The Mushrooms

From Rock in China Wiki

Background Information
Name (English)	Crazy Mushroom Brigade / The Mushrooms
Name (Chn.)	疯狂蘑菇团 / fēngkuáng mógu tuán / mógu tuán
Origin	Shanghai
Genre	Screamo, Metalcore
Years active	2006 - present
Members
Vocals: 仆仆 / Pu Pu Guitar: 李鑫 / Li Xing (ex-The Herb) Bass: 小凌 / Xiao Ling Drums: 了子 / Lezi
Preview

Shanghai nu-metal band Crazy Mushroom Brigade was formed in April of 2006 by four friends, J. Lee, Pupu, AKI and Lezi, who share a common passion for hardcore and rap-metal. Drawing influences from bands like Limp Bizkit and Muse, CMB plays a wild brand of Shanghai metal tailored for moshers and headbangers. They have earned a reputation as one of the youngest and liveliest bands in Shanghai with their heavy riffs and tight rhymes. Later they renamed themselves to The Mushrooms.

History

2006

Shanghai nu-metal band Crazy Mushroom Brigade was formed in April of 2006 by four friends, J. Lee, Pupu, AKI and Lezi, who share a common passion for hardcore and rap-metal.

2007

On January 5th, 2007, they performed at the 288馬爾廷 bar. On January 6th they rocked the 堂会 bar. On January 12th, they rocked at the 288馬爾廷 bar. On January 13th, they performed at the 堂会 bar. On January 19th, they rocked at the 288馬爾廷 bar. On January 20th, they performed at the 堂会 bar. On January 24th, they rocked the Club Bonbon as support act to CMCB. On January 26th, they performed at the 4Live. On January 27th, they performed at the 堂会 bar. On February 2nd they rocked the 288馬爾廷 bar. On February 3rd they performed at the 堂会 bar. On February 10th, they rocked the Yuyintang during a Pink Floyd tribute night. On February 10th, they performed at the Tanghui bar. On February 23rd they rocked the 288馬爾廷 bar. On the 24th, they performed at Tanghui. On March 2nd, they rocked the 288馬爾廷 bar. On March 9th they performed at the 288馬爾廷. On March 14th, they performed at the 開元地中海. On March 16th, they rocked the 288馬爾廷 bar. On March 28th, they performed at the Club Bonbon. On March 30th they rocked the 288馬爾廷 bar. In March their song "我愛演芸圏" was included in the X-Music Magazine no. 337. On April 1st they rocked the 4Live during the "頂馬永遠OK" (band competitiong), winning the first spot in the competition. On April 6th they performed at the 288馬爾廷 bar. On April 20th, they performed at the 288馬爾廷 bar. On April 28th, they performed at the at the 288馬爾廷 bar. In April one of their songs was included in the 台客揺滾嘉年華2007 compilation record. On May 4th, they performed at the 288馬爾廷 bar. On May 5th they performed at the 288馬爾廷 bar. On May 18th, they rocked at the 288馬爾廷 bar. On May 19th, they performed at the 288馬爾廷 bar. On May 20th, they rocked the Club Bonbon. On June 1st they performed at the 288馬爾廷 bar. On June 2nd they rocked at the 288馬爾廷 bar. On June 8th they performed at the 288馬爾廷 bar. On June 9th they performed at the 創智天地 Square for the 原創音楽匯-創意市集 event. The same day they also performed at the 288馬爾廷 bar. On June 15th they performed at the 288馬爾廷 bar. On June 16th they performed at the 288馬爾廷 bar. On June 22nd they performed at the 288馬爾廷 bar. On July 1st they performed at the 熱帯風暴水上楽園 for the Rock it 熱帯風暴揺滾 music festival. On July 13th they performed at the 288馬爾廷 bar. On July 20th, they performed at the 4Live together with Four Five. On July 20th they also performed at the 288馬爾廷 bar. On August 3rd they rocked the 4Live. On August 4th, they performed at the 288馬爾廷 bar. On August 5th they rocked the Club Bonbon. On August 10th they performed at the 288馬爾廷 bar. On August 11th, they performed at the 上海正大綜芸撮影棚 at the “I LOVE BUUDY MUSIC PARTY”.

2008

April 19th, 2008, they rocked the fourth 0093 showcase party at the Yuyintang with Sour Rain, BlacKRomancE, Wildcat, Joker, Crazy Mushroom, Little Nature and Mortal Fools.^[1] According to Andy Best:They all stayed for the Mushrooms and by a few songs in the moshing had commenced and the party was in full swing^[2]

May 31st 2008, they performed live as support gig for the Japanese band God Deadalist.^[3]

July 10th 2008, Crazy Mushroom Brigade are seen as one of the new big bands for future by Lin Lin, manager at Yu Yin Tang, as interviewed by Andy Best.^[4]

September 22nd 2008 they performed live at the Yuyintang.^[5]

November 2008, they signed to Indietop Records^[6] and changed thereafter their name to The Mushrooms (Mogu Tuan).^[7]

2009

Mushroom Flyer for their Oct 3rd show

2009, April 11th, they performed at the Hedgehog Blue Daydreaming Tour stopover at the Yu Yin Tang in Shanghai in front of a packed hall including moshpit.^[8] May 1st, they performed as support and opening gig for Canadian band Creature. According to Andy Best: Tonight's crowd took their time getting in and was only half as full as it would later be for the opening band. They still gave us a good show though.^[9] August 22nd, 2009, they performed at the Yuyintang. According to Zack: they (The Mushrooms) did go on, breaking forth with a load of guitars, drums, bass, and (most visibly) primal screams (...) did a good job of mixing things up while incorporating elements of their bread and butter, which is rocking…hard. There were pieces of ballads, hip hop, pop, and punk interspersed here, there, and everywhere. This was mainly due to the lead singer and guitarist, who were both excellent.^[10] According to Jake Newby: (...) by the time The Mushrooms took to the stage, the atmosphere was perfect. I got right in at the front from the off and only emerged at the end of the set (by which point I was pretty disgusting). Lead singer Pu Pu's signature on MSN this morning is "I saw you crying" and I certainly spotted at least one girl in the audience next to me in tears.^[11] October 3rd, they performed in the recently-opened Mao Live Shanghai with support band Double Control. According to Andy Best: The Mushrooms came on to high expectations and played a proper headlining set of well over an hour. They played a lot of new songs and tried to organise the set with changes of pace. Pupu doesn't need to do much to please his fans these days, but he doesn't know any other way except all-out.^[12] Before the show it was rumoured, that The Mushrooms had signed a record deal in Taiwan, so the show on October 3rd might have been the last one in Shanghai for some time.^[13] November 20th, they performed at the MAO Live House Shanghai. According to Jake Newby: They certainly felt like a headliner. The crowd loved them - even people who wouldn't normally go to gigs (and there seemed to be a lot there last night) appeared to be getting into it and were asking "who is this band?" It was a great performance as ever from The Mushrooms and, once they'd demanded an encore, the crowd seemed pretty satisfied with that.^[14]

2010

The Mushrooms in 2010

March 26th, 2010, The Mushrooms had their first gig outside of Shanghai, in Beijing's Mao Live House together with Arrows Made of Desire and King Statue.^[15] According to Beijing Noise: Enigmatic frontmen are rare in rock these days, yet Pupu excels, controlling the microphone and the crowd with ease (...)^[16] According to Mark Hiew: And while emo may evoke strong love/hate sentiments in many listeners, there is little question of Mushrooms utter mastery of the genre. They set the crowd alight with their first song, and left the audience similarly exhilarated with their final song, a rap-cover hybrid of 4 Non Blondes' classic: "What's Going On." In between, their well-structured set moved from heavier rocking numbers to slower, ballad-like territory. Lead singer Pupu is an electric performer: loose lipped and almost mime-like in his facial expressions, he spent the set jerking about violently, looking at times as if he was bawling, at others as if he was clowning around in class.^[17] According to Alex of Beijing Gig Guide:I really loved the band. Pupu is, of course, a big part of what makes their act amazing, but they work impeccably as a team. They definitely sounded like they'd been working together for the five years they've been around, offering up a tight set with lots of changes in mood. They're loud^[18] On May 9th, they performed at the Yu Shu Benefit Gig at Yuyintang, in remembrance of the victims of the Yushu earthquake at Qinghai. According to Jake Newby: They were brilliant. It'd been a couple of months since their last show here, during which time they'd played up in Beijing and impressed by all accounts. Not surprising really. Pu Pu was on fire as usual and looked like he might explode at times. The band were tight and professional and everyone lapped it up. There were screams every time Pu Pu announced the name of a song (not from me I mean, from the Mogu Groupies at the front) and plenty of people knew all the words..^[19]

2011

September 12th 2011
The Mushrooms, at a sold-out Mao Livehouse, Shanghai, photo (c) Andy Best

September 12th, 2011, the Mushrooms re-appeared after a long hiatus. In 2010 they had been signed to David Tao's label. in the upfront to the festival they requested "people via Douban to sell out Mao and that if they get 1000 people then the new album will come out"^[20]. As per Andy Best:

There was only the one band and they played an hour and a bit. The sound was excellent with David Tao's own crew in charge. It was easy to see how they did it, they sacrificed some volume to keep the clarity. I got used to it quickly although the best situation is, you know, that the equipment in a venue is good enough to go loud AND clear in your own space. The Mushrooms kicked off with five back to back uptempo rock tracks, new and old. The music is still drums-guitar-bass and they rocked out well. The crowd loved Pu Pu and sang every word. At one point he lost it, looking out at the large crowd who clearly loved him, and blubbed. Bless. Then there was an unplugged style mid section where they covered a David Tao song and revealed that the guy himself was up on the balcony. They finished with some classics although Love You So and Weishenme Ni Ai Ta have become different songs to the classic versions (which you can still hear on Douban, the 08 demos).^[20]