Ozma is an American
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band from
Pasadena, California
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
I ...
. The band's sound is a mix of nostalgic
new wave–influenced
power pop
Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, and ch ...
and
contrapuntal
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...
Casiotone
Casiotone was a series of home electronic keyboards made by Casio in the early 1980s. Casio promoted the Casiotone 201 (CT-201) as "the first electronic keyboard with full-size keys that anyone could afford". The name "Casiotone" disappeared from ...
-driven melodies sustained by heavy guitar riffs. Since their formation in 1995, Ozma has released five studio albums and toured the U.S., Japan and Canada more than thirty times, including extensive touring with stylistically similar groups including
Weezer
Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing v ...
,
Nada Surf
Nada Surf is a New York City-based American alternative rock band formed in the 1990s, consisting of Matthew Caws (guitar, vocals), Ira Elliot (drums), Doug Gillard (guitar, backing vocals), and Daniel Lorca (bass, backing vocals).
History 199 ...
,
Rilo Kiley
Rilo Kiley ( ) was an American indie rock band based in Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1998, the band consisted of Jenny Lewis, Blake Sennett, Pierre de Reeder, and Dave Rock.
The group released their debut album ''Take-Offs and Landings'' ...
,
Superdrag
Superdrag is an American alternative rock band from Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. They are best known for their 1996 single, " Sucked Out", off their album ''Regretfully Yours'', for which a video was played on MTV. The original lineup r ...
,
The Rentals
The Rentals are an American rock band fronted by vocalist Matt Sharp. Sharp has been the only consistent member since the group's inception. The band's best selling single is "Friends of P" (1995). The Rentals released two albums, ''Return of t ...
,
The Get Up Kids
The Get Up Kids are an American rock band from Olathe, Kansas. Formed in 1995, the band was a major player in the mid-1990s Midwest emo scene, otherwise known as the " second wave" of emo music. Their second album ''Something to Write Home About' ...
,
Piebald
A piebald or pied animal is one that has a pattern of unpigmented spots (white) on a pigmented background of hair, feathers or scales. Thus a piebald black and white dog is a black dog with white spots. The animal's skin under the white backgro ...
,
Saves The Day
Saves the Day is an American Rock music, rock band from Princeton, New Jersey, formed in 1997. The band currently consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Chris Conley, guitarist Arun Bali, and bassist Rodrigo Palma.
After forming under the nam ...
,
Asian Kung-Fu Generation
(stylized as ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION) is a Japanese alternative rock band formed in Yokohama in 1996. For its entire career, the band has consisted of vocalist Masafumi Gotoh, guitarist Kensuke Kita, bassist Takahiro Yamada, and drummer Kiyosh ...
, and
Rooney Rooney may refer to:
People
*Wayne Rooney, English football manager and former player
*Rooney family, of the Pittsburgh Steelers American football franchise
*Rooney (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
* Rooney (given nam ...
.
History
Early years (1995–2001)
Ozma was formed in September 1995 by
Ryen Slegr
Ryen Slegr is a Los Angeles-based musician best known for being a member of the rock band Ozma. He is also affiliated with The Rentals, Weezer, and Rachel Haden.
The Rentals
In 2006, Slegr performed with The Rentals on their U.S. tour with O ...
(vocals/guitar), Jose Galvez (guitar/vocals), Patrick Edwards (drums) and
Daniel Brummel
Daniel Brummel (born September 15, 1981 in Pasadena, California) is an American singer-songwriter, composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist who has performed and recorded with various musical groups including Sanglorians, Ozma, Weezer, Nada ...
(vocals/bass), when Brummel was introduced to the others by Galvez, whom he met on
AOL
AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo (2017 ...
while looking for a band to join. In 1996, the still-unnamed band were joined by Katherine Kieckhefer on keyboards, before deciding on the name "Ozma" (taken from the
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...
books on the drummer's mother's bookshelf) in 1997, and in 1998 were joined by expert keyboardist Star Wick, who replaced the departing Kieckhefer. After their early 4-track cassette demos ''Cuatro'' and ''Ocho'' were well received by friends, they released ''Songs of Inaudible Trucks and Cars'' in early 1999, a collection of demos and live tracks, released on home-made CD-Rs and later republished on
MP3.com as ''Songs of Audible Trucks and Cars'' (due to a character restriction). They then self-released what is considered their first "proper" studio album, ''
Rock and Roll Part Three
''Rock and Roll Part Three'' is the debut studio album by American rock band Ozma. It was self-released by Ozma's own imprint Tornado Recordings on January 1, 2000 and re-released for national distribution by Kung Fu Records on August 21, 2001.
M ...
,'' on January 1, 2000. This consisted of "a few thousand" (estimated by Brummel) CDs manufactured by their own label, Tornado Recordings. During these early years, Ozma "played almost anywhere in the California state area," garnering a strong regional following.
Ozma's first real break came in 2001, when they were selected to tour with
Weezer
Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing v ...
. In preparation for the "Yahoo! Outloud Tour," Weezer asked their fans to vote for an opening act via their web site, and the bands who received the most votes were Ozma and
The Get Up Kids
The Get Up Kids are an American rock band from Olathe, Kansas. Formed in 1995, the band was a major player in the mid-1990s Midwest emo scene, otherwise known as the " second wave" of emo music. Their second album ''Something to Write Home About' ...
.
One year later,
Weezer
Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing v ...
invited Ozma to tour with them again on 2002's "Hyper Extended Midget Tour", which also featured
Saves the Day
Saves the Day is an American Rock music, rock band from Princeton, New Jersey, formed in 1997. The band currently consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Chris Conley, guitarist Arun Bali, and bassist Rodrigo Palma.
After forming under the nam ...
.
Early in 2001, the band self-released their second album ''
The Doubble Donkey Disc
''The Doubble Donkey Disc'' is the second studio album by American rock band Ozma.
Track listing
Personnel
* Daniel Brummel – vocals, bass, balalaika
* Pat Edwards – drums
* Jose Galvez – guitar, vocals
* Ryen Slegr
Ry ...
'' (later reissued on Kung Fu Records). With this release, Ozma experimented with the traditional Russian
balalaika
The balalaika (russian: link=no, балала́йка, ) is a Russian stringed musical instrument with a characteristic triangular wooden, hollow body, fretted neck and three strings. Two strings are usually tuned to the same note and the thir ...
and the
flute
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
to create a sound they called "Russian coldfusion." The disc was split into two imaginary concept EPs: the first five songs (including the Russian folk song "
Korobeiniki
"Korobeiniki" () is a nineteenth-century Russian folk song that tells the story of a meeting between a peddler and a girl, describing their haggling over goods in a metaphor for courtship.
Outside Russia, "Korobeiniki" is widely known as the '' ...
", more famously the ''
Tetris
''Tetris'' (russian: link=no, Тетрис) is a puzzle video game created by Soviet software engineer Alexey Pajitnov in 1984. It has been published by several companies for multiple platforms, most prominently during a dispute over the approp ...
'' theme) revolved around Russian themes, while the second half created a more danceable atmosphere.
Kung Fu years (2001–2004)
Later in 2001, partly as a result of the exposure gained from touring with Weezer, Ozma signed with
Kung Fu Records
Kung Fu Records is an American independent record label founded in 1996 by Joe Escalante and Warren Fitzgerald of the punk rock band The Vandals. Founded in order to release a record by the Riverside, California band Assorted Jelly Beans, the ...
, which led to a mainstage appearance on the 2002
Warped Tour
The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touring ...
. Over the next two years, Kung Fu put out remastered and enhanced versions of ''Rock and Roll Part Three'' and ''The Doubble Donkey Disc'',
before Ozma's third album,
''Spending Time On The Borderline'', was released in 2003. This record saw Ozma mature their sound and expand their musical outlook, moving away—at times significantly—from the keyboard-driven, often video game–themed rock of the earlier albums. During the 2001–4 period, Ozma toured the US numerous times, with bands such as
Nada Surf
Nada Surf is a New York City-based American alternative rock band formed in the 1990s, consisting of Matthew Caws (guitar, vocals), Ira Elliot (drums), Doug Gillard (guitar, backing vocals), and Daniel Lorca (bass, backing vocals).
History 199 ...
,
Superdrag
Superdrag is an American alternative rock band from Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. They are best known for their 1996 single, " Sucked Out", off their album ''Regretfully Yours'', for which a video was played on MTV. The original lineup r ...
,
Piebald
A piebald or pied animal is one that has a pattern of unpigmented spots (white) on a pigmented background of hair, feathers or scales. Thus a piebald black and white dog is a black dog with white spots. The animal's skin under the white backgro ...
,
The Format
The Format is an American indie rock band formed by Nate Ruess and Sam Means. Their style can be considered a mixture of indie, alternative, punk and folk music, with elements of 1960s and 1970s pop music. Though Means and Ruess are the foremost ...
, and
Rilo Kiley
Rilo Kiley ( ) was an American indie rock band based in Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1998, the band consisted of Jenny Lewis, Blake Sennett, Pierre de Reeder, and Dave Rock.
The group released their debut album ''Take-Offs and Landings'' ...
.
On July 23, 2004, Ozma announced that they had disbanded, citing deteriorating relationships between band members. Daniel Brummel moved to New York City to pursue a more folk-heavy style and released his debut solo album ''Speak Easy'' independently on September 27, 2005. Also during this interim period,
Ryen Slegr
Ryen Slegr is a Los Angeles-based musician best known for being a member of the rock band Ozma. He is also affiliated with The Rentals, Weezer, and Rachel Haden.
The Rentals
In 2006, Slegr performed with The Rentals on their U.S. tour with O ...
and Jose Galvez formed ''Yes Dear'' with ex-members of Arlo and Teen Heroes. On January 9, 2006, Ozma announced that the band had reunited—without Edwards—to play new shows, new songs, and put out new records. During July and August 2006 the band joined
The Rentals
The Rentals are an American rock band fronted by vocalist Matt Sharp. Sharp has been the only consistent member since the group's inception. The band's best selling single is "Friends of P" (1995). The Rentals released two albums, ''Return of t ...
for the "Return Tour," with Slegr (now an official member of
The Rentals
The Rentals are an American rock band fronted by vocalist Matt Sharp. Sharp has been the only consistent member since the group's inception. The band's best selling single is "Friends of P" (1995). The Rentals released two albums, ''Return of t ...
) performing in both bands. During the tour, Ozma rotated many new songs through their setlist. In September, the band announced that they would be touring the nation again in October with the band
Hellogoodbye
Hellogoodbye (sometimes styled as hellogoodbye) is an American pop rock band that was formed in Huntington Beach, California in 2001 by singer Forrest Kline. They were signed to Drive-Thru Records and released their first full-length album ''Zom ...
.
''Pasadena'' (2006–2013)
On May 15, 2007, the band released their fourth studio album, ''
Pasadena
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
Its ...
'' (after their hometown of
Pasadena, CA
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
Its ...
), through About a Girl Records. The album included guest appearances by
Matthew Caws
Matthew Rorison Caws (born August 5, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the alternative rock band Nada Surf. Caws is also a member of the indie rock duo Minor Alps, along ...
(
Nada Surf
Nada Surf is a New York City-based American alternative rock band formed in the 1990s, consisting of Matthew Caws (guitar, vocals), Ira Elliot (drums), Doug Gillard (guitar, backing vocals), and Daniel Lorca (bass, backing vocals).
History 199 ...
),
Will Noon
Straylight Run is an emo band based in Baldwin, Nassau County, New York. The band released two albums, ''Straylight Run'' and ''The Needles the Space'', as well as three EPs, ''Prepare to Be Wrong'', ''About Time'', and ''Un Mas Dos''. In 2010, ...
(
Straylight Run
Straylight Run is an emo band based in Baldwin, Nassau County, New York. The band released two albums, ''Straylight Run'' and '' The Needles the Space'', as well as three EPs, ''Prepare to Be Wrong'', ''About Time'', and ''Un Mas Dos''. In 2010, ...
,
Fun
Fun is defined by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' as "Light-hearted pleasure, enjoyment, or amusement; boisterous joviality or merrymaking; entertainment".
Etymology and usage
The word ''fun'' is associated with sports, entertaining medi ...
),
Rachel Haden
Rachel Haden (born October 11, 1971 in New York City) is an American musician and one of the triplet daughters of jazz bassist Charlie Haden.
In the early 1990s, Haden played bass guitar for That Dog, a band that also included her sister Petra. H ...
(
The Rentals
The Rentals are an American rock band fronted by vocalist Matt Sharp. Sharp has been the only consistent member since the group's inception. The band's best selling single is "Friends of P" (1995). The Rentals released two albums, ''Return of t ...
,
that dog.
''That'' is an English language word used for several grammatical purposes. These include use as an adjective, conjunction, pronoun, adverb, and intensifier; it has distance from the speaker, as opposed to words like ''this''. The word did not ori ...
), Ben Pringle (
The Rentals
The Rentals are an American rock band fronted by vocalist Matt Sharp. Sharp has been the only consistent member since the group's inception. The band's best selling single is "Friends of P" (1995). The Rentals released two albums, ''Return of t ...
,
Nerf Herder
Nerf Herder is an American rock band from Santa Barbara, California, formed in 1994 by Parry Gripp (vocals, guitar), Charlie Dennis (bass) and Steve Sherlock (drums). They describe themselves as a "geek rock" band, and are known for simplistic ...
), and Eric Summer (
Get Set Go
Get or GET may refer to:
* Get (animal), the offspring of an animal
* Get (divorce document), in Jewish religious law
* GET (HTTP), a type of HTTP request
* "Get" (song), by the Groggers
* Georgia Time, used in the Republic of Georgia
* Get AS, a ...
). Allmusic referred to ''Pasadena'' as "the strongest work of their careers," rating it 4.5 out of 5 stars.
''Boomtown'' (2012–present)
In 2012, Ozma performed on the inaugural Weezer Cruise, alongside
Dinosaur Jr
Dinosaur Jr. is an American rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1984, originally simply called Dinosaur until legal issues forced a change in name.
The band was founded by J Mascis (guitar, vocals, primary songwriter), Lou Barlow ...
. and
Sebadoh
Sebadoh () is an American indie rock band formed in 1986 in Northampton, Massachusetts, by Eric Gaffney and Lou Barlow, with multi-instrumentalist Jason Loewenstein completing the line-up in 1989. Barlow co-created Sebadoh as an outlet for his ...
. Then, in late 2013, Ozma held
PledgeMusic
PledgeMusic was an online direct-to-fan music platform, launched in August 2009. It was started to facilitate musicians looking to pre-sell, market, and distribute projects; such as recordings and concerts. It bore similarities to other artist p ...
campaign to fund their unnamed fifth album. Their goal was exceeded, and ''
Boomtown
A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although ...
'' was released digitally on February 11, 2014. Immediately following the digital release, Ozma joined Weezer,
Cat Power
Charlyn Marie "Chan" Marshall ( ; born January 21, 1972), better known by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and model. Cat Power was originally the name of her first band, but has become her stage name as a ...
,
The Orwells
The Orwells are an American rock band from Elmhurst, a suburb west of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The members include Mario Cuomo (vocals), Dominic Corso (guitar), Grant Brinner (bass), and Henry Brinner (drums). Their debut album ''Reme ...
,
DIIV, and
Adam Devine
Adam Patrick Devine (born November 7, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, singer, screenwriter, and producer. He is one of the stars and co-creators of the Comedy Central comedy television series ''Workaholics'' and '' Adam Devine's House Par ...
on the second Weezer Cruise, being the only band aside from Weezer to perform on both cruises.
Popular culture
Ozma's cover of the Russian folk song "
Korobeiniki
"Korobeiniki" () is a nineteenth-century Russian folk song that tells the story of a meeting between a peddler and a girl, describing their haggling over goods in a metaphor for courtship.
Outside Russia, "Korobeiniki" is widely known as the '' ...
" was featured in ''
Kick-Ass 2''.
A person in the crowd in the film ''
Napoleon Dynamite
''Napoleon Dynamite'' is a 2004 American comedy film produced by Jeremy Coon, Chris Wyatt and Sean Covel, written by Jared and Jerusha Hess and directed by Jared Hess. The film stars Jon Heder in the role of the titular character, a nerdy high- ...
'' can be seen wearing an Ozma t-shirt.
The song "Rocks" was heard in the
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
teen sitcom ''
iCarly
''iCarly'' is an American teen sitcom created by Dan Schneider, which originally aired on Nickelodeon from September 8, 2007, to November 23, 2012. The series tells the story of Carly Shay (Miranda Cosgrove), a teenager who creates and hosts ...
'', in the 2008 episode "iMight Switch Schools"''.''
Discography
Demo Tapes and Rare Albums
* ''Cuatro'' (1996, reissued 2021)
* ''Ocho'' (1997, reissued 2021)
* ''First Strike EP'' (1997/1998)
* ''
Songs of Inaudible Trucks and Cars
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition ...
'' (1998, reissued 1999 and 2020)
Studio Albums
* ''
Rock and Roll Part Three
''Rock and Roll Part Three'' is the debut studio album by American rock band Ozma. It was self-released by Ozma's own imprint Tornado Recordings on January 1, 2000 and re-released for national distribution by Kung Fu Records on August 21, 2001.
M ...
'' (2000, reissued 2001)
* ''
The Doubble Donkey Disc
''The Doubble Donkey Disc'' is the second studio album by American rock band Ozma.
Track listing
Personnel
* Daniel Brummel – vocals, bass, balalaika
* Pat Edwards – drums
* Jose Galvez – guitar, vocals
* Ryen Slegr
Ry ...
'' (2001, reissued 2002)
* ''Spending Time on the Borderline'' (2003)
* ''
Pasadena
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
Its ...
'' (2007)
* ''
Boomtown
A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although ...
'' (2014)
Live Albums
*''
Ozma - Live Acoustic Set - July 12, 2000 Ozma may refer to:
__NOTOC__ Fictional characters
* Princess Ozma, ruler of the fictional land of Oz
* Ozma Lee, in ''Macross Frontier''
* Ozma, a superboss in ''Final Fantasy IX''
* Ozma, the Ra-seru of thunder in ''Legend of Legaia''
* Ozma, a c ...
'' (2021)
*''
Ozma - Live on KUCI - January 24, 2001 Ozma may refer to:
__NOTOC__ Fictional characters
* Princess Ozma, ruler of the fictional land of Oz
* Ozma Lee, in ''Macross Frontier''
* Ozma, a superboss in ''Final Fantasy IX''
* Ozma, the Ra-seru of thunder in ''Legend of Legaia''
* Ozma, a ...
'' (2021)
Singles
Notes
External links
Ozma's MySpaceOzma's FacebookOzma's Bandcamp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ozma
Alternative rock groups from California
American power pop groups
Musical groups established in 1995