Formed: 1996
From:
Peoria,
IL,
United States
Last Known Status: Active
Background
Heavy metal quartet Mudvayne formed in Peoria, IL, in 1996, its members adopting the unusual pseudonyms Kud (C. Gray) (vocals), Gurrg (G. Tribbett) (guitar), and sPaG (M. McDonough) (drums). The group's original bassist was replaced after two years by Ryknow (Ryan Martinie). Always concerned with the visual aspect of their performances, the band developed bizarre stage identities, while their sound (dubbed "math metal" in an attempt to explain its intricacies) had little in common with most of their peers. Characterised by challenging arrangements and with influences ranging from new wave, electro to metal, the result was a compelling mix of staccato riffing, raging vocals, and electronica with jazzy flourishes.
Despite great reviews in the press, Mudvayne has seemed to take the roll of Slipknot follower. Both wearing make-up and use many pseudonyms. But considering the circumstances, Mudvayne has been a major draw at metal festivals and tours.
Mudvayne reached fame through the release of their sophomore album, LD. 50. (L.D. 50 referrs to the pharmacological count for lethal dosages) Through good reviews and worthwhile record sales, the band has created a following of their own.
Latest Mudvayne News
Below is our complete Mudvayne news coverage, including columns and articles pertaining to the band. Some articles listed may be indirectly related, such as side projects of the band members, etc.
Note: We began associating news directly with bands in late 2003. Therefore, earlier band news may not be listed on this page.
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Mudvayne Announces Tour Dates
Mudvayne has announced the initial tour dates for their upcoming North American trek. Joining them on the tour will be 10 Years and the recently reunited Snot.
Mudvaune are currently working on a new album which is entitled, "The New Game" and are hoping to release the record in mid-November. The first single from the album, "Do What You Do" will be hitting the airwaves on September 23rd.
The tour dates are as follows:
October 30 - Corpus Christi, TX @ Concrete Street Amphitheater
November 8 - Albuquerque, NM @ Albuquerque Convention Center
November 11 - Hollywood, CA @ Hollywood Palladium
December 9 - Columbus, OH @ Lifestyle Communities Pavilion
Mudvayne Reveals New Album Tracklisting
Mudvayne has revealed the tracklisting for their forthcoming new album, which is tentatively titled, "The New Game." The album was produced by Dave Fortman and is scheduled for a November 14th release.
The tracklisting is as follows:
1. Fish Out Of Water
2. Have It Your Way
3. A New Game
4. Dull Boy
5. Do What You Do
6. The Hate In Me
7. Scarlet Letters
8. Same Ol?
9. Never Enough
10. A Cinderella Story
11. We The People
Mudvayne Posts New Album Teaser Online
Mudvayne has posted a teaser of a brand new, as-yet untitled song on their official website. You can check it out here.
The album currently has no working title but is expected to be released on November 26th via Epic Records.
Metal Stars Confirmed For Dimebag Tribute
The Ozzfest live tribute to fallen Pantera/ Damageplan guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott has began to take a clearer shape with many big name members of the metal community confirmed. The musicians will perform a set of Pantera classics after the set of Hellyeah at Ozzfest. Among the confirmed artists are:
Vinnie Paul (Pantera, Damageplan, Hellyeah)
Kerry King (Slayer)
Scott Ian (Anthrax)
Charlie Benante (Anthrax)
Mike Inez (Alice In Chains)
Jerry Cantrell (Alice In Chains)
King Diamond (Mercyful Fate, Solo artist)
Kirk Hammett (Metallica)
Chad Gray (Mudvayne, Hellyeah)
Jamey Jasta (Hatebreed, Icepick, Kingdom Of Sorrow)
Bob Zilla (Damageplan, Hellyeah)
Dimebag's former girlfriend Rita Haney has said about the tribute: “To have this event on the Mainstage at OZZFest in Dallas is such a treat and an honor!” says Rita Haney. “When this tragedy originally happened, I saw the music community come together like I've never seen before. To have the name ‘Dimebag’ still, to this day, unite musicians to pay homage in such a respectful way, is very overwhelming! In Dime's vision, it's always been about a damn good time!"
“When we decided on Dallas as the site for this year’s OZZFest, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to pay tribute to ‘Dimebag’ Darrell since it was his hometown,” said Sharon Osbourne. “’Dimebag’ was a part of our OZZFest family and everyone in the metal community misses him dearly.”
Mudvayne, Korn Being Sued By Injured Fan
Korn, Mudvayne, Clear Channel Broadcasting and national concert promoter Live Nation have been named in a lawsuit filed earlier this year in Denver District Court by a 27-year-old waitress who was injured during a concert that took place March 8, 2006.
The woman claims several rowdy concertgoers knocked her to the ground and trampled her as they made their way toward the stage. The University of Denver, which was the site for the KBPI-FM "Birthday Bash" concert, is also named as a defendant in the suit.
According to a Rocky Mountain News report, the show was Nicole LaScalia's first concert experience. She ended up leaving the event in an ambulance after one of her legs was crushed by the weight of the crowd. She is seeking unspecified damages, and her case is likely to proceed slowly, to allow time for the numerous parties involved to respond to its claims.
The report says LaScalia underwent surgery to fix a fractured tibia and fibula, as well as her badly injured ankle. She has accrued about $60,000 in medical bills, and the suit will seek damages for "severe pain and suffering."
According to the suit, LaScalia fell to the ground when several fans surged toward the stage just as Mudvayne began their performance. "Something like this is reasonably foreseeable," LaScalia's lawyer, Darrell Elliott, told the paper. "There has to be sufficient supervision if you have festival seating to protect patrons. In this case, it didn't happen. Oversight was lacking."
Meanwhile, Clear Channel has responded to the suit, calling the victim's claims "frivolous and groundless." The company blamed the injuries on either her negligence or the actions of those in the crowd.
At press time, Elliott and representatives for Mudvayne had not responded to MTV News' requests for comment. In a statement, Korn's management said: "Although we can verify that Korn was not onstage during the alleged incident, we cannot comment further on the suit as it is a legal matter."
Drowning Pool Singer Slams Papa Roach
Drowning Pool vocalist Ryan McCombs has posted two blogs recently regarding a show the band performed with Papa Roach, Alter Bridge and Rev Theory. Check them out below:
"The powers that be have been after me for some time to write another blog. Hell, at one point it was even suggested that I try to start some controversy with some other acts. You know the old 'no such thing as bad press' BS. It was suggested that I take a shot at Kid Rock one time. WHAT??? Here's a dude that marches the same path we do supporting our troops. Yeah, right, I'll get right on that.
"Actually, I will, but not at Kid Rock. Hell, I respect the guy — why would I do that?! I need a reason to be a prick. Anyone out there that knows me knows that much. So let me get to it. Let me make everyone happy.
"I'm sitting here in Mt. Clemens, Michigan at a radio show for WRIF, a bad-ass station up here in these parts. On the bill tonight was four bands that led us to look forward to this show tonight. REV THEORY, who we've been on the road with for a few shows here the past couple of weeks. ALTER BRIDGE, who I have no idea about, and PAPA ROACH, who happens to be 10th Street (our management) family of ours. Family, my ass. More...
Mudvayne Release Behind The Scenes Of New Video
Behind-the-scenes footage from the video shoot for MUDVAYNE's "Dull Boy" can be viewed below. "Dull Boy" is the only brand new song featured on MUDVAYNE's 2007 collection of fan-selected rarities, titled "By The People, For The People".
Although MUDVAYNE completed most of its new album last summer in New Orleans, the group will now do some additional work on the project this spring. There's still no official release date for the disc, but drummer Matt McDonough told The Pulse of Radio that he's really anxious for it to come out. "Yeah, it is kind of weird, you know, 'cause I want to share it and for me as an artist, you know, there's this sense of resolution," he said. "You know, I want to see it out there, and the fans' reception of our work is kind of that period at the end of the sentence. Now it's kind of like the sentence has been said, but no one's heard it yet. So it's an exercise in patience, that's for sure."
MUDVAYNE's fourth studio effort will follow up 2005's "Lost and Found".
The new recording work will take place after singer Chad Gray and guitarist Greg Tribbett finish touring with their other group, HELLYEAH.
MUDVAYNE was initially rumored as one of the big acts on this summer's Rockstar Mayhem tour, which is already confirmed to include DISTURBED and SLIPKNOT on the bill, but the band's tour plans are yet to be determined. More...
Mudvayne Guitarist Discusses Next Album
Patrick Douglas of the Great Falls Tribune recently conducted an interview with MUDVAYNE/HELLYEAH guitarist Greg Tribbett. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:
On MUDVAYNE's latest release, "By The People, For The People", a collection of rarities including live tracks and demos:
"This is stuff that you can't get online. This was in a vault. ... I'm sure you can get it online now after the record has been put out. It was something that nobody had ever heard and was an opportunity for our fans to hear how we wrote (songs), how certain songs came together at first before they made it onto a record."
On keeping busy touring with HELLYEAH:
"HELLYEAH has definitely given me another outlet of music that I needed. I needed some time away from MUDVAYNE to do another project. It's definitely gotten me wanting to go back and do some more writing with MUDVAYNE."
"I'm grateful that I've had the opportunity to be in both bands. It's a lot of hard work, man. It's going to pay off in the end and we're going to continue to do it. We're definitely going to do another HELLYEAH record and we're doing another MUDVAYNE record. I don't think I'm gonna get too much time off in the next five years."
On the past 18 months, which have been a blur to Tribbett:
"It's been like a roller coaster ride, man. We started writing the HELLYEAH record after MUDVAYNE got done touring 'Lost and Found' and pretty much haven't had a break. We put the record out and started touring it nonstop. In between that we started working on ... 'By The People, For The People' It's been pretty insane."
On being a veteran of nonstop touring:
"A lot of people can do it and a lot of people can't. The road's a hard life but we've been touring nonstop for seven, eight years now. I think that's the biggest change is how to handle the road, growing with the music, growing with touring. Maturing basically."
On the next MUDVAYNE record:
"I've been writing for a couple months, actually. I'll be prepared for it. It's like starting all over again."
On the album's musical direction:
"That's something where everyone's gonna have to wait and see what happens. We're trying some new stuff on the next record and the next tour to keep stepping it up. We definitely have a lot of ideas. Chad's [Gray, vocals] got a lot of interesting things that he's gonna write about."
Mudvayne Hope For Summer Release For New Album
According to The Pulse of Radio, MUDVAYNE's touring and album plans for 2008 have yet to be nailed down. The band was initially rumored as one of the big acts on this summer's Rockstar Mayhem tour, which is already confirmed to include DISTURBED and SLIPKNOT on the bill. MUDVAYNE drummer Matt McDonough told The Pulse of Radio that he heard the same rumors but can't say precisely what MUDVAYNE plans to do. "We almost assuredly will be touring this summer, and we're investigating options of what's gonna happen," he said. "You know, as far as the Mayhem tour, you know, that would be a great situation for us. We're great friends with SLIPKNOT and I believe DISTURBED is on it. God, I'd love to tour with all my bros, my friends, but I think it's just another possibility."
As for the new MUDVAYNE album, McDonough is hoping for a summer release. The band completed most of the recording last summer in New Orleans, but is working on additional material.
MUDVAYNE's plans could also be complicated by the touring schedule of HELLYEAH, the group launched last year that features MUDVAYNE singer Chad Gray and guitarist Greg Tribbett.
HELLYEAH kicked off a new North American tour on Friday (January 25) and plays Tuesday night (January 29) in Charleston, South Carolina.
MUDVAYNE issued a collection of fan-selected rarities late last year titled "By The People, For The People". It sold 22,000 copies in its first week of release to debut at Number 51 on the Billboard album chart.
More Big Name Drummers Announce NAMM Signings
Pearl Drums is hosting an autograph session at this year's Winter NAMM Show (National Association of Music Merchants), which runs from January 17 to January 20 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. The signing will take place at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 19 at the Pearl booth. It will feature some of the best-known artists in rock and metal, including the following:
Adrian Erlandsson (CRADLE OF FILTH, NEMHAIN)
Barry Kerch (SHINEDOWN)
Chad Smith (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS)
Craig Nunenmacher (BLACK LABEL SOCIETY)
Eric Singer (KISS, ALICE COOPER)
Gene Hoglan (STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, DEATH, DARK ANGEL)
Jimmy DeGrasso (MEGADETH, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, Y&T)
Johnny Kelly (TYPE O NEGATIVE)
Matt McDonough (MUDVAYNE)
Mike Mangini (ANNIHILATOR, EXTREME)
Morgan Rose (SEVENDUST)
Vinnie Paul (HELLYEAH, PANTERA)
Important: The NAMM Show is **NOT** open to the public. The only attendees are NAMM member companies and their invited guests.
Mudvayne Singer Talks About New Album And More
Greg Maki of Live-Metal.net recently interviewed HELLYEAH/MUDVAYNE vocalist Chad Gray. Excerpts follow.
Live-Metal.net: It's almost over now, but how has this [HELLYEAH] headlining run been?
Chad Gray: It's cool. It's the same shit, fuckin' day in and day out. What might be new to you ain't that new to us. We do it every fuckin' day. We try to bring it just as hard every day. Even on days when you don't think you can, something about the music, it's the fuckin' wind in your sails. You can just fuckin' drag your ass up to that stage and it's like, "Fuck." You get on it and the music starts going and it's loud and the crowd's there, it's like fuckin' flipping a switch. It's been cool, though. Like I said, I'm fuckin' burnt. I'm burnt out. I haven't toured this hard probably since 2001, since the early days of MUDVAYNE when did 300-some shows in a year. We toured for "L.D. 50" for 22 months. This is pretty equal to that lifestyle of touring. There's a lot of people on this bus and it's just been going and going and going. This tour that we're on now — by the time I get off of it Dec. 17, I will have not been home for three months. To me, that's a long time because the last time I was not home for three months I was fuckin' 26 years old, 27 years old. This is fuckin' eight years later. It's a little different now. It's harder touring. People have fuckin' families now and you feel more established. No matter how established MUDVAYNE is, this has been very much a starting over process and you would've maybe never thought that. You put these players together, you would think that it's just gonna go BOOM! and everything's gonna be fuckin' limos and fuckin' catering. It's been like, "OK, here's your fuckin' $10 buyout. Go to fuckin' Burger King." It reminds me of 2001. It really does. It reminds me of fuckin' years ago.
Live-Metal.net: After this tour is over, is that gonna be it for HELLYEAH for a while?
Chad Gray: We're gonna go back out. We're working on it. We haven't confirmed anything yet, so I can't even say the bands that we're talking about. We're maybe slated to go out like late January through February.
Live-Metal.net: Headlining or supporting?
Chad Gray: Headlining.
Live-Metal.net: Switching to MUDVAYNE, where did the whole idea come for the new "By the People, For the People" album?
Chad Gray: We had so much shit on hard drives and discs and live versions of stuff, acoustic versions and different shit we had laying around. It was kind of like we need to put this out there. Like, "This is fuckin' stupid. We've got something here that we can put out and I think people would really dig it." We're not putting this out to sell millions. We don't give a fuck, although it did 27,000 the first week, which I was really overwhelmed by. It's just demos and live versions and shit. It's not new stuff. "Dull Boy" is the only new fuckin' song on it. We were just like, "We should do this." I'm like, "Well, fuck it. If we've got all this stockpile of shit, this music sitting around or whatever, we should use the stockpile of artwork that we have sitting around from fans to do the artwork with." Because one of the biggest fuckin' headaches of doing a record is putting together the artwork. It's a nightmare. It's a zillion emails back and forth. I'm like, "Fuck it. Let's collage it, put it together." And then we were like, "Fuck it. If we're doing a contest, there's not one song that somebody could pick that we don't have some version of. So fuck it. Let's let them pick the tracks and then we'll determine what version they get." If somebody wants "Forget to Remember", we've got a live version of it, we've got a demo version of it and we've got a fuckin' acoustic version of it. OK, fuck it. Let's give them the acoustic version 'cause it's something different and it's something we can put out there and whatever. So it's cool, man. There are a couple things, obviously, that people wouldn't have known we had, like the cover of "King of Pain".
Live-Metal.net: Is the new MUDVAYNE album done?
Chad Gray: Yeah, it's done.
Live-Metal.net: Any idea when it will be out?
Chad Gray: We haven't decided what we're doing yet. We talked about writing more. We talked about writing another record. We talked about doing all kinds of shit. I think now we're really trying to figure everything out in the sense of timelining and scheduling and how we want to see things going down 'cause we do have something else now. We're excited about HELLYEAH, but we are very, very much still very passionate about MUDVAYNE and I think we're gonna try to get the most bang for our buck. Give as much to the MUDVAYNE people as we can without wasting a lot of our lives and our time. So maybe we'll do something like — we thought about putting out two records in a year. We put out two records in a year, then that opens up another two years where we would be touring and supporting those two separate records. If you put one out and you tour for 18 months, then you put the other one out and you tour for 18 months, there's a lot of fuckin' time gone there. When you can just write 'em, put one out, start touring, put the next one out while you're touring, finish up touring, support both records at the same time, come off, be done, go back, write a HELLYEAH record, go out, tour, come back, write a MUDVAYNE record — you know what I mean? Let's start hustling. Let's start moving and shaking. Not hustling people, hustling our time, really lassoing our time and fuckin' corralling it and going, OK, this is what the fuck we want to do with our time. We don't want to waste it anymore by going out and touring for 18 fuckin' months and doing fuckin' five runs through the States and two runs in Australia and two runs in Japan and fuckin' two runs through Europe. Essentially, you're doing the same shit anyway. The cool thing is with doing a couple different records in one year is that if you are gonna roll through the States five times, you're gonna go to Australia twice, you're gonna go to Japan twice and you're gonna go to Europe twice, you can schedule everything so that when you do go back to Australia for that second time, you're playing some new new material; go back to Japan the second time, you're playing new new material; you go back through the States for the third time, you're playing new new material; you go back to Europe the second time, you're playing new new material. And the first time you went there, you're playing new new material, too. So it's cool. It gives the fans more, too. They're not seeing the same show.
Slipknot To Tour With Mudvayne And Disturbed?
SLIPKNOT are rumored to be planning a Summer tour with DISTURBED and MUDVAYNE. No further details are currently available.
Mudvayne Frontman Speaks On Switching Bands
Danielle Hatch of the Journal Star recently conducted an interview with MUDVAYNE/HELLYEAH frontman Chad Gray. A few excerpts from the chat follow:
On performing with HELLYEAH at the East Peoria Convention Center on Wednesday:
"It's kind of where I spread my wings to get into the music business, it's where it all started to happen, so it definitely feels like home to me.
"I'm not on heroin, I've never done heroin, but I assume the road would be a lot like being on heroin. When you're on it, you don't really want to be, when you're off it, you need to get back on it."
On putting everything on the line to be part of MUDVAYNE years ago:
"I had a job that paid good money and I basically wasn't living my life, you know, I wasn't following the dream in my heart. I basically quit a $40,000-a-year factory job and moved to Peoria. In typical kid fashion, I didn't have one dime of savings, spent it on the stupidest crap ever, you know, bubble gum and pinwheels and beer.
"I didn't really know it was going to happen. I mean, I believed in what we were doing, absolutely. The way everything ended up panning out, it was a bit of a Cinderella story. It was kind of cool."
"I've always been an artist, I've always been a creative type of person, and I really needed to try to bring this to fruition. It's been the hardest damn job in my life, and just when I thought it couldn't get any harder, I got another full-time job."
On HELLYEAH's formation:
"It just came from bringing five different people together with five different attitudes and dropping our walls and letting go of our egos and really just trying to write our music. I started playing in HELLYEAH because MUDVAYNE consumed all of my time. (Now, with HELLYEAH) it's been nonstop, just beating it down and grinding. But it's showing in the sales. It's really hard to sell records these days and we're still selling anywhere between 4,700 and 5,500 records a week."
On how he keeps everything straight, switching back and forth between the two projects:
"It's not like I'm Jekyll and Hyde. But MUDVAYNE is a very calculated, very research-oriented math-metal kind of a band. That's how MUDVAYNE's always been and it's gotten more that way in themes and ideas. And that's great, that's fine, there's nothing wrong with that. But HELLYEAH, on the other hand. ... I'll listen to the music as I'm writing the song, and I'm not over-reading the book, and you just write it down and it works. It's just a different kind of thing."
On concerns from fans who are worried that HELLYEAH will cause the demise of MUDVAYNE:
"MUDVAYNE will always be there. Greg and I have been doing these back-to-back records — write, record, tour, take a small break, write, record tour, small break, write, record, tour. And we've been doing that for so many years, we were going to take a break (from MUDVAYNE) regardless. And I was like, you know what, man? We can go home and sit on our ass and watch TV or we can go do this thing. This is a must-needed break, and I think it's going to make MUDVAYNE even better."
HELLYEAH taking part in an interview and acoustic performance of "Alcohaulin' Ass" at 93X WMFS studios in Memphis, TN: More...
Mudvayne Singer Speaks On New Album
The Pulse of Radio reports: MUDVAYNE releases a "fan-generated" collection of rarities, demos and live recordings called By "The People, For The People" on Tuesday (November 27). The record contains demo versions of some of MUDVAYNE's most popular songs, including "Death Blooms", "Fall Into Sleep", "Not Falling" and "Happy". Singer Chad Gray told The Pulse of Radio he thinks fans will enjoy hearing the tracks in their earliest stages. "From the demo standpoint, it's kind of cool because it's like, I think it allows the fan to adhere more to the band," he said. "It allows you to go deeper because they're hearing the songs on the records that are realized, where demos is just mapping. It's just getting down ideas, like broad strokes. So it kind of allows you to see where that song came from and kind of be a part of the life of what that song became."
Fans helped choose songs for the CD at Mudvayne.com, with the group deciding on the final selection.
The set also features a new song called "Dull Boy", which serves as the first single, a previously unreleased cover of THE POLICE's "King of Pain", plus live and acoustic versions of other MUDVAYNE favorites.
MUDVAYNE has posted some previously unseen band footage at its MySpace page in conjunction with the CD's arrival.
The group will enter the studio early next year to complete its fourth studio album, which is due out sometime in 2008.
Gray's other band, HELLYEAH, is currently on the road and recently issued a live DVD titled "Below The Belt".
Mudvayne Reveal New Album Track Listing
The track listing has been released for MUDVAYNE’s upcoming new album, By The People, For The People, which is set to be released on November 27th:
01. Dig (Live)
02. Silenced (Demo)
03. Dull Boy
04. Death Blooms (Demo)
05. Fall Into Sleep (Demo)
06. Not Falling (Demo)
07. -1 (Live)
08. Happy (Demo)
09. (Per) Version Of A Truth (Demo)
10. World So Cold (Live)
11. On The Move
12. Goodbye
13. Skrying (Demo)
14. All That You Are (Demo)
15. Forget To Remember (Acoustic)
16. King of Pain (The Police cover)
Mudvayne Frontman Talks Fan Generated Album
Gary Graff of Billboard.com reports: MUDVAYNE frontman Chad Gray says the group is "getting really close" to figuring out what songs are going to appear on its fan-generated album "By the People, For the People", due November 27 via Epic.
"We're just kind of sitting back and letting it go," says Gray, who, along with MUDVAYNE guitarist Greb Tribbett, is on the road with their side band, HELLYEAH. "There's a couple of things I'm excited for — but I don't want to give them away. The arrangements are different. There's a couple things with completely different choruses. I think our fans are really gonna love this, man."
The concept of "By the People..." allows MUDVAYNE fans to choose their favorite songs from the group's catalog; the band will then dig into its vaults for specific versions of those tracks, considering demos, live renditions and alternate tracks.
"We have tons and tons of (hard) drives and archived stuff," Gray explains. "We were like, 'We should get this to the people. They'd probably love this.' We just want to give back something to the people that have supported us for so long and allow them to be more a part of MUDVAYNE."
Mudvayne Frontman Discusses New Album
MUDVAYNE frontman Chad Gray has told MTV.com that the band won't be done with its fourth studio LP for a while — despite earlier reports that the CD would be finished in time for an early 2008 release.
"We basically have a record done, but I stepped away from it for a while, while doing this HELLYEAH thing," he said, referring to the side project he's touring with through early December that has him and MUDVAYNE guitarist Greg Tribbett teaming up with NOTHINGFACE guitarist Tom Maxwell, DAMAGEPLAN bassist Bob Zilla and PANTERA drummer Vinnie Paul. "I started seeing some themes inside of what we were doing that we could, like, really go for. I kind of pulled off the initial direction and concept for the record, and I started seeing some things I was really into. I need more content, so I can go as far as I can with the concept of the newest record."
"Ultimately, music is art," he added. "If you're creating it for other people, you're missing the whole damn point. It has to mean something to you first. We've always written for ourselves. We never wrote for radio; radio came to us. This record is a really important record — as they all are — and now I've wrapped my head around it and have brought some other outside ideas into the mix. With this new record, I had one thing I was drawing material from, but the more I stood back and stared at it, the more I was like, 'You know what? I can introduce this and this, and I can expose this process of thought.' So this thing, to me now, has become a lot bigger than what it might have been before. It might have been a little more linear. Now it's growing, and I'm really excited about it."
"Music isn't always about being easy. Art's not always easy," Gray continued. "You can look at a Georgia O'Keefe [painting], and it's right there. If you look at a Jackson Pollock or a Barnett Newman, it's a whole different bag of tricks. And to try and really get where the artist is coming from isn't easy. That's what we've tried to do with our music — challenge our listeners a bit. There's enough cattle-call stuff out there, and we like to try and challenge our fans. Because of that, we haven't sold millions of records. You go one way or the other. You can write no-brainer, 'Did it all for the nookie' stuff and sell 8 million records. That appeals to more people because not everybody wants to think or work for entertainment."
Mudvayne Announce Fan-Generated Album
Mudvayne and Epic Records are proud to announce the upcoming release, "By The People, For The People," which is set to hit stores November 27th. The highly anticipated new album consists of several live recordings, rarities, demos, as well as two new recordings including the first single, “Dull Boy,” which was produced by Dave Fortman and recorded in New Orleans, as well as an incredible never before heard cover of the Police’s “King of Pain.”
The album is aptly titled "By The People, For The People," because it is entirely fan-generated. Mudvayne is creating history by offering their diehard fans the opportunity to participate in creating the entire content of the album. Starting on September 26th, fans will be able to visit mudvayne.com and myspace.com/mudvayne to help pick the track listing, submit fan generated album artwork, and participate in creating the video for first single, “Dull Boy” which makes its radio debut in early October. “We have some of the greatest fans and this album is a way for us to give back to those that have supported us throughout the years,” states Chad Gray of Mudvayne.
"By The People, For The People" affords Mudvayne a chance to give back to their loyal fans that have stood by them throughout their entire career, one that exploded in 2000 with the release of the MTV2-award winning video, “Dig.” This album spotlights the disruption of traditional media and the band’s desire to further connect with their fans.
Every Mudvayne studio album has received gold certification including Mudvayne’s last release, 2005’s “Lost And Found,” which debuted at #2 on the Billboard Top 200 and generated the hit single, “Happy?” which skyrocketed to take the #1 spot at radio and remained there for an incredible 10 weeks. Mudvayne has sold over 4.5 million units worldwide, resulting in an incredible 6 gold-certified releases. In addition, the band was also nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 2005 Grammy’s.
Singer Chad Gray and guitarist Greg Tribbett are on tour with HELLYEAH for the remainder of 2006. However, Mudvayne returns with a new studio album in 2008.
Hellyeah Looking For "Hellyeah Girls"
MTV.com has issued the following report:
HELLYEAH - the band featuring members of MUDVAYNE, PANTERA and NOTHINGFACE - are on the hunt for a dozen women they'd like to act as their "Hellyeah Girls".
The winners will be featured in the band's 2008 calendar. To enter, contestants need to post an audition video to Break.com and send a link to the clip to hellyeahtv@gmail.com .
The Pulse Of Radio recently issued the following Hellyeah update from Don Kaye:
Hellyeah plans to stay on the road beyond September, when it finishes up it's current run on the Family Values tour with KORN, EVANESCENCE and others.
That could complicate matters for singer Chad Gray and guitarist Greg Tribbett, who recently completed a new album with their other band, Mudvayne.
But Gray told us that he's confident everything will fall into place: "Obviously we've got some Mudvayne commitments and stuff that are getting ready to come up, and we're, like, right in the middle of all of that right now. I'm dealing with my other two members of Mudvayne and stuff, and everything's really great right now between all of us. They're being really super supportive of what Greg and I doing in our headspace and it's really exciting. So we're just gonna try to carve out a little more time for Hellyeah and figure out the Mudvayne thing when it comes up."
Gray said that he expects the new Mudvayne album, the band's fourth, to come out either near the end of this year or very early in 2008.
Hellyeah's debut disc has sold 155,000 copies since coming out in April.
Hellyeah is one of the bands included on the soundtrack of Electronic Arts' new Madden NFL 08 video game. The group will also appear as featured artists at EA.com's "EA Trax" section.
Bullygoat Announces Hi-Tech Battle of the Bands
Bullygoat Records announced today a partnership with Mozes, Inc., a mobile marketing company that lets anyone create and mange their own interable mobile campaign, promotion or event, to host the first ever online heavy metal battle of the bands. Bands enter the competition by creating a keyword (mobile alias) and recruiting fans to join their mob (mobile fan list) by texting their Mozes keyword to 66937. Bands move up the leaderboard by having the largest mob. The 10 finalists submit a performance video, which is judged by label owner Chad Gray, ThrashTalk VJ and x-Fuse TV VJ Mistress Juliya and Myspace celebrity Metal Sanaz. The winning band receives a record deal with Bullygoat Records and free online marketing services from Buddylube.
"I started this label to develop and maintain the integrity of our music," said Chad Gray of Bullygoat Records. "We are only looking to develop new, different and interesting music. So the decision is yours. For those of you who feel like your ready to take the Bullygoat challenge, I look forward to hearing your art."
To be eligible to win a recording contract with Bullygoat Records, a band must have a minimum of 500 mob members. A special leaderboard has been set up on Mozes.com to track each band's growth in membership. The contest will run for three (3) months, giving bands a chance to build their mobile fan list.
"This is a great opportunity for unsigned bands to get their foot in the door of the music industry. "There are a lot of kick ass bands out there that now have the chance to be heard," said. Mistress Juliya.
"Some bands have the sound, but lack in the marketing department," adds Sanaz. "Mozes and Bullygoat Records are giving them the chance to work with BuddyLube -- a company that has marketed some of the best heavy metal bands in the world."
Mozes provides the necessary tools for bands to easily and innovatively connect with their fans. "We are pleased to be working with Buddylube on this first-of-its-kind contest," said Dorrian Porter, CEO of Mozes. "Being able to interact with your favorite artist in real-time on the mobile phone is a powerful and personal connection. Our role is to support the most effective way for artists to reach, grow and connect with their audience."