The Mummies
| The Mummies | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | San Bruno, California, United States |
| Genres | Garage punk |
| Years active | 1988–1992, 1993, 1994, intermittently thereafter |
| Labels | |
| Past members | Trent Ruane Maz Kattuah Larry Winther Russell Quan |
The Mummies were an American garage punk band formed in San Bruno, California, in 1988. Exhibiting a defiantly raw and lo-fi sound, dubbed "budget rock", the Mummies' rebellious attitude and distinctive performance costumes exerted a major influence on garage punk and garage rock revival acts later in the decade, as well as in the 1990s. Their recorded output was intentionally completed with poor, cheap equipment, including their first and only studio album Never Been Caught, which was released after the group's initial break-up. Since then, the Mummies have engaged in several positively-received reunion concerts and tours.
Formed in late 1988 by Maz Kattuah (bass guitar) and Larry Winther (lead guitar), the band's lineup also included Trent Ruane (organ, saxophone) and Russell Quan (drums). The group became a key musical force in San Francisco's emerging garage punk scene alongside the Phantom Surfers and the Untamed Youth, although the band set out to be more crude than their contemporaries. The group jokingly adopted the moniker the Mummies and immediately became known for their style of dress, clothing themselves in tattered rags like actual mummies. This homemade choice of attire was influential on the local garage punk scene, with newer groups also dressing in similarly gimmicky clothing.
Influenced by R&B and 1960s garage rock bands such as the Sonics and the Fabulous Wailers, the Mummies, according to promoter and musician Jorge "Real Boss Hoss" Ojeda, "created the 'budget rock' sound. They recorded their own records on cheap, damaged gear and self-released them". Indeed, starting with their debut performance at the Chi Chi Club in February 1989, the band was committed to a "do it yourself" approach, optimized by their cheap, vintage gear and Farfisa organ, a characteristic instrument of 1960s garage. In 1990 the group released their debut single, "That Girl", on the Mummies' own short-lived Pre-B.S. Records. "We recorded nearly everything we did on a rack-mount cassette 4-track", explained Ruane "Despite those four tracks we recorded things live, and mostly premixed on two tracks. By premixed I mean I would manually ride the mixer during the recording, and adjust levels on-the-fly, like boosting the guitar track during the solo".
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