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How Infected Mushroom became so famous?


Ormion

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I was thinking about it lately and I find it pretty strange. There were a group (albeit popular) in a very niche genre, but today they have fans everywhere and huge stadium gigs. I know guys that don't know who Hallucinogen or AP are, but they never miss an IM gig. Even their video clips have millions of views on youtube.

 

I don't get at what point they became super famous. I guess with IM The Supervisor? Still I don't get what causes this dramatic increase in popularity. The vocals and the more commercial sound help, but is that all? Especially when other artists did the same, but never became huge (at least outside of Israel) like Dali or Michelle Adamson?

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Vocals and live gigs with guitars help a lot. That's what large crowds want to see, not a bloke behinds his laptop playing no-name tracks for 2 hours straight. (Some of those can be successful as well but it's less likely.) The guitar doesn't have to be plugged in anywhere as long as the act is entertaining.

 

Ambition and willingness to turn it big also help. Some artists prefer keeping it at least somewhat underground or just don't care about popularity.

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Vocals and live gigs with guitars help a lot. That's what large crowds want to see, not a bloke behinds his laptop playing no-name tracks for 2 hours straight. (Some of those can be successful as well but it's less likely.) The guitar doesn't have to be plugged in anywhere as long as the act is entertaining.

Ambition and willingness to turn it big also help. Some artists prefer keeping it at least somewhat underground or just don't care about popularity.

 

Still, how the mainstream audience discovered them?

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I've been wondering about this myself. A lot of my office colleagues here in INDIA, who have literally ZERO idea about Goa/Psytrance are familiar with IM. (Infact when I used to browse psynews from office back in 2013, a guy had asked me what is this P-S-Y news?) And yet he was familiar with IM and was showering them with praises!! Couldn't believe it myself. The guy couldn't pronounce PSY for fuck sake!

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Still, how the mainstream audience discovered them?

Firstly they seem not to be known well in Europe (but I also cannot really judge it, cause I don´t listen radio,TV or read charts lists etc.)

 

Secondly guess they have some good promo company and maybe got lucky too. Sometimes one big live act can make you known to the public or one TV appearance etc.

 

Thirdly the aren´t Psytrance or even Elektro anymore from what I heard of newer stuff. Sure they still have such songs but I guess the popular ones are those

the strange vox and guitars etc.

 

Fourth, they weren´t that good (for my taste) even back in the day, so that might help too. Note that some (most) charts mucis isn´t that good from musical

standpoint (it is produced well however mostly and has huge promo thigns running)..

 

I find it more surprising that M.Manson or Rammstein got so big, cause they aren´t normally that mainstream sounding or looking. But guess mainstream needs some

spooks from time to time, too.

 

 

The poster above: Find it not surprising they are popular in oriental countries cause they sound a bit like this, don´t they? Well ok, the one guitar

I heard could be also spanish but very well oriental style too.

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Guest The Hypnotic LFO Room

Lot's of money for promotion (rich kids) and a very big Management (also once used by Astral Projection) in USA was what helped them.

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Firstly they seem not to be known well in Europe (but I also cannot really judge it, cause I don´t listen radio,TV or read charts lists etc.)

not famous enough for radio or charts obviously but famous enough.

 

if someone asks you what music you listen to and you answer "goa" (=the name for psy in general over here), you'll get one of the following answers (ordered by how familiar they are to psy; from least familiar to most familiar) :

"what's that?"

"that's some kind of techno? i don't like any of that"

"that's stuff like infected mushroom, right?"

"me too! i LOVE infected mushroom"

"i'm not really into it but i like some gms/astrix/neelix"

"what kind of goa? i only listen to darkpsy/hitech/progressive/fullon/..."

 

the two middle options most often end in embarrassing situations (and the conclusion that they actually hate psy if they get to listen to some).

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Good questions, I had the same question in my mind lately. I was on the airplane back from Israel and a strict chassidic jew (you know, black hat,...) next to me, around 60 years old, and he started to talk to me... He knew Erez since his childhood as he lives in the same Kibbutz and he was following him ever since. So even old strict religious guys know them in Israel...

The funny part is that he said Erez doesnt like any of the music they do anymore and he is thinking of stepping out of the band. Not sure what is true about this of course.


As for the old Infected... Classical Mushroom is a masterpiece of harmonies and melodies. Incredible, and the track Dancing with Kadafi alone is the proof they were SOOO talented...

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their live show is awsome!!

you don't have to like them to appreciate that..

 

you tube has really helped them i think..

 

lots of money.. good management and promotion

 

and their production is some of the best out there in the psy scene.. love em or hate em now

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Ive also met people who knew of Infected Mushroom. Maybe not huge fans or anything but the name is there. I always figured maybe from download & sharing programs where just the word 'mushroom' alone can be an easy discovery. I think one of these people or story of someone saying they discovered them through there has me thinking this now.

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They became famous because they were awesome.

First time I saw them, it was in TBE party in Paris. On the way to he party, the guys who'd given me a lift asked who were these Infected Mushroom guys on the flyer. I didn't know, none of us had any idea. It was at the time of the big minimal wave. Yumade were playing in the same party and they were clearly the headliners, so we didn't really care.

 

Well, Yumade did good, but then these two guys with long hair came, started playing, and the room immediately EXPLODED !!!

Rarely have I seen such feelings in a party. People were dancing so hard that the security staff had to open the fire doors to leat some steam out !

 

That's how they became so famous, they were playing high quality melodic stuff in the middle of the minimal wave, they were imaginative, young, simple, accessible. Well, after BP Empire, things changed, but the fame stayed. The crowd was asking for them, no matter what music they played.

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Probably when they started touring the United States?

 

That was my thought. IM did a lot of shows in the jam-band/Phish circles about 10 years ago which have huge droves of fans throughout the States and it led to them getting kind of big with the college crowd (incidentally, I remember Ott. being a part of many of the same festivals at that time but ended up with a smaller following in the long run, probably because he does not have a vocalist and guitarist). The jam band kids still follow IM to this day. They also had the benefit of being accessible and not very complex psytrance so they were a hit in the bigger clubs (I saw them at Toronto's biggest club with five thousand other people. Hated it, wanted to dance not be at a crappy rock concert). That's my understanding of their following, at least in these parts.

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Infected Mushroom become fammous in my opinion because they produce impressive music. Some of their tracks are the best tracks that have ever been produced. Tracks like Dancing with kadafi or The Messanger or many other tracks are just out of this world. Other tracks were also impressive like many of the tracks from the album Converting Vegetables. Some people don´t seem to like that album a lot, but in my opinion even this album is great apart from the singing in some tracks. Whenever male singing appears in goa trance or psy trance it sounds strange to me, but the instrumental parts of Infected Mushroom are impressive in my opinion.

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Infected Mushroom become fammous in my opinion because they produce impressive music. Some of their tracks are the best tracks that have ever been produced. Tracks like Dancing with kadafi or The Messanger or many other tracks are just out of this world. Other tracks were also impressive like many of the tracks from the album Converting Vegetables. Some people don´t seem to like that album a lot, but in my opinion even this album is great apart from the singing in some tracks. Whenever male singing appears in goa trance or psy trance it sounds strange to me, but the instrumental parts of Infected Mushroom are impressive in my opinion.

I won't write this often, but I agree 100% with you :)

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It's all about who promotes your music... if a big name label likes your stuff and starts promoting it (and you accept to sell out) then you're set for life ;)

 

In the particular case of IM, none other than Steve Aoki is a big fan and released their new stuff under his label Dim Mak.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzra8RHmDkk

 

(oh yeah, in case you're wondering who the hell is Steve Aoki, he became famous for this):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jre6_FBBc0

 

PS Believe it or not, recently Armin Van Burren got interested in... OTT! Very interested to see how this one will turn out :)

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ehhh

 

Infected Mushroom are huge due to nationalistic pride the same way another totally shit Israeli band is so fucking popular (Astral Projection).

Both rubbish.

Your taste and my taste = 0% match. Based on what you said. :P

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Guest The Hypnotic LFO Room

I won't write this often, but I agree 100% with you :)

 

And I 100% disagree. Never liked their music and never will support the far fetch idea that they were pioneers of anything bur copycat music (no matter what you think they did copy those who came before them and did not invent the wheel again) and now horrible lame music.

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And I 100% disagree. Never liked their music and never will support the far fetch idea that they were pioneers of anything bur copycat music (no matter what you think they did copy those who came before them and did not invent the wheel again) and now horrible lame music.

That their latest output is lame, I agree too... but they did copycat you said?

 

Classical Mushroom is... Well, unique. I never heard anything like it, so I have no idea who they copied in your opinion... Their richness of instruments in that album (and no, not just samples like most do!) combined with his incredible feeling for harmonies. Wauw! Unique, if they copied, I'm willing to hear the originals :P

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hmmm reading the above opinion of Anoebis i decide to give Classical Mushroom album a try again nd listen it after 15 years(back then i havent gave this a proper listen I FOUND it TOO CHEESY)
)
hmmm im at 13:23min of this album and still after 15 years SMELLS CHEESY too
i hate these FLIPPER sounds with the dose of wannabe inteliigent arrangment(piano,kind of classical melodies)
Roquefort_cheese.jpg

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Maybe it is because I am a big lover and listener of classical music as well? No idea, I adore it, even today :) It is just great... I can imagine some find the melodies cheesy, but it's not like that for SURE in the second part of the album (like Mush Mushi!)

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And I 100% disagree. Never liked their music and never will support the far fetch idea that they were pioneers of anything bur copycat music (no matter what you think they did copy those who came before them and did not invent the wheel again) and now horrible lame music.

And who exactly did they copy? Cause IM was the one group that had a completely unique sound.

 

The Gathering, Classical Mushroom and dozens of compilation tracks are masterpieces.

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