Mindless Self Indulgence (often referred to as MSI) is an American
electropunk
Electronic rock is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music, featuring instruments typically found within both genres. It originates from the late 1960s, when rock bands began incorporating electronic instrum ...
band formed in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
in 1997. Their music has a mixed style which includes
punk rock,
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 mainstream or commerci ...
,
electronica,
techno
Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...
,
industrial
Industrial may refer to:
Industry
* Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry
* Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems
* Industrial city, a city dominate ...
,
hip hop, and
breakbeat hardcore
Breakbeat hardcore (also referred to as hardcore rave or oldskool hardcore) is a music genre of the very early 1990s that spawned from the UK rave scene. It combines four-on-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats usually sampled from hip hop. In ad ...
.
History
Between 1987 and 1996,
Jimmy Urine
James Euringer (born September 7, 1969), known professionally as Jimmy Urine, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead singer and programmer of electropunk band Mindless Self Indulgence.
Early life
James Eurin ...
recorded about 35 songs which varied in musical style, usually settling in an industrial/electronic punk style. These songs were recorded with himself and his brother, Markus Euringer in New York City using rudimentary equipment. Urine and his brother released an album titled ''Mindless Self-Indulgence'', featuring Steve, Righ?, on 'Bed of Roses', which featured songs performed in an industrial style akin to
Nine Inch Nails.
Their first live concert was on September 7th, 1995 during the self-titled album era.
In 1997, Urine recorded a cover of
Method Man
Clifford Smith, Jr. (born March 2, 1971), better known by his stage name Method Man, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is known as a member of the East Coast hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He is also half of ...
's "Bring the Pain" that was made by merging six different styles of the same cover into one song. This became the basis for the Mindless Self Indulgence sound. Shortly after, the current band was formed when Jimmy Urine was joined by Steve, Righ? on guitar, Urine's brother Markus Euringer on second guitar (replaced by bassist Vanessa Y.T., who was subsequently replaced by bassist Lyn-Z), and Urine's cousin Kitty on drums. They have released six albums, four EPs, eight remix albums, one live album, one compilation album, and one live DVD. Rather than signing traditional record contracts, the band has licensed most of their albums to record labels, retaining ownership of the music.
In summer of 2007, the band toured as part of the Revolution Stage of
Projekt Revolution, a music festival hosted by
Linkin Park. In January 2009, the band headlined the
Kerrang!
''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...
Relentless Energy Drink tour.
In December 2010, they released a comic titled ''Adventures Into Mindless Self Indulgence'' about various tour stories and significant moments of the band's career. The band released a remastered CD/DVD version of their first full-length album, ''
Tight
Tight may refer to:
Clothing
* Skin-tight garment, a garment that is held to the skin by elastic tension
* Tights, a type of leg coverings fabric extending from the waist to feet
* Tightlacing, the practice of wearing a tightly-laced corset
...
'', in 2011, titled ''Tighter''. It included bonus tracks and recordings from their early days. On October 25, 2012, the band announced their fifth album via a
Kickstarter campaign. ''
'' was released in May 2013, following with the release of singles "It Gets Worse" in December and "Fuck Machine" in January 2014. Later in January 2014, the band announced that they would be taking a hiatus.
On September 18, 2015, Mindless Self Indulgence released ''Pink'', a collection of 19 songs recorded between 1990 and 1997 by Urine. The album includes cut-down and remastered versions of songs from the self-titled album, an audio diary recorded by Urine from July 1992, and covers of
Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus" and
Duran Duran's "Girls on Film".
Sexual assault allegations against Jimmy Urine
On August 9, 2021, a lawsuit was filed against James Euringer (Jimmy Urine) in New York Supreme Court with the charge of sexual battery of a minor. In the suit, the accuser, whose identity was left anonymous because she was a minor at the time, claims that she had a sexual relationship with Euringer for over two years — from January 1997 to June 1999 — starting when she was 15 years old and Euringer was 27. Euringer, the suit alleges, "groomed and manipulated
erinto believing that his sexually assaultive behavior was not criminal and that by engaging in sexual activity with him Plaintiff was actually helping to protect younger girls from sexual assaults." Euringer knew the accuser was a minor, according to the suit, having at one point written her a letter wishing her a happy fifteenth birthday. "During this time, Euringer acted as and treated Plaintiff as though she was his girlfriend and the two were in a consensual relationship," says the suit.
According to the lawsuit, it is alleged that throughout the relationship, Euringer took pictures of the plaintiff naked and requested that she "act like a small child, suck her thumb, drool, and pee in her pants," during sexual acts. Euringer also allegedly bought the accuser a fake ID so she could go to concerts with him and drink alcohol. Euringer allegedly tried to hide their relationship by telling her not to act affectionately with him while in public. The lawsuit claims that the woman has suffered emotional distress since the relationship started.
Members
Current members
*
Jimmy Urine
James Euringer (born September 7, 1969), known professionally as Jimmy Urine, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead singer and programmer of electropunk band Mindless Self Indulgence.
Early life
James Eurin ...
– lead vocals, synthesizer, programming (1995–present)
* Steve, Righ? – guitars, backing vocals (1995–present)
* Kitty – drums (1996–present)
* Lyn-Z – bass (2001–present)
Former members
* Markus Euringer – guitars, bass (1995–1998)
* Vanessa Y.T. – bass (1998–2001)
Discography
Studio albums
Live albums
Compilations
Demo albums
*''Crappy Little Demo'' (1997)
*''Thank God Demo'' (2001)
EPs
Singles
The Left Rights
Side project by Jimmy Urine and Steve, Righ?
''
The Left Rights''
* Released: September 24, 2002
* Label: Uppity Cracker
''Bad Choices Made Easy''
* Released: November 9, 2010
* Label: Metropolis
Videography
Video albums
References
External links
*
*
*
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{{authority control
Musical groups established in 1997
American industrial rock musical groups
American electronic rock musical groups
Digital hardcore music groups
Musical quartets
Alternative rock groups from New York (state)
Electropunk musical groups
Metropolis Records artists
The End Records artists
Elektra Records artists
Punk rock groups from New York (state)