2008 Woodie Awards
Zebrahead Bassist Comes Clean About Success
Ben Ozz has no qualms about revealing his secret: he got lucky
John Kelley
Issue date: 9/27/06 Section: Entertainment
Five guys got together in a garage, and decided to start a revolution. Five representatives of the corporate repression that enslaves entire continents talked amongst themselves, and decided to rebel, to de-evolve. It began as a thought, morphed to a quest, and became a creed: "Let's do
something different."
Ben Ozz, the future bass player for Zebrahead, was lost in the Dilbert nightmare of the grand corporate lobotomy. He felt he was choking on his tie, a constant reminder of how the work force kept him on a leash. Ben hates leashes.
Ben wasn't the only one living the "Office Space" life. All of the future rock stars of Zebrahead had bottled themselves up inside to conform to the impersonal god of greed.
A human being can only take so much restriction, so the band got together to blow the top off the nine-to-five world by making music for a living and having a good time.
After ten years and six albums of goofing around, Zebrahead is back with a bitter vengeance. "Broadcast to the World" is set to be released October 24. Even though they've been around the block a few times, and have seen younger bands pass them up in the charts, no one is resentful or jaded. The La Habra natives attacked the recording of their new album with just as much intensity as their debut.
Talking with Ozz shed some light on how they were able to keep the decibel meter up all the way,
all the time.
"When we're going to go play somewhere, I'm always thinking that someday [the band] is going to end," Ozz said, "we get up there on stage, and it's great. I get to go [on stage] and act like an idiot."
Ozz plays excellent bass guitar throughout "Broadcast to the World," with guitar-influenced rhythm on just about every track. The amazing thing is that Ben never played bass before attending Fullerton College, and even then,
he never played in a school music group.
"I only took a rock appreciation class when I was
something different."
Ben Ozz, the future bass player for Zebrahead, was lost in the Dilbert nightmare of the grand corporate lobotomy. He felt he was choking on his tie, a constant reminder of how the work force kept him on a leash. Ben hates leashes.
Ben wasn't the only one living the "Office Space" life. All of the future rock stars of Zebrahead had bottled themselves up inside to conform to the impersonal god of greed.
A human being can only take so much restriction, so the band got together to blow the top off the nine-to-five world by making music for a living and having a good time.
After ten years and six albums of goofing around, Zebrahead is back with a bitter vengeance. "Broadcast to the World" is set to be released October 24. Even though they've been around the block a few times, and have seen younger bands pass them up in the charts, no one is resentful or jaded. The La Habra natives attacked the recording of their new album with just as much intensity as their debut.
Talking with Ozz shed some light on how they were able to keep the decibel meter up all the way,
all the time.
"When we're going to go play somewhere, I'm always thinking that someday [the band] is going to end," Ozz said, "we get up there on stage, and it's great. I get to go [on stage] and act like an idiot."
Ozz plays excellent bass guitar throughout "Broadcast to the World," with guitar-influenced rhythm on just about every track. The amazing thing is that Ben never played bass before attending Fullerton College, and even then,
he never played in a school music group.
"I only took a rock appreciation class when I was
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