Mugstar are an English rock band, influenced by kraut/psych/space/noise rock such as

Oneida Oneida may refer to: Native American/First Nations * Oneida people, a Native American/First Nations people and one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois Confederacy * Oneida language * Oneida Indian Nation, based in New York * Oneida N ...

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1981. Founding members Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar), Thurston Moore (lead guitar, vocals) and Lee Ranaldo (rhythm guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of ...

Neu! Neu! (; German for "New!"; styled in block capitals) were a West German krautrock band formed in Düsseldorf in 1971 by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother following their departure from Kraftwerk. The group's albums were produced by Conny Plank, w ...

and

Hawkwind Hawkwind are an English rock band known as one of the earliest space rock groups. Since their formation in November 1969, Hawkwind have gone through many incarnations and have incorporated many different styles into their music, including hard ...

. Since 2003 they have issued several full-length albums, a split release with

Mudhoney Mudhoney is an American rock music, rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, on January 1, 1988, following the demise of Green River (band), Green River. Its members are singer and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner (guitari ...

and two live albums performing on stage together with

Damo Suzuki , known as Damo Suzuki (ダモ鈴木), was a Japanese musician best known as the vocalist for the German Krautrock group Can (band), Can between 1970 and 1973. Born in 1950 in Kobe, Japan, he moved to Europe in the late 1960s where he was spotte ...

. Mugstar recorded one of the last-ever Peel Sessions with the late

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

on 5 May 2004. Record labels: Rock Action, Important Records (U.S.A.), Cardinal Fuzz, Weird Beard, Agitated, Evil Hoodoo, Rocket Recordings, Trensmat, God Unknown, Chunklet Industries (U.S.A.), Hands In The Dark / All Time Low, Lancashire & Somerset, kool tone, critical MASS...

History

Mugstar formed in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England. Their first single, "Spotlight Over Memphis", drew attention from John Peel, who played the 7-inch on his radio show. It was after the next 7-inch, "Flavin' HotRod", that Peel offered the band a Peel Session. A split 7-inch with Hunting Lodge followed. A mini-album on Kabukikore Records, "Dark Matter", came next, closely followed by a session for

BBC Radio One BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, hi ...

Huw Stephens Huw Meredydd Stephens (born 25 May 1981) is a Welsh radio and television presenter, currently broadcasting on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 6 Music. Stephens founded the Sŵn music festival with John Rostron and the yearly s ...

. In January 2006 the band released "My Baby Skull Has Not Yet Flowered". The band's self-titled debut album was released on CD at the end of 2006 on Sea Records, and on Critical MASS Records as a limited run of heavy weight vinyl in 2007. Mugstar then started a productive relationship with Ireland-based Trensmat Records with a run of limited 7-inch singles. One of these releases was a split 7-inch with Seattle's

, with both bands doing covers of

songs. During this time Red Panda and Mugstar featured on a one-sided 10-inch single, each performing half of "

Tam Lin Tam Lin, also known as Tamas-Lin, Tamlane, Tamlene, Tamlin, Tambling, Tomlin, Tam-Lien, Tam-a-Line, Tam-Lyn or Tam-Lane, is a character in the legendary ballad originating from the Scottish Borders. History The story of Tam Lin revolves around ...

", a song made famous by

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English British folk rock, folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson (musician), Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Marti ...

. Mugstar signed to Important Records, who then released "...Sun, Broken..." CD in March 2010 and their third album, "Lime", was released also on CD in November 2010. For Record Store Day 2011 Mugstar contributed a cover of "I Got the Six" by

ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in Houston, Texas, in 1969. For almost 56 years, it consisted of vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard (musician), Frank Beard, and bassist-vocalist Dusty Hill prior to his death in 2021. ZZ ...

for "I'm So Agitated", a 12-inch also featuring Carlton Melton, The Heads and Kool Aid, on Agitated Records. The "Lime" album got its vinyl release through Agitated Records in September 2011. These were followed by a split album on Rocket Recordings with New York's Oneida - called "Collisions 2" - and a 40-minute remix of "Serra" (from "Lime") by Loop's Robert Hampson. "Ad Marginem" - Original Film Soundtrack. Vinyl album with DVD, was released in September 2012. The film / album launch was celebrated with Mugstar performing the soundtrack live to film screenings, at Liverpool's Bluecoat and Rough Trade East in London. (The screening with live soundtrack has subsequently been performed a number of times... in Bishop's Castle, at the

Roadburn Festival The Roadburn Festival is an annual music festival held each April in Tilburg, Netherlands. It was founded by Walter Hoeijmakers and Jurgen van den Brand in 1999, who ran a stoner rock blog of the same name. The festival has been held at Tilburg ...

in Tilburg (NL), The Cube Cinema, Bristol and most recently in 2018 in the Music Room at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall.) The release of the band's fifth album, ''Axis'', followed in late 2012. In April 2013, they performed a radio session for

Marc Riley Marc Riley (born 10 July 1961) is an English radio DJ, alternative rock critic, musician, and former music businessman. He currently presents on BBC Radio 6 Music. Formerly a member of The Fall, he co-owned a record label, In-Tape, and also w ...

on his

BBC 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It primarily plays a wide range of alternative music, from established and emerging artists and bands. In 2002 it was the first national music radio station t ...

evening show. For Record Store Day 2013 Mugstar released ''Centralia'' their sixth album on the Cardinal Fuzz label. Mugstar released ''Start from Zero'' a live album - recorded with

in Liverpool, summer 2012 - on Important Records in January 2015. February 2016 saw Mugstar performing a second radio session for

on his

evening show. The double album: ''Magnetic Seasons'' was released in 2016 on

Rock Action Records Rock Action Records is a Scottish, Glasgow-based independent record label, founded and maintained by Scottish post-rock band Mogwai. The label has showcased such diverse talents as Part Chimp, Errors, Chris Brokaw, Trout, The James Orr Compl ...

. The singles and rarities compilation album: ''Collapsar - Skull Scorchers & Neuron Phasers'' was released in December 2017 on double heavy vinyl format by Evil Hoodoo Records. In 2018 Mugstar performed together with

for a second time. This was for Wrong Festival at the Invisible Wind Factory in Liverpool. The recording was released on Weird Beard in July 2020. Mugstar's latest studio album "Graft" was released on the Cardinal Fuzz label in October 2020.

Discography

* "Spotlight Over Memphis" 7-inch - critical MASS Records (10/03) * "Flavin HotRod" 7-inch - critical MASS Records (05/04) * ''Peel Session'' BBC Radio 1 (10/04) * Split 7-inch with Hunting Lodge - Farm Girl Records (11/04) * ''Dark Matter'' Mini-Album CD - Kabukikore Records (03/05) * ''Trail Singles Comp.'' CD - critical MASS Records (10/05) * "My Baby Skull Has Not Yet Flowered" 7-inch - Lancashire & Somerset Records (01/06) * ''Mugstar Album - CD Sea Records / Vinyl critical MASS Records (11/06) * "Bethany Heart Star" 7-inch - Trensmat Records (01/07) * "Born To Go" 7-inch Split with Mudhoney - Trensmat Records (11/08) * "Today Is The Wrong Shape" Extracts from the Ether Vol. 1 Compilation CD - kool tone Records (2008) * "Tam Lin"' 10-inch Split with Red Panda - Lancashire & Somerset Records (12/08) * "Technical Knowledge As A Weapon" 7-inch - Trensmat Records (08/09) * ''...Sun, Broken...'' Album. CD

Important Records Important Records is an American independent record label based in Groveland, Massachusetts. History John Brien started Important Records in 2001 out of his Newburyport, Massachusetts apartment, initially as an online store. Important's first tw ...

(03/10) Vinyl re-issue Cardinal Fuzz Records (2014) * ''In Search of Hawkwind'' Tribute Album with Kinski, Magoo, Bardo Pond, Mudhoney, Acid Mothers Temple, Moon Duo & White Hills. CD - critical MASS records (2010) * "Red Shift" / "Blue Shift" 7-inch - Champion Version (10/10) * ''Lime'' Album. CD Important Records (11/10) Vinyl Agitated Records (09/11) * ''Collisions 2'' Split album with Oneida vinyl - Rocket Recordings (10/11) * "Distant Sun" Serra Remix by Robert Hampson Vinyl album / CD - Agitated Records (11/11) * "Black Fountain" Split 7-inch with Carlton Melton - Trensmat Records (12/11) * ''Ad Marginem'' Original Film Soundtrack. Vinyl album with DVD - Agitated Records (09/12) * ''Axis'' Album. Vinyl / CD - Agitated Records (10/12) * ''Centralia'' Album. Vinyl - Cardinal Fuzz Records (04/13) * ''Travel Expop Series #2: Great Britain'' split album with The Oscillation / Ben Nash / Listening Mirror Hands In The Dark / All Time Low Records (08/13) * Split 12-inch with Cosmic Dead - Evil Hoodoo Records (2014) * ''Start From Zero'' Album. Recorded live with

. Vinyl only - Important Records (01/15) * Split 7-inch with White Hills - God Unknown Records (03/15) * "Kabuki Skull" / "Goat Head" USA tour 7-inch - Chunklet Industries (05/15) * ''Magnetic Seasons'' Album. Double Vinyl LP with download / CD - Rock Action Records (03/16) * ''Collapsar: Skull Scorchers & Neuron Phasers'' Compilation album of singles and rarities on double heavy vinyl - Evil Hoodoo Records (12/17) * ''File #733 U.F.O. Further Investigation'' Various Artists Double Vinyl LP featuring two new exclusive MUGSTAR tracks - Granite Trees & Drones on Drones - on the Modern Harmonic label (11/19) * ''Invisible Wind Factory'' Album. Recorded live with

. Vinyl with download - Weird Beard Records (7/20) * '' Graft'' Album. Vinyl with download - Cardinal Fuzz Records (10/20)

Band members

* Steve Ashton - Drums * Neil Murphy - Guitar * Rob McLean - Bass Previous members: * Marc Glaysher - Bass * Joe Hirons - Guitar/Keyboards * Pete Smyth - Guitar/Vocals/Keyboards * Jason Stoll - Bass * Chris Stevens - Bass * Adrian R. Shaw - Guitar/Vocals * Martin Ward - Guitar * Luke Mawdsley - Guitar * Rob McLean - Vocals

References

External links

Official MUGSTAR Website

Band's Bandcamp
{{Authority control English space rock musical groups English progressive rock groups Musical groups established in 2003