Ozma (band)

Ozma
Brummel, Slegr, Wick, Galvez, Shane
Background information
Origin	Pasadena, California, United States
Genres	Alternative rock, power pop, indie pop, pop punk
Years active	1995–2004 2006–2009 2011–present
Labels	Kung Fu Records About a Girl Records
Associated acts	The Rentals, Weezer, Sanglorians
Members	Ryen Slegr Daniel Brummel Jose Galvez Star Wick Kenn Shane
Past members	Katherine Kieckhefer (1996–1998) Patrick Edwards (1995–2004)

Ozma is an American rock band from Pasadena, California. The band's sound is a mix of nostalgic new wave–influenced power pop and contrapuntal Casiotone-driven melodies sustained by heavy guitar riffs. Since their formation in September 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, Nada Surf, Rilo Kiley, Superdrag, The Rentals, and Rooney.

Ozma was formed in 1995 by Ryen Slegr (vocals/guitar), Jose Galvez (guitar/vocals), Patrick Edwards (drums) and Daniel Brummel (vocals/bass), when Brummel was introduced to the others by Galvez, whom he had met on the internet 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 books on the drummer's mother's bookshelf) in 1997, and in 1998 were joined by 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 in slightly different form as Songs of Audible Trucks and Cars by mp3.com. They then released what was considered their first "proper" album, Rock and Roll Part Three, on January 1, 2000. This consisted of "a few thousand" (estimated by Brummel) self-made pressings on their own label, Tornado Recordings.

Ozma's first real break, however, came in 2001, when they were selected to tour with Weezer. In preparation for the "Yahoo! Outloud Tour," Weezer asked their fans to vote for an opening act via their web site, and the acts who received the most votes were Ozma and Get Up Kids. One year later, Weezer invited Ozma to tour with them again on 2002's "Hyper Extended Midget Tour", which also featured Saves the Day.