M.I.R.V. was a band based in the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, Bay Area. The band was founded in 1993. Its musical style includes elements of

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

, heavy metal,

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

, experimental,

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...

, and

polka Polka is a dance and genre of dance music originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though associated with Czech culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the Americas. History Etymology The term ...

History

Founded in 1993, M.I.R.V initially consisted of the band's namesake guitarist and singer, Marc "Mirv" Haggard, bassist Craig McFarland, and drummer David Kobza. Former Fungo Mungo drummer Jeff Gomes replaced Kobza in 1994. The band recorded ''Feeding Time on Monkey Island'' and ''Dancing Naked in a Mine Field''. Guitarist Bryan Kehoe contributed to vocals and keyboards. Kehoe left the band in 2001 to form The Kehoe Nation, and was replaced by Spent Poets singer Adam Gates, aka "The Filthy Ape". The band played shows as a 5-piece band with both Kehoe and Gates. Gates formed Madame Blavatsky Overdrive with McFarland and Gomes and recorded the Debut album ''Idiot Jones will Have His Day'' with engineer Craig McFarland. Kehoe-era M.I.R.V. shows often featured songs punctuated by interludes of lunacy, usually featuring a verbal interchange between Haggard and Kehoe. Often Haggard would announce a contest for the women in the audience, after which the winner would be cajoled into grabbing Kehoe's groin, causing him to sing in a high-pitched operatic voice. Kehoe would often sing the Neapolitan standard "'

O Sole Mio "O sole mio" () is a well-known Neapolitan song written in 1898. Its Neapolitan language lyrics were written by Giovanni Capurro and the music was composed by Eduardo di Capua (1865–1917) and Alfredo Mazzucchi (1878–1972).. The title transla ...

" following the antics. M.I.R.V. shows would regularly feature Haggard playing an electric saw during portions of the concerts. M.I.R.V.'s first album, ''Cosmodrome'', was written and recorded by Haggard and featured a character named Granddad, later revealed to be Primus' Les Claypool, who also put the record out on his own

Prawn Song Prawn Song Records is an independent record label owned by Les Claypool of Primus. The name and logo are a parody of Led Zeppelin's label Swan Song Records. Prawn Song is based in San Francisco, California, and distribution is handled by RED Dis ...

label. The album features songs interspersed with skits and is generally regarded as a concept album. The next two records were released on Poison Eye, M.I.R.V.'s own label, and primarily feature music. These latter two albums saw the band form into a four-piece touring outfit, as opposed to a studio project. The band toured worldwide alongside acts like Jerry Cantrell, Fishbone, Primus and played with groups like

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, Nielsen and ...

, Run DMC,

Papa Roach Papa Roach is an American rock band from Vacaville, California, formed in 1993. The original lineup consisted of lead vocalist Jacoby Shaddix, guitarist Jerry Horton, drummer Dave Buckner, bassist Will James, and trombonist Ben Luther. After ...

and Nuclear Rabbit. In 2014, both Mirv and guitarist Bryan Kehoe played several gigs with Les Claypool across the U.S.

Cultural references

The band's song, "Monkey Boy", was featured in a commercial for the game ''

Fighting Vipers ''Fighting Vipers'' (ファイティングバイパーズ'' Faitingu Vaipāzu'') is a 3D fighting video game developed by Sega AM2. It uses the same game engine as AM2's ''Virtua Fighter 2'' but features enclosed arenas and an armor mechanic, and ...

'' on the Sega Saturn. M.I.R.V.'s song "Shave My Face Off" was featured in the sixth season of MTV's ''

Beavis & Butt-head ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' is an American Adult animation, adult animated series created by Mike Judge. The series follows Beavis and Butt-Head, both voiced by Judge, a pair of teenage slackers characterized by their apathy, lack of intelligence, ...

'' on March 7, 1996, after changing the channel from another that showed

Hum Hum may refer to: Science * Hum (sound), a sound produced with closed lips, or by insects, or other periodic motion * Mains hum, an electric or electromagnetic phenomenon * The Hum, an acoustic phenomenon * Venous hum, a physiological sensation ...

's song " Stars".TV.com: Beavis & Butthead; Season 6, Episode 20 (Buy Beer)
March 7, 1996. Neither Beavis or Butthead showed approval or disapproval of the video, but their discussion mainly centered on the protagonist's ownership of a television, a recliner and some

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

Discography

*''Cosmodrome'' (1993) *''Feeding Time on Monkey Island'' (1997) *''Dancing Naked in a Minefield'' (1999) (artwork by

Zoltron Zoltron is an American rock music poster designer, street artist, and creative director. His posters are included in the collections of Victoria Albert Museum, London, de Young fine arts museum, San Francisco, Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art ...

) *''Million Pound Bomb'' (Recorded in 2006, unreleased)

References

External links

Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:M.I.R.V. Experimental musical groups Funk rock musical groups