Fu Manchu (band)

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Fu Manchu
Fu Manchu 2006
Background information
Origin	California, USA
Genre(s)	Stoner rock
Years active	1987–present
Label(s)	Liquor And Poker Music
Website	Official Site
Members
Scott Hill Bob Balch Scott Reeder Brad Davis
Former members
Brant Bjork Eddie Glass Mark Abshire Scott Votaw Greg McCaughey

Fu Manchu is a Southern Californian stoner rock band, who released their debut single "Kept Between Trees" in 1990. Rolling Stone describes their sound as:

"Super heavy and bass happy Detroit rock 'n' roll is totally deep-fried, fuzzed out, window breakin', pot sellin', sleepin-in-the-van, skater metal." [1]

The lyrics on Fu Manchu's releases tend to stick to the topics of pinball, muscle cars, UFOs/Bigfoot, and skateboarding. They have been featured on compilations put together by Tony Hawk and ESPN's X Games, invited to perform on the US television program Monster Garage, and featured in the documentary about skateboarding's founding crews, Dogtown and Z-Boys.

1 History
2 Discography
3 Trivia
4 Current line-up
5 External link

[edit] History

Fu Manchu originally formed in 1987 as a hardcore punk band called Virulence. Their primary influences were the bands Black Flag and Bl'ast. The line up was vocalist Ken Pucci, guitarist Scott Hill, bassist Greg McCaughey, and drummer Ruben Romano. In 1989 they released their debut LP If This Isn't a Dream... on Alchemy Records. In 1990, Pucci left the band and was replaced by vocalist Glen Chivens and they changed their name to Fu Manchu. Soon after they released the "Kept Between Trees" 7 inch single on Slap A Ham Records. On this record, Fu Manchu still exhibited much of the hardcore sound established by Virulence. However, the band soon began to drift away from hardcore and towards a more 1970s hard rock style. McCaughey was not pleased with this, as he regarded this move to be following a trend; the Sub Pop record label was at the peak of its underground success at this time, and many of their bands were known for having a similar 70s rock sound. McCaughey left the band and was replaced by Mark Abshire. Chivens also left the band around this time for unknown reasons. Rather than bring in a new vocalist, Scott Hill added lead vocalist to his guitar duties. To compensate, Scott Votaw was recruited as lead guitarist. In 1992, Fu Manchu released three 7 inch singles: "Senioritis," "Pick Up Summer," and "Don't Bother Knockin' (If This Vans Rockin')." In 1993, Votaw left the band and was replaced by former Olivelawn drummer Eddie Glass.

Fu Manchu King of the Road Logo.

In the wake of Nirvana’s success in the early 1990s, Fu Manchu was approached by a major record label and given funds to record a demo so that the label could determine if a proper Fu Manchu album was worth pursuing. According to members of Fu Manchu, they recorded the demo with no intention of signing to the label. Instead, their plan was to go into the sessions with the mindset of recording a proper album rather than a demo, which they would release independently. Sure enough, this is precisely what happened; Fu Manchu did not sign with the major label, but the recording sessions resulted in Fu Manchu’s first album, No One Rides For Free (1994), which was released by Bong Load Records, an independent label.

Abshire left Fu Manchu before they recorded their second album, Daredevil, in 1995. He was replaced by Brad Davis. Romano and Glass left shortly after the release of Fu Manchu's third album, In Search Of... (1996) and were replaced by Brant Bjork and Bob Balch, respectively. Glass, Romano and Abshire soon formed Nebula, a power trio that took the jam-influenced side of Fu Manchu and expanded on it. Members of Nebula have commented that "we're all family" to fans wearing Fu Manchu shirts at their concerts.

Fu Manchu went on to release several successful albums and reinforce their reputation as a powerful live act. The band had gained this reputation over the years due to their performance when touring with bands such as Kyuss, Monster Magnet, Marilyn Manson, Clutch, Corrosion of Conformity, and White Zombie among others.

Brant Bjork left the band after their 2002 release California Crossing to pursue his solo career and was replaced by former Sunshine and Smile drummer Scott Reeder (often mistaken for the former Kyuss, Unida, and Goatsnake bassist Scott Reeder). In 2004, Fu Manchu released their latest album, Start The Machine.

Currently Fu Manchu is recording a new album for an early 2007 release under their new label Liquor And Poker Music.

[edit] Discography

1994 - No One Rides for Free (Bong Load Records)
1995 - Daredevil (Mammoth Records)
1996 - In Search Of... (Mammoth Records)
1997 - The Action is Go (Mammoth Records)
1998 - Return to Earth 91-93 (Elastic Records)
1999 - Eatin' Dust (Mammoth Records)
1999/2000 - King of the Road (Mammoth Records)
2002 - California Crossing (Mammoth Records)
2003 - Go for it... Live! (live) (Steamhammer Us)
2004 - Start the Machine (DRT Entertainment)

[edit] Trivia

Fu Manchu sometimes pay homage to Bl'ast via song and record titles. The song "Laserbl'ast!" from The Action is Go is an ode to Bl'ast (as well as to the 1970s B movie Laser Blast,) while the titles "Something Beyond" and Start the Machine are both named after Bl'ast songs. Note that while Fu Manchu has a song entitled "Something Beyond," it isn't a cover of the Bl'ast song.