So who are the Grooves and where have they been? It’s time to get you up to speed. Mike Muir is back on vocals and Dean Pleasants is throwin’ down on guitar, leading the charge to dose out all the Funkaholics that have had to go cold turkey these last eight years.

The King of Funk, Sarsippius himself, presents you with the newest legend on bass…Steve Bruner! Besides playing with Suicidal Tendencies (and Snoop Dogg) now for over 6 years, Bruner is now doing double duty with Infectious Grooves and according to his band mates, will set a new bar for bass playing, just as Robert Trujillo did 17 years ago!

Dean Pleasants has also recruited his favorite guitar player, Tim Stewart a.k.a. “Timmy Shakes” for the new line-up. Tim has played with many of the biggest names in Pop and R&B and now gets to pop off with some super funky grooves that wouldn’t fit in the mainstream world.

Rounding off the new band is the incredible Eric Moore on drums. Eric was brought in to redefine the drum legacy of Infectious Grooves. Some might say Moore has big shoes to fill, but you’ve been warned… the new generation is set to push the boundaries even further into the future. Eric Moore, will have to be seen to believed!

Infectious Grooves was formed soon after Robert Trujillo joined Suicidal Tendencies in 1989. Mike Muir, Suicidal’s singer, and Trujillo got together with a few friends and started writing songs centered more around the bass, but with the intent of giving everyone else a whole lot of freedom.

Hey Dean! Thanks so much for taking the time to talk!

Dean Pleasants: Hey no problem, it’s great to talk to you.

So what made you guys decide to get back together after all these years?

DP: Oh wow, well after taking a long hiatus from recording in the studio we decided to do some tours in Europe. In 2008, we started touring, in 2009 we started touring with Suicidal Tendencies and it really went well so it just felt like the right thing to do.

Is there a new album in the works?

DP: Definitely we have tons of material. It’s just a matter of when’s the right time to release it, ya know?

Who decided to release the “Punk it Up/Funk it Up” live album?

DP: Well, Mike had been talking about it for awhile but it was Tom Abraham, our sound guy, who decided we should do it. A lot of people who heard our music were curious about who we are and where we came from so this gives them a pretty good idea.

A lot of people know about Infectious Grooves but not Cyko Miko, can you tell us a little bit about that?

DP: This is more Mike’s personal project. He loves punk rock and grew up listening to it. With this he can escape from Infectious and Suicidal and just do his own thing.

For people who haven’t heard your music before, what can they expect from Infectious Grooves?

DP: They can expect excellent musicianship and I think really cool music. I think people who haven’t heard us before will really like us.

How has the new bass player been working out?

DP: He’s great, I met him when he was sixteen in 2000 and he’s just amazing. He understands rock and punk rock and it’s been awesome having him in the group.

What other projects have you been doing?

DP: I’ve been spending some time in the studio myself, kind of working an independent, alternative rock project. It’s been a lot of fun.

Any words for your fans out there?

D: just when you see Infectious Grooves expect the unexpected. We’re like a roller coaster ride. Never know what’s going to happen next but it’s always a good time (laughs).

Right on, are you guys touring the U.S soon?

DP: We hope so, we’re setting up a show at the House of Blues in L.A. so once we get that confirmed we can start setting up a tour across the U.S.

Well, if you get a chance, we’d love to have you come play Hawaii. Especially the Big Island!

DP: Well shoot, call someone because we’d love to play Hawaii! (Laughs)

Awesome, well thanks so much again Dean and hope to talk to you again soon!

DP: Thank you! Definitely would love to talk again soon!