Ozma is a rock band from Pasadena, California. The band, who have cited Weezer as a major influence, have performed in concert and on tour with Weezer on many occasions and members of the two bands have collaborated at numerous points.
The band that would later be named Ozma was initially formed in 1995 under the name "Paper or Plastic," the lineup consisted of Ryen Slegr (vocals/guitar), Jose Galvez (guitar/vocals), Patrick Edwards (drums), and Matt Herman (vocals/bass). Herman departed from the band shortly after its band's formation, reportedly due to creative differences. Daniel Brummel, who met Galvez through an AOL profile search while looking for a local band to join, was introduced to the other band members by Galvez in September of 1995. The band went through various names during their first year with their new bassist, such as "Sochi," "Sheriff Bob," "Powercool," and "Cosmic Egg," but in 1996 the band officially changed its name to "Ozma."
Ozma achieved mainstream attention in July of 2000 when Weezer asked the band to open for them for two shows in Sacramento and Los Angeles. Then, in January of 2001, Ozma was invited to open for Weezer on the Yahoo! Outloud Tour.
Read more band history
Notable about this song is that there are two versions, one English and one Japanese. In the English version Rachel Haden help with backup vocals. In the Japanese version Miki Takesue and Star Wick help with backup vocals. Miki Takesue makes an appearance in the "Translating Utsukushii Shibuya into Japanese" video. This song seamlessly transitions into the next track, "Turtleneck Coverup".
Much of Commuter Music's material consists of Brummel and Sleger improvising with a Casio CT-700 keyboard. The songs from their sessions are then played back at a faster tempo. Multiple Ozma songs have been known to originate from these sessions, such as "Domino Effect," "Wake Up," and "Motorology 3:39." There was only one album released by the duo, Commuter Music I: Kick The Tires, Light The Fires. Songs from this album were included in the Spending Time on the Borderline Enhanced Edition CD. A second album, subtitled Leather Interior for Your Posterior was teased on the insert of the first album, but was never released.
Ozma performed at Digevent.com HQ in Irvine, CA on July 12, 2000. The original recording previously circulated among fans, but was remastered by Daniel Brummel for its release on the music platform Bandcamp. The show was previously streamed live to the now-defunct website Digevent.com. Ryen Slegr performed this set while sick with a cold.
Featured quote - An excerpt from one of Ozma's earliest interviews.
Although Ozma has played large shows in the LA area alongside other bands, performing at private gatherings is what the group enjoys the most.
"Parties are cool because there's so much less pressure," said Brummel. "And after you play you can go hang out and smoke cigarettes with the people instead of trying to sell them your album. Not that any of us smoke cigarettes."
"We don't smoke cigarettes," Slegr added. "Or anything. Not really. Not on a regular basis."