Kevin Coleman (musician)

Smash Mouth is an American rock band from San Jose, California.

Smash Mouth's roots trace back to 1990 when Steve Harwell and Kevin Coleman met.

The band was formed in 1994 and was originally composed of Steve Harwell (lead vocals), Kevin Coleman (drums), Greg Camp (guitar), and Paul De Lisle (bass).

With Harwell's departure in 2021, De Lisle is now the only original member.

Smash Mouth was then formed in 1994 by Harwell, who had formerly played in a rap group called F.O.S. (Freedom of Speech).

Coleman, who was Harwell's manager, knew guitarist Greg Camp and bassist Paul De Lisle, who had both played in a local punk band, and introduced the three musicians to each other.

They began rehearsing together along with Coleman, who played as the drummer.

They soon developed into a band, and named themselves Smashmouth, an American football term.

During their early years, the band played largely rock music.

The band's first publicity came when a demo of the song "Nervous in the Alley" was played by a San Jose radio station, KOME.

They are known for their songs "Walkin' on the Sun" (1997), "All Star" (1999), and "Then The Morning Comes" (1999), as well as a cover of The Monkees' "I'm a Believer" (2001).

The band adopted retro styles covering several decades of popular music.

They have also performed numerous covers of popular songs, including War's "Why Can't We Be Friends?", Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up”, Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)", ? & the Mysterians' "Can't Get Enough of You Baby", The Beatles' "Getting Better", Queen's "Under Pressure", House of Pain's "Jump Around", and "I Wan'na Be Like You" from The Jungle Book.

They also composed two songs for the South Korean animated film Pororo, The Racing Adventure: "Beside Myself" and "Everything Just Crazy".

Soon after, Interscope Records signed the band, and the group's debut album, Fush Yu Mang, was released in 1997, featuring another member: the keyboardist Michael Klooster.

Also, upon signing to Interscope Records, the band changed their name from Smashmouth to Smash Mouth.

The album eventually went double platinum led by the band's first major single "Walkin' on the Sun".

The singles "The Fonz" and a cover of "Why Can't We Be Friends" from the 1998 Kevin Bacon film Wild Things were also subsequently released.

The band's second album, Astro Lounge, was released in 1999 and marked a change in direction, as it had less of the previous ska influence and more of a pop sound.

It led to more publicity for the band, and ended up being one of the most critically acclaimed albums from the group.

Also in 1999, The East Bay Sessions was released as a collection of early songs.

Shortly after the release of the album, drummer Kevin Coleman left the band due to back problems.

He was initially replaced by Michael Urbano, who was quickly replaced by Mitch Marine for the tour supporting Astro Lounge, who was subsequently replaced by Urbano after the tour.

Supported by the hit singles "All Star" (which was featured in several film soundtracks, most notably in Shrek (2001), although the official music video references Mystery Men) and "Then the Morning Comes", Astro Lounge was eventually certified as triple platinum.

In 2001, Smash Mouth covered the Monkees' hit song "I'm a Believer".

It was featured on both the soundtrack for Shrek (along with "All Star") and their self-titled album.

The album sold fewer copies than the band's earlier works, eventually being certified gold.

Also in 2001, the group appeared as themselves in the climactic scene of the film Rat Race.

In 2003, Get the Picture? was released, featuring the singles "You Are My Number One", "Hang On" and "Always Gets Her Way".

Smash Mouth was dropped from Interscope shortly after the release of Get the Picture?.

That same year, the band performed a cover of the Sherman Brothers song "I Wanna Be Like You" for the animated film The Jungle Book 2.

Smash Mouth released the greatest hits compilation All Star Smash Hits in 2005.

The album contains some more popular songs from previous Smash Mouth albums, as well as songs from soundtrack albums that were not on the band's releases.

On certain networks and time slots, the album was advertised as having 18 tracks, including an edited version of "Flo".

Smash Mouth played at Gumby's Birthday Celebration in August 2005.

In December 2005, the band released a Christmas album Gift of Rock.

It featured covers of Christmas songs by many artists, such as the Kinks and the Ramones, and one original song, "Baggage Claim".

Smash Mouth's fifth studio album, originally to be titled Old Habits, was recorded in 2005 and expected to be released in early 2006.

The band had said that the album was much more like the ska punk featured on Fush Yu Mang and The East Bay Sessions.

In September 2005, the band performed what was tentatively going to be the album's first single, "Getaway Car", on Last Call with Carson Daly.