Lead Singer of Mustard Plug Sings a song

Mustard Plug is an American

ska punk Ska punk (also spelled ska-punk) is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music. Ska punk tends to feature brass instruments, especially Horn (instrument), horns such as trumpets, trombones and woodwind instruments like saxophones ...

band from

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, consisting of Dave Kirchgessner (vocals), Brandon Jenison (trumpet), Jim Hofer (trombone), Nate Cohn (drums), Colin Clive (guitar/vocals), Mark Petz (tenor saxophone) and Greg Witulski (bass). Formed in 1991, the band has regularly toured throughout the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. They have toured with the

Warped Tour The Warped Tour is a Concert tour, touring Rock music, rock music festival that toured the United States and Canada each summer from 1995 until 2019, and returned in 2025 for its 30th anniversary. By 2015, Warped was the largest traveling music ...

twice, and participated in the Ska Against Racism Tour. , the band has released eight studio albums and continues to tour actively. Lead Singer of Mustard Plug

Explaining the band's goal, Jim Hofer said, "We may have some messages in our music, but essentially we just do this because we love it and we want people to lighten up and have fun."

History

The band formed in 1991 after Colin and Dave both attended a Special Beat show. The band's original members were Dave Kirchgessner, Mike McKendrick, Colin Clive, and Anthony Vilchez. There was virtually no ska scene in

at the time, so Mustard Plug was able to develop a unique sound and draw a large following. Brandon Jenison stated in an interview that their band name originated when "a guy in the early stages of the band was making a sandwich and that crusty stuff that forms on the mustard bottle when you put it in the fridge without wiping it off first gave him an interesting idea for a name." In 2002, the band released '' Yellow #5'', and supported the album for years on tour. In 2005, they released the "greatest hits" album '' Masterpieces: 1991–2002''. Mustard Plug was on the label

Hopeless Records Hopeless Records is an American independent record label in Van Nuys, California. History Hopeless Records was founded in 1993 by Louis Posen. The label's artists are generally considered to fall under the genres of punk rock, pop punk, post-ha ...

for many years, but had a period of free agency until their signing with Bad Time Records. The band celebrated their 20th anniversary in 2011 with a national tour. In 2012, the band had an idea for a live album called ''Mustard Plug:Live!'', but canceled in favor of their 2014 album ''

Can't Contain It ''Can't Contain It'' is the seventh album by Mustard Plug. It was released in January 2014. Dave Kirchgessner stated that the album "is strong evolution in our sound and our art while still staying true to the goal of playing party music for p ...

'', the recording of which was funded via

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

. The album features cover art by

Jeff Rosenstock Jeffrey Ernest Rosenstock (born September 7, 1982) is an American musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter from Long Island, New York. He is known for his former bands Bomb the Music Industry! and The Arrogant Sons of Bitches, as wel ...

Bomb the Music Industry Bomb the Music Industry! (commonly abbreviated as Bomb or BtMI!) was an American punk rock musical collective from Baldwin, Nassau County, New York, United States, led by singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Jeff Rosenstock. T ...

. In May 2017, the band performed at Pouzza Fest in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. In 2019, they embarked on a tour of Japan. The band continues to perform around the United States on a regular basis. In 2021, long-time bassist Rick Johnson left the group."Pouzza Fest, 7th Edition - May 19 to 21, 2017"
''CJLO AM Radio'', by Robert Portnoff // May 29, 2017 On September 8, 2023, the band released ''Where Did All My Friends Go?'', their first studio album in 9 years, on DIY label Bad Time Records.

Line-up

* Dave Kirchgessner -

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

(1991–present) * Colin Clive -

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, vocals (1991–present) * Nathan Cohn -

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

(2005–present) * Brandon Jenison -

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

(1994–present) * Jim Hofer -

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

(1994–present) * Mark Petz -

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

(1993–1998; 2021–present) * Greg Witulski -

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

(2021–present)

Past members

* Rick Johnson -

(2004–2021) * Anthony Vilchez - bass (1991–1994) * Craig DeYoung - bass (1994–2001),

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ ( ...

(1992–1994) * Matt Van - bass (2001–2004) * Mike McKendrick - drums (1991–1993) * Michael Skowron - trombone (1993-1995),

(1993-1995) * Nick Varano - drums (1993–1999) * Brad Rozier - drums (1999–2004) * John Massel - drums (2004-2005) * Bob Engelsman - trombone (1992–1994) * Bleu VanDyke - trombone (1995–1998) * Kevin Dixon - tenor saxophone (1996–1998)

Timeline

Discography

Albums

*'' Skapocalypse Now!'' (1992, Dashiki Clout) *'' Big Daddy Multitude'' (1993,

Asbestos Records Asbestos Records is an American independent record label in Stratford, Connecticut, United States, founded in 1996. It was established as a business to release albums and compilations for local bands, and to book shows at the Newtown Teen Cente ...

) *''

Evildoers Beware! ''Evildoers Beware!'' is the third album by Mustard Plug. It was released in March 1997 by Hopeless Records on CD, LP, and cassette. The album sold 90,000 copies as of 2007. Music from the album was featured in the 2001 video game '' Sunny Garci ...

'' (1997,

) *'' Pray for Mojo'' (1999, Hopeless Records) *'' Yellow No. 5'' (2002, Hopeless Records) *'' Masterpieces: 1991-2002'' (2005, Hopeless Records) *'' In Black and White'' (2007, Hopeless Records) *''

'' (2014, No Idea Records) *''Where Did All My Friends Go?'' (2023, Bad Time Records)

EPs

*''Hey!'' (2024, Dashiki Clout Records)

Music videos

* ''Summertime'' (1992) * ''Mr. Smiley'' (1993) * ''Beer'' (song) (1995) * ''You'' (1997) * ''Everything Girl'' (1999) * ''Hit Me! Hit Me!'' (2007) * ''Over the Edge'' (2007) * ''Fall Apart'' (2023) * ''Vampire'' (2023) * ''Doin' What We Do'' (2023) * ''Where Did All My Friends Go?'' (2023) * ''Why Does it Have To Be So Hard?'' (2023)

Hopeless Records compilation appearances

* ''Lolita'' and ''Never Be'' appear on ''Hopelessly Devoted to You, Vol. II'' (1998) * ''Yesterday'' and ''Already Gone'' appear on ''Hopelessly Devoted to You, Vol. 3'' (2000) * ''Away from Here'' and ''Not Enough'' appear on ''Hopelessly Devoted to You, Vol. 4'' (2002) * ''You'' and ''Over the Edge'' appear on ''Hopelessly Devoted to You, Vol. 6'' (2006)

References

"Mustard Plug Interview: Talks about the New Album, Breakfast Cereals, and more!"
"The Battle Of The Midwestern Housewives", July 6, 2007. Accessed July 7, 2007
"Interview with Rick Johnson!"
"Michigan Ska Blog", December 12, 2008. Accessed September 9, 2009

External links

Official website
* Mustard Plug's Allmusic entrybr>Interview from 2002Interview from 2005Interview from 2007
a
ReadJunk.comMustard Plug collection
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

's live music archive {{Authority control American ska punk musical groups Third-wave ska groups Musical groups established in 1991 1991 establishments in Michigan Hopeless Records artists Musical groups from Grand Rapids, Michigan