BY SERA SNYDER
PHOTO COURTESY OF OZONE SQUEEZE
Up and coming rock/funk trio Ozone Squeeze is headed by frontman and guitarist Oz Noy. The group also consists of singer/keyboardist Rai Thistlethwayte, who is known as frontman of the Australian band Thirsty Merc, and drummer Darren Stanley, who was one of Col. Bruce Hampton's touring drummers.
Their debut, self-titled album was released on September 15th through Abstract Logix. With this album the band brings a bold vision of soul, funk, and R&B, taking the emotional resonance of classical music and blending it with jazz and the outer limits of improvised music.
The trio makes a virtue of space, letting the arrangements breathe. Rai Thistlethwayte often times performs vocals, keyboards, and keyboard base simultaneously, while Oz Noy brings an inventive off-version of blues and rock, and Atlanta-based, Stanley provides the heartbeat. Thistlethwayte says, “There are definitely no rules, set parameters – or formula at all. It’s always been an intuitive conversation.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF OZONE SQUEEZE
The band intends to continue their shared future through live performances and further recordings. You can catch them live on their U.S. tour, which kicked off on September 7th. The tour includes a date in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, September 27th at Gypsy Sally's. Check out Ozone Squeeze’s newest music video for their single Supernatural Man and their cover of The Beatles' Come Together.