at Electric Zoo a few years ago, and he was a big fan and said “Let's do something together,” and we put the song together. Jonathan Davis knew both of us, because he toured with Datsik, and he said “You know what, maybe I should sing on that song,” and recorded the vocals on a bus and just sent it to us. That is how this track was born.
EDM Sauce: Can you give us any insight on any future releases coming out?
Infected Mushroom: Our new EP, which is the third edition of ‘Friends On Mushrooms' is finished, and will come out in May on Dim Mak. Also, me and Erez are already working on a new album, which is actually an ambient album which we haven't done in years. That's what is in supply for this year…maybe naked bitches also.
EDM Sauce: You guys are really pioneers in this electronic music scene. Have you guys ever considered starting your own Record Label?
Infected Mushroom: There have been many talks about it over the years to do our own stuff, and control our own label. We are just so lazy, and have so much going on with the production and with the families. We just don't have the time for a label. I would love to have one though, and be able to control everything and sign new artists. In the last two or three years, I have found that there are so many good artists that we like, because back in the day I was very bored with what was going on. There is just no time for a label. There is no time for anything, I wish we could open up a shawarma stand.
EDM Sauce: Name the top five emerging artists right now.
Infected Mushroom: Au5, Fractal, not so new but Koan Sound from the UK, Opiou is amazing from Australia, and of course the never ending Feed Me. He's not new, but he is definitely in my top five.
EDM Sauce: You guys have been in the game for a long time. How was it changed since you started?
Infected Mushroom: Well the game has changed completely. EDM today is blown up, compared to when we came here ten years ago there was no fucking scene. There was a scene in Europe, but now there is a scene all around.
EDM Sauce: What can you predict for the future?
Infected Mushroom: I don't know where it will be ten years from now. Maybe it will go back to underground, because there is a certain time to be in the mainstream. Maybe it will go away again, I don't know for sure.
Before this interview was finished, we had to get a word in with Randy Seidman. Randy has been touring with Infected Mushroom for years, and is also their tour manager.
EDM Sauce: How did you get involved with Infected Mushroom? How did you guys meet and start touring together?
Randy Seidman: When I graduated from college, my first Job was working for their booking agent at the time, so I was doing the tour administration for all of his artists, not just Infected, but tons of artists. I became very close with Infected at that time because they were the busiest artists at the agency, and they were at a point where they felt they needed their own tour manager and didn't want to share administrative responsibilities with other artists. They liked the work I did for them, so they asked me to just come for them. They've been really supportive of my passion and have let me play for them, and it's been amazing. Seven or eight years has gone by super fast, and it's really great.
