Its all ‘Fun and Games’
‘Phruitcore’ band describes genre, how fan became member
February 28, 2023
Accumulating over 4.7 million streams on Spotify, Philadelphia-based “phruitcore” band Mega Mango is quickly gaining traction online. The band’s origins trace back to 2018 with the release of “You Spent All Your Love,” which gained recognition during Mega Mango’s two-year hiatus. Now embarking on their “Fun and Games” tour, the band will make four stops in Texas in April, including Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio. Their EP “Fun and Games” was released on all major streaming platforms on Feb. 22, 2023.
Mega Mango consists of guitarist Alex Spagnolia, vocalist Crow Costello, bassist Niko Jones and drummer Sam Poll. Interestingly, Poll was a big fan of Mega Mango before he requested to be their drummer.
“I saw Crow make a TikTok with ‘Boggle.’ This is like a year and a half ago at this point. I was friends with Niko, and so I texted him and was like, ‘Can I please be in your band?’” Poll described. “There’s just something about [‘Boggle’] even when we play it live, I just get chills and start to tear up a little bit.”
Their press kit described the self-made genre of phruitcore as “indie bedroom rock vibes with bigger bass, drums and a warmer tone.”
“The word phruitcore happened as a joke in our Twitter bio [or] maybe our Spotify bio,” Costello shared. “And then, we were joking about it at one point and saying we should switch [the ‘f’ in fruitcore] to a ‘ph’ because it’s Philly. The ‘ph’ is paying an homage to Philly, where Mega Mango originated.”
The members of Mega Mango draw inspiration from some of their favorite artists like Brandi Carlisle, Diners, Djo, Dmitri Shostakovich and more. But when it comes to favorites from their discography, their immediate answer was “Risk,” the band’s second most-streamed song on Spotify with 1.6 million listens.
“I’m really proud of [‘Risk’] specifically because that was the first time I think we really nailed down the formula,” Spagnolia noted. “In terms of elements and how they fit in a track, that was the first time that everything really just clicked.”
To watch the full interview with Mega Mango, visit The Paisano YouTube channel or listen to the Behind the Beat podcast episode on Spotify.
For more information on Mega Mango, visit their website at megamangoband.com, follow them on Instagram @megamangoband, purchase tickets for the ‘Fun and Games’ tour on Bandsintown or check out their Earlink.
