Mudvayne

Mudvayne came together as a heavy metal quartet in Peoria, Illinois, during 1996, when M. McDonough took the name sPaG on drums, G. Tribbett handled guitar as Gurrg, and Chad Gray sang under the alias Kud. Their original bassist departed after two years and was succeeded by Ryan Martinie, who performed as Ryknow. Throughout their early growth the musicians adopted the custom of wearing outlandish makeup. After issuing their debut album Kill, I Oughta independently, they landed a contract with Epic Records and completed their first major-label effort, L.D. 50, which reached stores in August 2000 immediately following their initial national tour supporting Slipknot. The album attained gold certification and earned Mudvayne the first-ever MTV2 Video Award at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards. The group maintained an active touring schedule while re-releasing the self-issued EP Kill, I Oughta in November 2001 under the new title The Beginning of All Things to End. One year afterward they delivered their proper sophomore album, The End of All Things to Come, which was tracked at Minneapolis’ Pachyderm Studios with Tool producer David Bottrill. The project introduced fresh extraterrestrial personas, leading the members to adopt the updated names Chüd for Kud, Güüg for Gurrg, R-üD for Ryknow, and Spüg for sPaG. After completing a European tour they returned to the United States in July to join the Summer Sanitarium amphitheater package alongside Metallica and Linkin Park. Their third Epic release, Lost and Found, arrived in 2005. In September 2007 Mudvayne invited fans to vote on the band’s website for the song list of the compilation By the People, for the People, issued the following month. The entirely new full-length New Game surfaced in November 2008, and a self-titled album followed six months later.