Everything about Mucky Pup totally explained
Mucky Pup began as an
American hardcore band formed in
Bergenfield,
New Jersey in 1985, when brothers John (drums) and Chris (vocals) Milnes joined up with Dan Nastasi (guitar) and former Hades member, Scott LePage (bass). The band went through various incarnations and several musical style changes while gaining minor success in both the USA and Europe. Arguably, their breakthrough moment occurred when
Berke Breathed picked their songwriting contest entry for release with a 1987
Bloom County comic strip compilation. However, their European success, based on strong tours and charting for the 1989
A Boy in a Man's World album, surpassed all recognition achieved in their home country.
History
Early years
The band recorded two demos,
Live And Mucky and
Greatest Hits, which sold a combined amount of over 1200 copies. The band would also play "
battle of the bands" competitions in and around
New Jersey. It was during one such event in 1986, while playing with the band
Trixter at the
Paramus, New Jersey roller rink, that a representative from Torrid Records first saw the band. The band was offered a record contract and several weeks later, they signed their first record deal with the independent label.
Torrid Records
Signing with Torrid brought a distribution deal in Europe with
Roadrunner Records' sister label, Roadracer Records. The band's first album,
Can't You Take a Joke?, was released in 1987. Around the same time, the band also won a song writing contest for the
Bloom County comic strip. Entrants to the contest were to come up with a song for the fictional band
Billy and the Boingers. Their winning song, "U-Stink-But-I-♥-U," was included as a
flexi-disc in the
Bloom County book,
Billy and the Boingers Bootleg (ISBN 0-316-10729-8).
In 1989, the band released their second album,
A Boy In A Man's World. The album featured a re-recorded version of "U-Stink-But-I-♥-U", for which the band shot their first music video.
MTV played the video two times.
A Boy In A Man's World also featured cover art by future
DC and
Marvel comic book artist Nelson DeCastro, who had previously done t-shirt art for the band as well.
Before the recording of
A Boy In A Man's World, LePage, who had never been considered an official member of the band, left due to touring conflicts. Dave Neabore was brought in to replace him on bass. Once the album was released, Nastasi left the band, and helped form the band Non-Fiction with former members of Hades. Nastasi stayed with Non-Fiction for a short time, before joining
Murphy's Law. When Nastasi left Mucky Pup, he was replaced by band friend Sean Kilkenny. The band began touring Europe after this album's release. Although Mucky Pup never had a hit in the U.S., their European distribution deal, combined with this tour, helped the band attain success in Europe.
By the time their third album,
Now, was released in 1990, Neabore and Kilkenny had left to form the band
Dog Eat Dog and Nastasi had returned while simultaneously joining Dog Eat Dog as well.
Now featured new bass player Marc DeBacker in the lineup, and also featured guest appearances by
Evan Seinfeld and Billy Graziadei of the band
Biohazard, whom Mucky Pup had befriended and regularly used as an opening act. In the past, various clubs had refused to let Biohazard play, thinking that their performances would lead to violence, but Mucky Pup would sneak the band on stage for a few songs before their own set. Ultimately, Biohazard and their singer/bass player
Evan Seinfeld gained larger mainstream attention than Mucky Pup were able to attain. The band shot a second video, "Hippies Hate Water," which MTV never played.
The band started playing shows with bands such as
Primus,
GWAR,
Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Murphy's Law,
Bad Brains,
24-7 Spyz, and
Scatterbrain. While Nastasi had returned to record
Now, he no longer toured with the band, as he was playing live shows with Dog Eat Dog at the same time Mucky Pup was touring. As a result, new guitarist Splatter performed live with them. Splatter only played for a brief time with the band, before being replaced by Terry, who would remain their live guitarist until 1992.
After the release of
Now, Mucky Pup ended their association with Torrid and
Roadrunner Records.
Century Media Records
In 1991, the band signed with
Century Media Records and released
Act Of Faith. Once more, the lineup shuffled with DeBacker being replaced by Junior (real name Chris LaPlante) and the addition of Kevin Powers as a keyboard player. Powers had previously played in smaller local bands such as Articulate Violence. Videos were shot for the songs "Freakin' at the Peepshow" and "Mr. Hand", which only received airplay in Europe. Once again, the band toured Europe, appearing many times with
Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, with whom the band became good friends.
Shortly after the recording of the album, Nastasi stepped down from both Mucky Pup and Dog Eat Dog to focus on running a family business and to start a family of his own. It wasn't long though before he re-joined the original lineup of Non-Fiction, who now called themselves #9. The project broke up when Nastasi accepted a solo record deal with SPV Records and formed the band
Nastasee, which featured members of both Mucky Pup and Dog Eat Dog. Nastasee recorded two albums and toured Europe numerous times.
Trim The Fat and
Ule Tide were only intended for European release, but before
Ule Tide could be released, Nastasee was dropped from the label and the album was never officially released outside of promotional and mail order copies. As a result, Nastasi disbanded the band.
1992 saw the band take a turn away from humorous pop songs to focus on more aggressive, emotional and angry songs with their fifth release,
Lemonade. The album brought another lineup change, as John Milnes moved to guitar and Kevin Powers took the drummer's position. It also saw the return of Marc DeBacker on bass. DeBacker had taken Nastasi's guitar spot on Dog Eat Dog's second full length album,
Play Games.
After releasing two albums in two years with
Century Media Records, Mucky Pup ended their association with the label.
Mucky Records / SPV Music
In 1994, the band released the album
Alive & Well under their own imprint, Mucky Records, through SPV Music. The album was a collection of live tracks and studio cover songs. The live songs were recorded during their 1993 tour of Europe. New additions to the lineup were Eric Van Steenburg and Glen Cummings, both on guitar. Cummings had previously been a member of both
Ludichrist and
Scatterbrain and would tour Europe with Mucky Pup, on two occasions, as a part time member of the band.
Alive & Well was the only Mucky Pup album available exclusively in Europe.
The band's final album,
Five Guys In A Really Hot Garage, was released in 1996. The final lineup saw John Milnes return to the drums, and also featured the additions of Hinge (real name Jack Pitzer) on guitar and Joe Mama on bass. Marc DeBacker had left the band a second time to return to Belgium and form the band 10,000 Woman Man. Bass player Bill Bergmann appeared on two of the songs and was pictured on the album cover. He would remain the bass player for the duration of the band's existence. Several months after the release of
Five Guys In A Really Hot Garage, the band made the decision to break up.
Post-Mucky Pup
After the final album, the band members continued to collaborate on different bands and projects. Members of the final lineup became tour managers and road crew members for artists such as
The Bloodhound Gang, the
Genitorturers,
Monster Magnet,
Liz Phair and
Tracy Bonham.
In 1998, Chris and John Milnes formed a band named
Bully
with Bill Bergmann & Kevin Powers. It was an attempt to continue recording together without the Mucky Pup name, which they felt had run its course. The band recorded many songs and demos, but never actually released any albums.
Also in 1998, Dan Nastasi & John Milnes joined forces with former Mucky Pup and Dog Eat Dog bandmates Dave Neabore & Sean Kilkenny to become All Boro Kings. 2002 saw All Boro Kings release their only album,
Just For The Fun Of It, in Europe. The band would also appear on several
compilation albums. The band played most of their shows in and around New Jersey before embarking on one European tour with
Biohazard,
Agnostic Front,
Hatebreed, Discipline, Death Threat and Born From Pain, as part of the EastPak sponsored Resistance Tour. In 2004, All Boro Kings quietly disbanded.
In 2000, Chris and John Milnes would once again join Dan Nastasi and Bill Bergmann to form
The Hasbeens, a
cover band that would perform popular songs of the 80's & 90's, as well as the occasional Mucky Pup song. The band played bars and small clubs in the
Bergen County, New Jersey area for a year or so.
Dog Eat Dog continues to record and tour Europe, but of the three former Mucky Pup members who helped found the band, only Dave Neabore remains. They released their fourth full length album, in Europe, on June 23, 2006.
Chris and John Milnes now co-own the website development company
True9. Hinge also does work for the company, which has been instrumental in the development and maintenance of websites for actor
Joe Pantoliano and
boy band 'N Sync.
Since their breakup in 1996, Mucky Pup has played the occasional reunion show, each time featuring a different incarnation or combination of the lineup. Most notable are shows that occurred in 1999, 2000 & 2002. Despite no longer being a full-time band, they continue to maintain an archive website, where visitors can contact some of the band members.
Band members
Original lineup
- Chris Milnes (vocals) (all releases)
- John Milnes (drums, guitars) (all releases)
- Dan Nastasi (guitar) (Can't You Take A Joke? - Act Of Faith)
- Scott LePage (bass) (Can't You Take A Joke) (not considered a full-time member)
Later members
- Bill Bergmann (bass) (live after Five Guys In A Really Hot Garage)
- Kevin Powers (keyboards) (Act Of Faith - Five Guys In A Really Hot Garage)
- Jack "Hinge" Pitzer (guitars) (Five Guys In A Really Hot Garage)
- Dave Neabore (bass) (A Boy In A Man's World)
- Sean Kilkenny (guitar) (live during the A Boy In A Man's World tour)
- Marc DeBacker (bass) (Now and Lemonade)
- Junior (real name Chris LaPlante) (bass) (Act Of Faith)
- Eric Van Steenburg (guitar) (Alive & Well)
- Joe Mama (bass) (Five Guys In A Really Hot Garage)
- Splatter (guitar) (live during the Now tour)
- Terry (guitar) (live during the Now and Act Of Faith tours)
- Glenn Cummings (guitar) (Alive & Well) (unofficial touring member only)
Final lineup
- Chris Milnes (vocals) (all releases)
- John Milnes (drums, guitars) (all releases)
- Jack "Hinge" Pitzer (guitars) (Five Guys In A Really Hot Garage)
- Bill Bergmann (bass) (live after Five Guys In A Really Hot Garage)
- Kevin Powers (keyboards) (Act Of Faith - Five Guys In A Really Hot Garage)
Discography
- Live And Mucky (cassette only demo)
- Greatest Hits (cassette only demo)
Can't You Take A Joke? (1987)
A Boy In A Man's World (1989)
Now (1991)
Act Of Faith CD/
CS (1992,
Century Media Records 7731)
Lemonade (1993, Century Media)
Alive & Well (1994) (Europe only release)
Short Attention Span 7" single (1996, Crustacean Records)
Five Guys In A Really Hot Garage (1996)
Compilation appearances
Hard Hitters CD (1998, Disky Records 88786)
- Track 11 - "M.B. (Ballad of the Moron Brothers)"
Guitar Club Classics CD (2000, SPV Records 29432)
- Track 31 - "Hippies Hate Water"
Related bands (and shared members)
#9 (Dan Nastasi)
10,000 Woman Man (Marc DeBacker)
All Boro Kings (Dave Neabore, John Milnes, Dan Nastasi and Sean Kilkenny)
Articulate Violence (Kevin Powers)
Bully (Chris Milnes, John Milnes, Bill Bergmann and Kevin Powers)
Candypants (Bill Bergmann and Kevin Powers)
Dog Eat Dog (Dan Nastasi, Sean Kilkenny, Dave Neabore and Marc DeBacker)
The Hasbeens (Chris Milnes, John Milnes, Bill Bergmann and Dan Nastasi)
LowBuz (Dave Neabore)
Ludichrist (Glen Cummings)
Murphy's Law (Dan Nastasi and Sean Kilkenny)
Nastasee (Dan Nastasi, John Milnes, Bill Bergmann and Sean Kilkenny)
Non-Fiction (Dan Nastasi)
Scatterbrain (Glen Cummings)Further Information
Get more info on 'Mucky Pup'.
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