It’s uncommon to stumble upon a traditional rock band during an electronic music festival. But Infected Mushroom isn’t your typical rock band, nor are they your typical electronic music producers. A five piece band best known for their constantly evolving psychedelic trance sound, they feel right at home playing massive festivals around the world. In the midst of America’s largest electronic music festival, the Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas, Infected Mushroom arrived only hours before their set with just enough time to set up, get drunk, and do an interview with MXDWN.
So, Amit, how do you prepare for a performance at one of the largest festivals in the world?
It’s a bigger production, but for us it is a show just like every show. We came from Korea so it’s a little fucked up. Hopefully everything goes smooth.
Have you been able to check out the other artists since you’ve been here?
No, we just arrived today.
What time?
At, like, 1 PM. Sound checked. Drank everything in our van. Went back to the hotel and drank everything there. Now here we are.
You guys are pretty renowned the world over, aren’t you?
Yeah, well, we actually weren’t supposed to do EDC this year because we played the last six or seven years in a row. We were booked in Asia but we got rerouted and came down here. But it’s great to be back in the states.
Where are you living now?
Los Angeles.
What are some of your favorite venues or cities to play around the world?
Usually it’s not the venue but rather the vibe of the crowd. If you want to talk about the stage then we really like Red Rock in Denver. There are some great indoor clubs around the country. We like the clubs in LA just because it’s home for us.
What new material do you have coming out?
We have a new single out called “Pink Nightmares.” There is a new album which is ready and we are playing songs from tonight at the show. We are playing 5 or 6 news songs. We only have a one hour set so we need to squeeze as much in as possible.
They only gave you a one hour set?
Well, they gave us a one and a half hour set, but I didn’t like the time slope so I opted to go for a one hour set. We were actually supposed to play yesterday but everything is fucked up. Anyway we are playing about 5 songs from the new album tonight at the show.
Any other special stuff?
A Foo Fighters cover.
Awesome. A lot of people this weekend have been playing stuff that is a little out of their realm, like trance artists dropping dubstep or visa versa for example.
Dubstep is what is hot right now with the kids, so all of the electro house DJs like to play a little bit of dubstep and that’s cool.
Do you feel you need to adapt your musical style to survive?
You always have to adapt to survive the new generation while remaining doing your own thing. Adapt? We always adapt.
Does that mean we’re going to hear some Infected Mushroom dubstep sounds?
Actually, yes. Well, our take on dubstep.
Of course. You guys have been around for such a long time and definitely have your own definitive style. What impresses me most is that you guys manage to some out with new content every year or so.
Of course, we need to keep up with the crowd because the crowd gets bored. Like Deadmau5, how he releases songs every two months. It keeps the people current if they get new music and they are enjoying it and everything is great.
[The guitarist casually sticks a banana down his pants and it hangs out his fly.]
Groupie: You shouldn’t even play guitar tonight, just walk around on stage like that.
Guitarist: I want to just jump on a trampoline all night but I’m afraid I’ll end up in the crowd.
If you end up in the crowd you are done for. They will eat you alive out there.
Do you feel a certain level of pressure at an event like EDC where there are a lot of theatrics involved that you need to step up your game as far as other portions of your live performance.
When you need to step up your game, it is for the crowd. The production will always be different.
A lot of people aren’t just entertained by just playing music anymore.
They want to see the lighting and the videos and everything to make things more interesting.
What are some of your favorite contemporary artists?
As far as the electronic scene, we like Skrillex a lot right now. A lot of different artists; Pendulum, of course.
How would you describe the style of Infected Mushroom?
Heavy metal trance, maybe? It is always changing, really.
What do you think future Infected Mushroom music will sound like?
Well hopefully we can just keep producing, keep touring, and keep doing what we’re good at.
How long is the current tour you are on?
All summer, all around the world.
It’s been great talking to you, even briefly. You’re set is in less than an hour, so I’ll let you guys get ready. Good luck!
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