Malfunkshun is an

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band formed in 1980 by Andrew Wood and his brother Kevin Wood. The band formed around the same time as other

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

bands such as

The U-Men The U-Men was an American rock band, formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1980 and active until 1989. They toured extensively across the United States. Their musically "dirty" sound and off-the-wall sense of humor were a forerunner for the later gr ...

(1980),

Melvins Melvins (sometimes The Melvins) are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Initially, they performed as a trio but later also sometimes appeare ...

(1983),

Green River Green River may refer to: Rivers Canada * Green River (British Columbia), a tributary of the Lillooet River *Green River, a tributary of the Saint John River, also known by its French name of Rivière Verte *Green River (Ontario), a tributary of ...

(1984),

Soundgarden Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil (both of whom are the only members to appear in every incarnation of the band), and bassist Hiro Yamamo ...

(1984) and

Skin Yard Skin Yard was an American grunge band from Seattle, Washington, who were active from 1985 to 1992. The group never gained a mainstream audience, but were an influence on several of their grunge contemporaries, including Soundgarden, Screaming ...

(1985).

History

Bainbridge Island, Washington brothers Andrew and Kevin Wood, along with Dave Hunt and Dave Rees formed Malfunkshun, originally as a four-piece. David Hunt (1964-2009) and Dave Rees played with Malfunkshun for only one show, the former on drums and the latter on bass. After Rees and Hunt left, Andy took over bass and drummer

Regan Hagar Regan Hagar is an American musician. Primarily a drummer, he also plays keyboard and guitar on occasion. He was the drummer in Malfunkshun from 1980 to 1988, featuring Andrew Wood of Mother Love Bone on vocals and Kevin Wood on guitar. He had p ...

was recruited from Maggot Brains, establishing the band's definitive

power trio A power trio is a rock and roll band format having a lineup of electric guitar, bass guitar and drum kit (drums and cymbals), leaving out a second rhythm guitar or keyboard instrument that are often used in other rock music bands that are quart ...

lineup. During performances, each band member had an

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...

. Andrew's was L'Andrew the Love Child, Kevin was Kevinstein and Regan became Thundarr. Kevin's stage persona wasn't as carved-in-stone as Andy's or Regan's, referred to sometimes as "the Axe-Handler" and even an early Malfunkshun poster hand-drawn by Andy Wood names him "Led Springsteen". Using makeup and flashy glam-style clothing in a nod to

KISS A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

, and other favorite bands, Malfunkshun was known for their dynamic live shows. As L'andrew, Andy was unpredictable and would wander the crowd during shows with his

wireless Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium for the transfer. The most ...

bass, and even stop shows to eat

cereal A cereal is any Poaceae, grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, Cereal germ, germ, and bran. Cereal Grain, grain crops are grown in greater quantit ...

, and throw the rest out to the crowd. Andrew became increasingly involved with drugs and in 1985 he checked into

drug rehab Drug rehabilitation is the process of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and street drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin or amphetamines. The general intent i ...

, during which time Malfunkshun was put on hold. When Andy returned from rehab, the band started up again and contributed "With Yo' Heart (Not Yo' Hands)" and "Stars-n-You" to the '' Deep Six'' compilation by

C/Z Records C/Z Records was a Seattle-based punk rock record label that was established in early 1985 by Chris Hanzsek and Tina Casale. It started with the release of '' Deep Six'' which collected the earliest recordings of what later came to be known as ...

. Notwithstanding their densely distorted sound,

Sub Pop Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often ...

never took much interest in the band. Although they were beginning to gain popularity they rarely headlined their own shows. Dissolving, but never formally disbanding, Malfunkshun took a back seat to the jam sessions Andy Wood and Regan Hagar had begun with

members

Stone Gossard Stone Carpenter Gossard (born July 20, 1966) is an American musician who serves as a guitarist and songwriter for the rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Jeff Ament, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding members of the band. ...

and

Jeff Ament Jeffrey Allen Ament (born March 10, 1963) is an American musician and songwriter who is best known as the bassist of the American rock band Pearl Jam, which he co-founded alongside Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder. Prior to his wo ...

. These sessions were the beginnings of Lords Of The Wasteland, which would become

Mother Love Bone Mother Love Bone was an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1988. The band was active from 1988 to 1990. Frontman Andrew Wood's personality and lyrics helped to catapult the group to the top of the burgeoning late 1980s/ea ...

after the addition of

Greg Gilmore Greg Gilmore (born January 3, 1962) is a French born-American musician in Seattle, Washington, and co-founder of the recording label First World Music. Biography Although born in France, Gilmore grew up in the Seattle area. After playing in 10 ...

and

Bruce Fairweather Bruce Ian Fairweather (born December 12, 1960) is an American guitarist/bassist based in Seattle. Biography Fairweather grew up in Hawaii and moved to Montana for college where he met Jeff Ament skateboarding the brick banks at the University of ...

. Kevin formed Fire Ants in 1992 with his brother Brian, bassist Dan McDonald, and former

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

drummer

Chad Channing Chad Channing (born January 31, 1967) is an American musician who is best known as the drummer of the grunge band Nirvana from 1988 until 1990, during which time they recorded and released their debut album ''Bleach''; he also appears on "Polly ...

. Later Brian joined

Ben Shepherd Hunter Benedict Shepherd (born September 20, 1968) is an American musician, best known as the bassist of the rock band Soundgarden from 1990 to 2019. Shepherd has won two Grammy Awards as a member of Soundgarden. Early life Shepherd was bo ...

, to form

Hater Hater or Haters may refer to: Books * ''Hater'', 2006 novel by David Moody * ''Haters'' (novel), a 2006 novel by author Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez Film and TV * '' H8R'', a 2011 American reality television show on the CW * ''The Haters'' (2015 fi ...

. The brothers later formed

Devilhead Devilhead were an American alternative rock group formed by brothers Kevin Wood (guitar) and Brian Wood (vocals), who were both elder brothers of the late Andrew Wood, the singer of Malfunkshun (which also featured Kevin) and Mother Love Bone, ...

. Hagar moved on, playing in

Satchel A satchel is a bag with a strap, traditionally used for carrying books.Satchel
The Cambridge Dictionary. ...

, with Shawn Smith, and in

Brad Brad may refer to: * Brad (given name), a masculine given name Places * Brad, Hunedoara, a city in Hunedoara County, Romania * Brad, a village in Berești-Bistrița Commune, Bacău County, Romania * Brad, a village in Filipeni, Bacău, Romania * ...

, also with Shawn Smith and with

. A grouping of Malfunkshun demos and recordings from 1986 to 1987 were released on

and

's Loosegroove label in 1995, as '' Return to Olympus'', which was the largest major label release of the band's material. In 2005, a documentary entitled '' Malfunkshun: The Andrew Wood Story'', debuted at the

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees. The SIFF runs for more th ...

. The documentary is available on DVD in a boxed set with the reissued CD entitled '' Return to Olympus'' and the never before released Andrew Wood CD entitled ''Melodies and Dreams''. This boxed set is a digipak set of 3 discs (1 DVD/2 CD's) entitled '' Malfunkshun: The Andrew Wood Story'' released on July 19, 2011 by Universal Music Enterprises. On October 24, 2006, surviving Malfunkshun members Kevin Wood and Regan Hagar, with vocalist Shawn Smith and bassist Cory Kane, began writing new music using lyrics written by Andrew Wood before his death, for the release of a new album, after which they planned to go on tour. The band had originally intended to use the name Malfunkshun, soon changing it to Subfunkshun or The Subfunkshun Project, and eventually settling on From The North (Von Nord). On February 19, 2011, Malfunkshun announced on their website that Jeff Loftis would be taking over vocals for both Malfunkshun and From the North. On March 14, 2011, Kevin and Jeff recorded the song "Jezebel Woman" and on March 19, 2011 recorded "Until the Ocean". They have posted both songs on YouTube under the name "Malfunkshun 2011". On May 15, 2011, Malfunkshun posted on their website, that Regan officially stepped down as the drummer, and on May 24, 2011, Malfunkshun posted on their website naming Mike Stone as Regan's replacement on drums, however Miles Freeborn substituted for Stone in March 2012 and has remained the band's drummer ever since. On May 9, 2012, Malfunkshun announced on their website that Rob Day had joined the band in place of Guy McIntosh, who had briefly replaced Cory Kane on bass for the band's autumn/winter tour dates.

Members

;Current members *Kevin Wood – guitar (1980-1988, 2006–present) *Jeff Stark – lead vocals (2015–present) *Bradley BT Leach – drums (2015–present) *Paul Lamb – bass guitar, Moog (2016–present) ;Former members * Andrew Wood – lead vocals, bass guitar (1980–1988; died 1990) *Dave Rees – bass guitar (1980) *Dave Hunt – drums (1980; died 2009) *

– drums (1980–1988, 2006–2011) *Thorsten Rock – guitar (2006–2008) *Cory Kane – bass guitar (2006–2011) * Shawn Smith – lead vocals (2006–2011; died 2019) *Mike Stone – drums (2011–2012) *Guy McIntosh – bass guitar (2011–2012) *Jeff Loftis - lead vocals (2011–2013) *Rob Day – bass guitar (2012–2016) *Miles Freeborn – drums (2012–2015) *Tony West – lead vocals (2014–2015)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:110 bottom:90 top:5 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/2021 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:3 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1980 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1981 Colors = id:vocals value:red Legend:Vocals id:lguitar value:teal legend:Lead_guitar id:rguitar value:brightgreen legend:Rhythm_guitar id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:lines value:black legend:Studio_album id:bars value:gray(0.95) BackgroundColors = bars:bars LineData = at:01/07/1995 color:black layer:back BarData = bar:Andrew text:Andrew Wood bar:Shawn text:Shawn Smith bar:Jeff text:Jeff Loftis bar:Tony text:Tony West bar:Jeff2 text:Jeff Stark bar:Kevin text:Kevin Wood bar:Thorsten text:Thorsten Rock bar:Dave1 text:Dave Rees bar:Cory text:Cory Kane bar:Guy text:Guy McIntosh bar:Rob text:Rob Day bar:Paul text:Paul Lamb bar:Dave2 text:Dave Hunt bar:Regan text:Regan Hagar bar:Mike text:Mike Stone bar:Miles text:Miles Freeborn PlotData = width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(11,-4) bar:Andrew from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1988 color:Vocals bar:Andrew from:01/01/1981 till:01/01/1988 color:Bass width:3 bar:Shawn from:24/10/2006 till:19/02/2011 color:Vocals bar:Jeff from:19/02/2011 till:01/01/2016 color:Vocals bar:Tony from:21/05/2014 till:01/01/2015 color:Vocals bar:Jeff2 from:01/01/2016 till:end color:Vocals bar:Kevin from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1988 color:LGuitar bar:Kevin from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1988 color:RGuitar width:3 bar:Kevin from:24/10/2006 till:end color:LGuitar bar:Kevin from:01/07/2008 till:end color:RGuitar width:3 bar:Thorsten from:24/10/2006 till:01/07/2008 color:RGuitar bar:Dave1 from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1981 color:Bass bar:Cory from:24/10/2006 till:21/09/2011 color:Bass bar:Guy from:21/09/2011 till:09/05/2012 color:Bass bar:Rob from:09/05/2012 till:01/01/2016 color:Bass bar:Paul from:01/01/2016 till:end color:Bass bar:Dave2 from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1981 color:Drums bar:Regan from:01/01/1981 till:01/01/1988 color:Drums bar:Regan from:24/10/2006 till:15/05/2011 color:Drums bar:Mike from:15/05/2011 till:17/03/2012 color:Drums bar:Miles from:17/03/2012 till:01/01/2015 color:Drums

Discography

Albums

*'' Return to Olympus'' (Loosegroove Records, 1995).

EPs

*''Glow'' (Wammybox Records, 2021).

Compilation contributions

*"With Yo' Heart (Not Yo' Hands)" and "Stars-N-You" on '' Deep Six'' (

, 1986). *"My Only Fan" and "Shotgun Wedding" on ''Another Pyrrhic Victory: The Only Compilation Of Dead Seattle God Bands'' (

, 1989).

References

Interviews

* Interview wit
Kevin Wood
o
Full in Bloom Music, Voted Colorado's Best, Interviews, Bios, Real Estate
* Interviews from the movi
"Malfunkshun: The Andrew Wood Story"

External links

Malfunkshun's Official Website
* Malfunkshun at AllMusic.com {{Authority control C/Z Records artists Musical groups from Washington (state) Grunge musical groups Alternative rock groups from Washington (state) Musical groups established in 1980 Musical groups disestablished in 1988 Musical groups reestablished in 2006 Sibling musical groups