This past weekend, Your EDM had a chance to talk with Duvdev from Infected Mushroom about their current tour, FungusAmongUs. In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past 10+ years, Infected Mushroom are psytrance legends with resumes longer than the queue for Tomorrowland tickets. Their live performance is a visual masterpiece and, having been to countless shows, I can confidently say you’ve never seen a show like this before. This total package experience is a musical and visual journey told from the perspective of Infected Mushroom. So let’s dive into this interview and find out what they have to say.
Your EDM: You Celebrated at the One World Festival this New Years, how was that?
Duvdev: It was amazing! We were in Cape Town which was beautiful, parties were beautiful and we had a really great time.
Your EDM: In DJ Mag’s top 100 polls you had said “It’s more of a visual show with music telling the Infected Mushroom story.” Is that still the case?
Duvdev: Absolutely. The 3-D mapping is incredible and seeing it live you get the full visual effect. You can watch the videos online and on YouTube, but it’s nothing like seeing us live and seeing the visual production.
Your EDM: Last year you were using the touch screen Emulator DVS (Dual Visual System) during some live performances in the PODS. Is that something you’re continuing to use?
Duvdev: The Emulator is a great tool and I almost think of it as a really big iPad. It’s just really fun and I need something more to do than run around on stage and yell (laughs).
Your EDM: You released “The Pretender” on Army of Mushrooms, which I’m a big fan of. What was the inspiration behind covering that? Just big Foo Fighters fans?
Duvdev: First, I am a really big fan of the Foo Fighters and we were toying with the idea of doing some softer drum and bass. I was on my way to the studio one day when the song came on, and I thought to myself “we could really work with this.” We started using it in the studio and it just took off from there.
Your EDM: Your styles have really expanded over the years. Do you think your sound is evolving, or are you guys just experimenting with different genres?
Duvdev: I don’t like to use the word evolving, but we like to explore different opportunities. We really like dub, drum and bass, and some electro house. There are lots of new producers out there and we take out inspiration from them. (Your EDM: It’s nice to hear some veterans in the industry are inspired by younger talent.) Absolutely! The young people are the cutting edge in the industry.
Your EDM: Can you give us any details on the Friends on Mushrooms Vol. 1 EP that comes out January 22nd?
Duvdev: This is going to be a great 3 Part EP, with Volume 1 coming out this month. The concept of the EP series is collaborations and you’re going to hear a lot of them. We have a lot of young talent like Seven Lions, Savant, Zedd, Porter Robinson and some others. I think our fans are really going to like it.
Your EDM: You have a few shows with M Machine on the current tour. We’ve read in the past that you guys think they are upcoming stars in the industry, so how has your experience with them been?
Duvdev: We’ve had one show with them so far, but they’re really cool guys and have a different style to them. We really like their approach and they did a great job. They said they were big fans of ours for years so it’s really cool to have them on the tour. [They are] definitely up and coming.
Your EDM: What’s your favorite Festival/venue?
Duvdev: For the U.S., favorite venue would have to be Red Rocks. And favorite festival would be Burning Man because it’s unlike any other festival in the world. Those are both just incredible. And as far as other festivals, there are too many (laughs). We really liked EDC, though, and Coachella. And we’ll be at Coachella this year so we’re really happy to be back!
Your EDM: What can we expect from Infected Mushroom in 2013?
Duvdev: Shit loads of music, shit loads of shows, and shit loads of good times.
Your EDM: Anything else you want your fans to know?
Duvdev: Check out our new EP this January. You guys are going to love it. And if we’re coming to your city come check us out!
Special thanks to Duvdev for taking to the time to talk to us. And don’t forget to check out the FungusAmongUs Tour. You can buy tickets here.
