Mindless Self Indulgence
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Mindless Self Indulgence (commonly referred to as MSI) is a New York-based shock rock band. Their music has a mixed style including electronica, punk and even industrial metal. Their name comes from the CD Mindless Self-Indulgence, a solo album by Jimmy Urine recorded in the mid 1990's. The band was formed two years later when the other three original members (Steve, righ?, Vanessa Y.T. and Kitty) joined. The band is unsigned and always have been, preferring instead to license their music to record labels, thus retaining ownership of their music. Their latest record is licensed to The End Records. The band maintains a devout fanbase, and has opened for many famous bands such as Linkin Park, System of a Down, Korn, Staind, Sum 41, My Chemical Romance, Insane Clown Posse, and Rammstein. They have also participated in the Voodoo Music Experience. They have released four albums, two EPs, one live album, and one live DVD.
Biography
In 1999, the band released their first album, Tight (which allegedly they mixed on Atari equipment[citation needed]). Their music shows influence from early 1980s culture and frequently contains samples of early 80's rock, as well as chiptune-style beeps and tones.
In 2000, the band released the album Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy, and the next year saw Vanessa leaving the band and Lyn-Z joining the band in her place. The band's first release with Lyn-Z as a member was the live album Alienating Our Audience, which was followed by the Despierta Los Niños EP in 2003.
2005 saw the band achieving recognition from the media and critics with the release of their third album, You'll Rebel to Anything; the subsequent singles from the album, "Straight To Video" and "Shut Me Up" both reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales chart [1]. The band toured with material from the album for two years, releasing a second EP titled Another Mindless Rip Off along the way, as well as headlining the "Revolution Stage" at Linkin Park's Projekt Revolution Tour in 2007.
In early 2008, the single "Mastermind" was released exclusively on iTunes as a "teaser" for the band's fourth album, as well as a second single, "Never Wanted To Dance", being released before the band's fourth album, If, was released on April 29, 2008.
They have opened for a number of mainstream acts, including System of a Down, My Chemical Romance, Korn, Staind, Sum 41, Mushroomhead, Insane Clown Posse, and Rammstein. They have also had many well known bands open for them early in their respective careers such as My Chemical Romance, Fake Shark - Real Zombie! and Tub Ring. They have also played in many large musical festivals including The Australian Soundwave Festivals of 2008, Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans in October 2003, as well as headlining the Mojave tent at the 2004 Coachella Festival. They also recently headlined the "Revolution Stage" for The Projekt Revolution Tour and were part of 2007 "Give it a Name" Festival. Additionally, they have played at The Bamboozle Fest of 2008. They also played at the Oxegen festival in Ireland in July 2008. Also, they opened the Leeds leg of the Reading and Leeds Festival in 2008, while playing Reading on the Sunday.
Their song, "Never Wanted to Dance", the first track off of If, is featured on the soundtrack of Madden NFL 09.
The band played a private show for the 16th birthday of Frances Bean, daughter of Kurt Cobain.
Members
Current members
Jimmy Urine
Jimmy Urine formerly Little Jimmy Urine (born James Euringer) does Vocals and Programming for Mindless Self Indulgence. He was born on September 7, 1969, in New York City. He grew up with his older brother Markus J. Euringer. The first album he released was Mindless Self-Indulgence, which differed from most of Mindless Self Indulgence's later work, focusing mainly on an Industrial music style. He made most of this album by himself except for guitar by Steve, Righ? on one track. He and guitar player Steve Righ? have a side project called "The Left Rights", a 39 track album that was self produced.
In an interview with Shoutweb he claims to have been arrested in Detroit on charges of indecent exposure after a performance in which he attempted to light his pubic hair on fire, while on tour with Insane Clown Posse.
He married Chantal Claret, lead singer of the band Morningwood on January 18, 2008.
Steve, Righ?
Steve, Righ? (Born Steven Montano) plays guitar in Mindless Self Indulgence. He first contributed guitar to "Bed of Roses" on Jimmy Urine's solo album. He got the name "Steve, Righ?" from someone approaching him at a show saying, "You're Steve, righ?...". He was replaced by Rob Kleiner of the band Tub Ring for a brief time while he was hospitalized in late 2004 to early 2005 due to a hip injury. After a brief absence he re-joined the band. The hip injury was sustained at the show at which My Chemical Romance opened for them. He has had two surgeries on his hip - the first one unsuccessful. According to an interview with Jimmy for Kerrang! magazine, Steve claims to frequently get stopped by the metal detectors at airports due to his metal hip. Besides contributing to "Bed of Roses," Steve has also co-written a handful of songs with Jimmy Urine, such as "Dicks Are For My Friends" and "Seven-Eleven" among others. With Mindless Self Indulgence, he has written the last two songs on the album Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy: "Whipstickagostop" and "Z", both of which he performs the lead vocals on.
Kitty
Kitty is the drummer in Mindless Self Indulgence. She joined the band in 1997 as a permanent member. She plays an acoustic drum kit which supposedly is augmented by backing tracks consisting of sampled "loops" for the live show. Kitty designed and ran the official website when Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy came out.
Lyn-Z
Lindsey Ann Ballato nicknamed Lyn Z was born on May 22nd, 1976 in Doune, Scotland and moved to Connecticut aged 5 due to her father being in the army. She was the bassist for Mindless Self Indulgence.
She is currently working in a traveling art exhibit based on various punk artists and recently worked with the metal band HUNG. In 2002 she was hospitalized [citation needed] due to a collapsed lung.[citation needed] Along with artist Jorden Haley, Lyn-Z contributed to the You'll Rebel To Anything CD artwork. She Is currently married to the lead singer of My Chemical Romance Gerard Way
Former members
Vanessa YT played bass in Mindless Self Indulgence. She joined the band in 1998 and played bass during the "Tight" era up to 2001. When first asked about why she left, Jimmy said that she was becoming an "astronaut", but it was later said that Vanessa left to start a family of her own.
Markus J. Euringer is Jimmy Urine's older brother. He contributed to a few songs on their earlier albums on electronics until he retired to write horror novels.
Past live guests
- Rob Kleiner (Tub Ring) - Guitars, filling in for Steve, Righ? while he was hospitalized. Also filled in for Lyn-Z while she was unable to perform, due to her collapsed lung.
- Benny Normal (Retard-O-Bot) - Bass, filled in for Lyn-Z in Orlando, FL May 9th, 2008 while she attended a concert in New York by her husband Gerard Way's band My Chemical Romance.
Side projects
Prior to joining the band, Jimmy Urine worked as a soloist, releasing only one album.
Both Urine and Steve are involved in a side project by the name of The Left Rights for which they have only released a single self-titled record.
Discography
Studio albums
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Extended plays
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References
- ^ "Mindless Self Indulgence > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles". allmusic. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
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