Biography
Though based in Italy, The Mugshots were born in New York City in 2001 when lead singer, Mickey E. Vil, visiting the United States, chose the band’s name after listening to an Alice Cooper record ("DaDa", 1983). As their name would suggest, dark crime stories have infused the band’s lyrics from the very beginning. As the Mugshots’ line-up was developing over the next few years, the band released two full-length albums, “House Of The Weirdos” and “Weird Theater” plus an EP, titled “Doctor Is Out”.
Then in 2009, the band’s present line up was consolidated. In 2010, The Mugshots released a limited edition EP titled “In Disguise” through an independent Italian record label. This EP was made available on both red vinyl and CD and garnered enthusiastic reviews around the world.
In 2012, The Mugshots teamed up with the legendary Dick Wagner, producer and performer for such great rock icons as Alice Cooper, Lou Reed, Peter Gabriel, Ray Manzarek, Kiss, Aerosmith and many others. This collaboration resulted in another EP on which Wagner arranged, co-wrote and played lead Guitars.
Throughout their career, The Mugshots have shared the stage with The Stranglers, The Damned, UK Subs, Hugh Cornwell, Dick Wagner, Brian James, Tv Smith, Eddie And The Hot Rods, Baz Warne, The Lords Of Altamont, Demented Are Go, Koffin Kats, Zombina & The Skeletones, among many others. It is my honor to be good friends with The Mugshots. I like their music, their lyrics and their attitude. I highly recommend them!
Mack Maloney, author (4.5 million copies sold)
2015: The Mugshots release a new single: "Frozen", a Dark Rock version of Madonna's masterpiece featuring late Clive Jones from legendary Black Widow and Agony Bag on flute and saxophone, here on his final performance as he wished.
Halloween, 2016: The Mugshots release the third full-lenght album, "Something Weird", produced by Death SS' Freddy Delirio and featuring the likes of Matt Malley (ex-Counting Crows, Grammy/Oscar nominated artist), Tony Dolan (Venom Inc.), Steve Sylvester, Enrico Ruggeri and many others. The album cover includes an original band portrait done by renowned comic artist Enzo Rizzi.
2018: The Mugshots take part to Terror Tales, a tribute to legendary italian horror rockers Death SS. Their version of In The Darkness features renowned Mortiis from Norway. Later on, they are included in FantaRock, an italian essay about connections between Rock music and SciFi.
2020: the pandemic year. Being often in a state of lockdown, The Mugshots release Quarantine Chant featuring Baz Warne from The Stranglers to raise funds for a local hospital; the following spring a second lockdown single is released, Children Of The Night featuring Mantas from Venom Inc. During summer the band unleashes the official videoclip for Scream Again featuring Steve Sylvester and Freddy Delirio from Death SS. The end of this troubled year a new single (along with a video ) is released to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Contessa, a classic italian New Wave song by Decibel. The band is featured in its entirety as special guests.
2021: legendary italian label Minotauro Records (Paul Chain, Strana Officina, etc.) releases a limited edition vinyl maxi-single of Children Of The Night / The Call, featuring Mantas from Venom Inc. on side A plus Attila Csihar from Mayhem on side B.
2022: the band releases 'Small Town, New Town', a brand new song inspired by Philip K. Dick's short novel 'Small Town'. The preview of the amazing animated visual/lyric video is broadcasted on the national tv channel Rai 4 during a sci-fi related tv program.