Mudvayne Biography

Mudvayne is a Peoria, Illinois, USA-based metal quartet started in 1996. They are known for their unorthodox song structures and unique visual style.

The music of Mudvayne has been described as math metal, by their drummer, Matt McDonough. The term was used to explain the intricate nature of the music, though the music does not quite fit officially under the "math metal" label, which is why Mudvayne's sound has been described as nu-metal, but the band strongly disagree to being alligned with nu-metal. As quoted by guitarist Greg Tribbett in an interview with Australian Guitar Magazine "We were never a nu-metal band but because we came out at the same time as the whole nu-metal thing we got thrown in there."

Mudvayne formed in 1996 in Pekin, Illinois and released their first EP, "Kill, I Oughtta", in 1997. The EP received local attention, but it would be another three years until they would hit it big. At this time, bassist Sean Barclay left the band, and was replaced by Ryan Martinie.

The band first rose to fame in 2000 with their first single "Dig" from their debut album L.D. 50. For this song, the band won the first ever MTV2 Award at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2001. The popularity of the song paved the way for the highly successful album and was followed by singles "Death Blooms" and "Nothing To Gein". In 2001, they released an extended version of the Kill, I Oughtta EP as The Beginning of All Things to End and continued their frequent touring.

Mudvayne are famous for wearing extravagant make-up, seen in both their music videos and concerts, and utilizing bizarre stage names such as Kud, Gurrg, RyKnow, and sPaG. When their sophomore effort, 2002's The End of All Things to Come, the band changed make-up styles from multicolored face paint to dressing up as aliens. Mudvayne's reason for wearing such extravagant make-up was, according to the band, to add a visual aspect to their music and to set them apart from other run-of-the-mill metal bands. Mudvayne participated in the Summer Sanitarium Tour 2003. With the release of the 2003 single "World So Cold", Mudvayne abandoned their use of make-up and in 2005, their third album Lost and Found was released with the band members' real names and without any gimmicks. However, the band has said that future use of make-up is not out of the question. In late 2005 / early 2006, Mudvayne toured in support of KoRn on a worldwide basis. On this tour, Chad Gray wore a monkey suit minus the head, had a fake blood spattered face and a fauxhawk, and carried a baseball bat around on stage with him while singing. The other members of the band were also dressed in an unorthodox fashion. Their 2005 single "Determined" was included on the Need for Speed: Underground 2 soundtrack. "Happy?" was featured as the theme music of the WWE Vengeance pay-per-view for World Wrestling Entertainment in June 2005, and the band was featured in an episode of The Sopranos. "Forget to Remember" was also featured in the movie Saw II. Such exposure has increased their popularity considerably.

According to their Myspace, Mudvayne have begun writing a new album which will probably be due early 2007.