MP3 The Oozing Grooves - Super Almost
It''s Pop, it''s Rock, it''s Punk. it''s Groovy.
14 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Punk-Pop, POP: Pop/Rock
Details:
Every artist likes to think their music defies categorizing, while at the same time usually realizing that to be genuinely unique is to invite commercial failure. Lance Lindley, the one-man show behind "The Oozing Grooves" solves that dilemma by taking a samurai philosophy towards music: commercial failure is inevitable, so why not just enjoy the act of creation and write what you want? The resultant blend of new millennium pop punk and 80s synth-pop rock features thick vocal harmonies layered over simple bar chords in an arrangement several listeners -- including a couple of industry insiders -- have called a blend between Green Day, Rick Springfield, They Might Be Giants, and the Beach Boys.
Why this name?
It actually started as a joke, on a ship off the coast of Pakistan during the operation to topple the Taliban. We were out there 73 straight days and going nuts trying to pass the time, so me and a couple of other guys were making up fake band names and accompanying album titles, mostly from stray comments people said. Scott Mishley, the grooviest of us, came up with a band name "The Oozing Grooves." When I decided to get back into music in 2003 after a 13 year hiatus, I went with that name. I like to think my stuff, which can really be all over the map stylistically, nonetheless consistently oozes a certain groove.
Do you play live?
I''m between live bands at the moment, but even when I was in one, we only played covers. It was cool, we played in places like Crete and the Ukraine; but it takes a lot of trust to let a band start playing your originals, and also a lot of time. I think we had the former, but not enough of the latter. I''m very particular about the way my song is going to sound to an audience, and I have a lot of layers, both vocally and instrumentally, that would be hard to reproduce live to my satisfaction.
Would you sign a record contract with a major label?
In an instant. Even if I had to kill you to close the deal.
Band History:
I was a determined young songwriter in the 1980s, pouring everything I had -- money, time and soul -- into writing and playing original music in first Dallas and then Las Vegas. But it was easy to spin one''s wheels back then, and not very easy to get paid. So eventually, I gave in to the desire to eat and live indoors and I abandoned music completely in 1990. In 2003, I heard a guy playing acoustic guitar on a ship I was on, and the bug bit me again... hard. Now I''m a determined old songwriter, pouring everything I have -- money, time and soul -- into writing and recording original music.
Your influences?
I don''t disregard any one genre just completely out of hand; but when I''m just going to listen to something, like in the car, I''m most likely to grab something with loud guitars and a strong hook. I became aware of music in the mid-70s and grew up listening to Queen and Zeppelin, etc., but it was really the 1980s, with everything from Bowie to AC/DC to The Cars to Gary Numan and Ultravox that really shaped my musical mentality. As such, I''m pretty slavish to pop sensibility when I write. I''m very structured in my writing -- a little too structured sometimes, and I insist on a strong melodic hook, a twisted bridge, lots of layers and a clever lyrical turn, or I just won''t bother finishing a song I''m working on. I used to put lots of synth layers in my songs, but I got tired of being labeled retro. You can still hear a synth in there, though, here and there. I guess old habits die hard.
Equipment used:
I was a synth player in the 1980s, now I''ve morphed myself into a guitarist to shed my "retro" image somewhat. So my gear locker is mostly guitars, which I like to customize: Line 6 Variax 500 with custom neck/ebony fretboard, and custom pickguard. Three Washburns: WG587 7-string customized with Duncan pickups (''59 neck/Distortion bridge), WI66PROe with ebony fretboard, gothic cross inlay, and EMG 81/85 pickups, and a stock X40 Pro. Squier mini-strat purchased for my son when he was 5 years old, which I also bash around on when I want to get nuts, and I''m rebuilding a crazy old 1980s Hondo Explorer. I play an ESP B55 (5-string) for the bass lines. For amps, I use Guitar Rig 2 for recording and a Behringer V-ampire LX112 which I customized with a twice-as-loud Eminence Legend speaker. For recording, I did some of this CD on a Yamaha AW4416 and the rest on a Mac using Cubase. I used an old Korg M1 as my midi keyboard for awhile, then Ebay''ed it and bought an 88-key midi-only board. I have sort of a revolving door when it comes to rack gear... they come and go the way I used to wish groupies would. Now, most of them have left me as I''ve gone strictly digital.
People who are interested in Rick Springfield They Might Be Giants Bowling for Soup should consider this download.