At the Rockstar Mayhem Festival, we had the chance to catch up with Skinny, a founding member of the legendary industrial metal band Mushroomhead. With a new album, a return from J Mann, and a heartfelt dedication woven into the music, Skinny gave us a candid look into the band’s past, present, and creative process.
Capital Chaos TV: I am at Rockstar Mayhem Festival with this guy—you might know him from a band by the name of Mushroomhead. His name is Skinny. Day number two—how are you feeling so far?
Skinny: I feel like it’s the second day! And thank you so much for having me.
F*** yeah, and that’s that.
Capital Chaos TV: So let’s talk about The Righteous and the Butterfly. I know it hit number 20 on the Billboard 200. I also know the name has some special meaning—and that you brought J Mann back. So first, let’s talk about the name of the album. I understand it’s dedicated to two individuals. Can you share a little about how that came to be?
Skinny: All right. You know, just putting this new album together… bringing J Mann back brought a lot of feelings. He’d been gone for 10 years. We lost John John about four years ago, and J Mann and I were the only ones who spoke at the funeral—the memorial, that kind of thing.
I’ve got to back up a little. J and I have always been close, even after he left Mushroomhead. It wasn’t like we weren’t talking—we were always friends. There wasn’t any weird animosity. And even though he wasn’t in the band, we were still working together. We have a side project called 10,000 Cadillacs that we were working on about two years ago.
Then I got the call to do the new Mushroomhead album, so we put the side project on hold. He came by to get some mixes from that project and asked how the new Mushroomhead stuff was going. I said, “Oh man, you’ve got to hear this.” Five or six hours later—he’s on three songs!
It wasn’t like, “Hey, come back! It’s been 20 years, let’s celebrate.” I wanted to do this dedication because my ex-wife Vanessa—she’s the Butterfly in this situation—passed away last August. So it’s not even been a year yet. Half of the album was written before that happened.
A lot of it was just J Mann, myself, and the new members: Dr. F on bass, Church on guitar. And the core members: Schmotz, myself, and Jeffrey Nothing. We all bonded and said, “Let’s do something for ourselves and be respectful to the ones we love.”
I think we made an honest piece of art—and I think it shows. I think the fans know when it’s B.S.
Capital Chaos TV: Yes, they do. Well, it is an amazing album. And thank you for explaining what’s behind the title.
Let’s talk a little about the masks. Do you always wear them when performing or during interviews? Does it help you stay out of the public eye and maintain some privacy when you’re not playing music?
Skinny: I’ve been very fortunate to be one of the guys behind the scenes. You know—”Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain,” that kind of thing.
I’ll put it this way: I can’t go cash a check looking like this. It’s not going to work. So when I’m grocery shopping or picking my kids up from school, I don’t have to look like this—they’d freak out if I did. They wouldn’t even let me into the school!
In many ways, I’ve been blessed with the anonymity of it all. Just… pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
Chaos TV: That’s awesome. You can’t see what he looks like—it’s a total secret! All right, shifting gears—regarding self-expression and censorship: Back in 2010, when “Come On” was barred from being viewed, do you feel like there are still limitations on music expression today? Or has that changed?
Skinny: You know, musically, it’s more wide open than it’s ever been—and that’s a good thing. Platforms like Spotify, Pandora, and so on are awesome. You can pick a genre or category and get turned on to stuff you wouldn’t normally listen to.
But as far as censorship? We were just in Russia—Moscow—for the first time ever. And there’s not a lot going on. There’s no metal scene. They really didn’t want us saying s***. No swear words on stage. Even casually saying “Goddamn” or “f***”—just in regular conversation—people were listening to us in the airport or a restaurant like they were ready to call the cops.
So to everyone in America who loves metal—love America and love metal.
Capital Chaos TV: Exactly! Let’s talk about one song that really stood out to me—you covered an Adele song. Have you met Adele?
Skinny: No, I would love to. I think she’s a genius. She can do no wrong. I truly believe that—everything she does is amazing.
The reason we covered that song: Dr. F, our bass player, and I were working on some masks—pouring latex into molds and waiting for them to dry. We were at someone else’s house because our studio was full. Limited electricity, no tunes. So I used my phone and put it on shuffle.
That song came up, and honestly, we were like, “Man, that’s a great song. If you made that real heavy, added some guitar—it could sound like Metallica or something.” We kept laughing about it, singing along heavy-style. The drunker we got, the better it sounded.
Then we actually went and recorded the idea. A few days later, everyone came in and said, “That’s pretty cool.” So we just went with it. We did five or six covers, but that one ended up on the album. It was just something fun—really for ourselves.
When you’re working on an album, having cover material that’s fun really matters. The last thing you want is a super depressing, dark album, and you’re starting with a doom drum sound—like, “Boom… doom.” You know? It’s like, “Do I cut long ways or short ways?” Just kidding!
No, no—it’s all positive. Everything’s great. And I love it!
Capital Chaos TV: Awesome, awesome. So Skinny, I’m not going to take too much more of your time. I know you’ve got a lot of people to talk to. Is there anything you want to say to your fans—those who’ve stuck with you since day one, and those just now discovering Mushroomhead?
Skinny: I’ll tell you what, man—for everyone who’s been along for the ride, thank you so much. And for everyone just starting to get an idea of what it’s about—dig deeper.
We’ve got seven albums, 21 years… or is it 21 albums and 7 years? I can’t even get it straight anymore—it’s been so long. But numbers don’t matter. Age doesn’t matter. It’s all about what you feel.
We are not rock stars—we’re artists. And if you can appreciate what we do, then we appreciate you.
Catch Mushroomhead on tour and stream The Righteous & The Butterfly wherever you get your music.
Watch the full video interview below.
Interview by Amb Pirate | Editing by Capital Chaos TV
Categories: Interviews, MUSHROOMHEAD
Capital Chaos TV 
Leave a comment