Mushroom started in 1997 with the release of a 12 inch single called "The Reeperbahn" - 25 minute epic that was described by Magnet magazine as:
"could fool a blindfolded test applicant into thinking its 25 minute psych blowout was some long lost Krautrock epic from the early '70s. Let the band's wah-wah guitar, feedback violin, volcanic bass, jazzbo percussion, and tape loops take you down the fabled motorway, never to return to the place you once knew."
"The Reeperbahn" vinyl provided the basis for CDs released in 1998 in Holland and Germany. Among the founding members of Mushroom were drummer/producer/mixer Pat Thomas aka Patrick O'Hearn and guitarist/sax/flute maverick Erik Pearson - both of which continue in Mushroom to this day. Other early members included keyboardist Graham Connah and bassist Alec Palao.
In 1999, the band released one of their best known recordings "Analog Hi-Fi Surprise" in the USA and Germany, followed by a European tour. By this point, Graham had exited and was replaced by Michael Holt (of the Mommyheads) on keyboards.
The best description we read of "Analog Hi-Fi Surprise" came from a Toronto magazine which said: " San Francisco's Mushroom dish out the tastiest psychedelic funk you're ever likely to encounter. The groove's the thang as these tasty tracks cruise on Rhodes-driven jazz, ambient beats, surf riffs, and post rock textures. The band brew all these elements into a mixture that travels the outer realms of progressive funk. Like Tortoise jamming with the Grateful Dead or Soft Machine exploring the Funkadelic catalog, these loose open-ended excursions raise the art of fusion to a new plateau. While each track works a groove toward heady epiphany, the album as a whole refuses to stay locked into any one genre. Booker T-styled organ gyrations, rock guitar virtuosity, Bootsy Collins funk ups, ambient jazz, electronic beats, and Krautrock trance all make a stand, but the bottom line is that this is music that will move you, and then some. "
On the heels of the European tour, the band recorded "Foxy Music" which saw the band use the services of trumpet man Jon Birdsong (known for his work with Beck amongst others), along with several other horn players.
Q magazine in England said "On the Foxy Music CD, the band steer away from determined psychedelia in favor of a friendly looseness to their playing. Jabs of electro-trombone and flute cluster alongside churning organ and splintered Rhodes Piano. Beck's trumpeter Jon Birdsong also turns on a great big blubbery blast of tuba, while musical director Patrick O'Hearn's clattering drums have an automaton rotary action that sometimes recalls Can's Jaki Liebezeit."
When Jon split the Bay Area for Europe - Mushroom was lucky enough to draft in former Tom Waits sideman Ralph Carney on various horns and woodwinds.
A couple of interesting projects occured during this time, including Mushroom's on stage and/or in studio collaborations with Kevin Ayers of Soft Machine, Daevid Allen of Gong, Krautrock icons Faust, vocalist Gary Floyd (of Sister Double Happiness/The Dicks/et al), Tortoise founder Bundy K. Brown, and Pete Brown (lyricist for Cream and Jack Bruce).
In 2004 - the band pulled together it's longest running line up that continues to this day (see list of band members) and released the double CD "Glazed Popems" which saw the band interject some 1960's British folk influences into their diverse mix. Stop Smiling magazine wrote: "...analogue tape, early prog, and altered nods to other sounds...this is a group founded on beard-era vinyl sounds (Magus Miles Davis, Soft Machine's Third, and Lark's Tongues-era King Crimson) and the smoke of their heroes is all over Glazed Popems: cadenced and cascading; wet, cheesed, and delirious; misty, mountainous, and hopped-up... they concoct a prog-blaxploitation amalgam, trading afros for beards, bitches for brews....the sound falls somewhere between shattering glass and gooey jam...Mushroom's personal invitation to come on home and free your mind."
In recent years, Mushroom has enjoyed a relationship with vocalist Alison Faith Levy (known for her own recordings with members of Camper Van Beethoven) and her work with Game Theory's Scott Miller in the Loud Family. The UK label 4 Zero has released an album of recordings with Alison and Mushroom titled "Yesterday, I saw you kissing tiny flowers......"
Most recently - Mushroom has now joined forces with legendary Blue Note recording artist Eddie Gale (1969's "Black Rhythm Happening" album). Eddie Gale also played on Cecil Taylor's "Unit Structures," Larry Young's "Of Peace And Love" and various albums with Sun Ra's Arkestra including "Secrets of the Sun" and "On Jupiter".They have penned a deal with Joel Dorn's Hyena Records label and Mushroom with Eddie Gale will be releasing their album together this summer. it's titled "Joint Happening" and can best be described as "freak jazz"
