Fu Manchu

Born in Orange County, California, Fu Manchu formed in 1985 under the name Virulence before adopting its current name in 1990, when Scott Hill, initially the guitarist, also became the singer. Fu Manchu's trajectory moves from hardcore punk toward a stoner rock deeply rooted in American hard rock, characterized by thick riffs, an often mid-paced groove, dry melodies and an aesthetic tied to car culture, skateboarding and the Southern California imagery. Associated with the Palm Desert scene, Fu Manchu released No One Rides for Free (1994), Daredevil (1995), In Search of... (1996), The Action Is Go (1997), King of the Road (2000) and California Crossing (2001), which firmly established this blend of fuzz, heavy boogie and punk energy. After several lineup changes in the 1990s, Fu Manchu settled from 2001 around Scott Hill, Brad Davis, Bob Balch and Scott Reeder. The band then released Start the Machine (2004), We Must Obey (2007), Signs of Infinite Power (2009), Gigantoid (2014), Clone of the Universe (2018) and The Return of Tomorrow (2024), while remaining active on North American and European stages.