The Mushroom River Band

The Mushroom River Band started out in 1996 in Värnamo, Sweden, when the "Stoner Rock" explosion was little more than a few misfiring neurons in the foggy minds of a few Scandinavian Kyuss fans. Early on, the band recruited friend and rock God extraordinaire "Spice" to take up the mic. In 1998, the band entered Soundscape Studios to record Rocketcrash, a limited-edition 10" vinyl EP that put the band on the global riff-rock map. Things picked up speed in 1999 when five new tracks were nailed on tape and became the band’s third demo, The No Quarter Recordings. The demo gained TMRB worldwide recognition, garnering them a deal with American rock label MeteorCity, who unleashed the band’s full-length debut, Music For The World Beyond the following year. At the time, frontman Spice was also heavily involved with the his other band, Spiritual Beggars (as vocalist and bass player), whose breakthrough album Ad Astra was also released in 2000, helping them to secure touring slots with the likes of Iron Maiden, Fu Manchu and Entombed. Spice’s activities with the Beggars rapidly expanded awareness of Mushroom River, leading to a month-long tour and numerous festival appearances for TMRB in the Spring of 2001, until at last Spice left the Beggars to focus fully on TMRB and their next record. Simsalabim was recorded during the Winter of 2001 (released in June 2002), and features 10 tracks of full-throttle Entombed-meets-Motörhead-meets-old-school-Iron-Maiden. The record surpassed the likes of Korn in its first week at radio, and broke into the FMQB Metal Detector top 50 chart in July, evidence that the band is continuing to convert rock fans with their mix of new-millenium power and classic riff-rock energy.