This American alternative rock band was founded in Santa Monica, California in 1989 by David Roback, who was born on April 4th, 1958 and his friend Hope Sandoval, (24th June 1966) who joined after former vocalist Kendra Smith left. Previously to the change of its line-up, the group went by the name Opal. When Sandoval joined they changed their name and soon Mazzy Star’s chords would become well-known for being a dreamy blend of shadowy psychedelica.
Dream Team
Sandoval and Roback truly make a dynamic duo, representing the creative core of the musical group. Besides vocals she plays acoustic guitar, harmonica, hammond organ, percussion glockenspiel, and xylophone. He plays the guitar, keyboard and piano and moreover wrote the majority of Mazzy Star’s songs, conceiving their chords and producing their recordings. The two all-round talents were supported by contributors Suki Ewers (keyboards), Colm Ó Cíosóig (guitar, bass, keyboard, drums) and Josh Yenne (pedal steel guitar and acoustic/ electric guitars).
The stars didn’t align
Presumably, the most memorable chords of Mazzy Star are that of their song “Fade Into You”, that brought the group significant success in the mid-90s, having been featured extensively on MTV, VH1 and radio airplay. The single also ranked at number 44 of the Billboard Hot 100 singles and reached number three on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. During that time the duo switched to the record label Capitol, as the American branch of the label Rough Trade they were previously signed to folded. Their relationship with the new label turned sour shortly after. According to Sandoval, they got out because the new label disrupted their creative process, which also affected their identity as a group. She once elaborated: “It seemed record companies wanted bands to be creative because they didn't know how to manufacture underground music. We could do our own thing and go at our own pace. But that changed when major labels started wanting bands that would sell 7 million records. They had a formula. And suddenly all these people wanted to come to the studio to keep track of what we were doing and make sure we were following that formula. So we got out.”
**Will they or won’t they? **
Four years later in June 2000, Mazzy Star got back together for a mini-tour through Europe. However, their reunion was only temporary, as Sandoval focused on a solo-career. However, in 2009 she revealed in an interview that Roback and her were still together. After another two years, in October 2011, the group eventually released their first new tracks in fifteen years.
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