The birth of Ozric Tentacles was witnessed in 1983 at Stonehenge’s free festival. There was also Ed Wynne, the composer and leader of the band, and Roly Wynne, the bass player, who were playing in a group called ‘Bolshem People.’ Along with Nick Van Gelder (Jamiroquai), Joie Hinton (keyboards) met them. After warming their bones and talking about imaginary breakfast cereals, the group decided to have an spontaneous late jam session. During the six-hour performance, an audience member asked Ed about the band’s name. Ed thought back to their conversation and was flooded with visions of mythical mueslis. He replied, “Ozric Tentacles.” (… Good job, too. Some of the alternatives were “Desmond Whisps”, Gilbert Chunks and “Malcolm Segments”. The Ozric Tentacles was born from that first jam session. It has been a hallmark of their musical compatibility ever since. It is a unique blend of raver electronics and hippy aesthetics with spiralling guitars, midi, samplers and super-groovy drum beats. The band soon found themselves laughing at the requests for music by “Ozric Tentacles”, also known as “The Ozrics”, which began to pile up. They quickly became a fixture in the UK’s festival scene and are now considered one of the key musical linchpins that helped the scene to re-emerge. 1984 was the year of Erpsongs, the band’s first cassette. It was recorded at home using a domestic hi fi and covered with hand-drawn covers. It ignited the underground psychedelic music scene. It featured a wide range of styles that has been a hallmark of the band’s career. Some tracks were a mix of spacey, alien sounds with floating ambiances, while others showed the Ozrics’ hard rock tendencies, which had a strong rhythm section that supported the soaring guitars and synthesizer passages. The band was very successful in 1986 with three cassettes, “Live Ethereal Cereal”, “Tantric Obstacles” and “There Is Nothing”. The band’s psychedelic properties were evident in Live Ethereal Cereal. It was a record that was made from early festival jams. Their recordings also featured a unique and original form of reggae/dub that was intrinsically Ozrics’. “There Is Nothing” featured more ethnic elements. The band’s sound was deeply influenced by the scales, styles, samples, and scales Joie gathered on his trips to India and Ed in Thailand. Ozrics acquired a second synth player, Tom Brooks at Stonehenge festival in 1987, the year after the band’s inception. Brooks helped to expand the sound spectrum with his bubbling ethereal effects. After renunciating the electricity that powered them, “Horse Drawn Tom”, a synthesizer player, left for better pastures (… in 1987. Ed was left to fill the sonic void after Tom’s departure. He began to focus more on his own synthesizer and keyboard skills. This was a concept that Ed had found appealing after the release of “The Grove of Selves”, by NodensIctus earlier in the year. Nodens Ictus, Ed and Joie’s ambient project that was still very Ozricky, but more mellow in nature and lacking a live rhythm section, was released under a new name. This would be Ed’s most comfortable shift, switching seamlessly between keyboards and guitars. The ethereal sounds from his Sequential Circuits Pro-One synth and Roland D-50 keyboard would also prove to be a molecular basis for Ozrics DNA. The band’s first cassette release, “Sliding Giliding Worlds”, was released in 1988. It was a favorite of many friends and fans. At the same time, Tig, the drummer, vanishes and Ozrics hire Merv Pepler from Somerset, a 21-year-old phychobilly drummer. Merv’s untrained, raw energy that could shift through many time-signatures with no thought, would suit the band and provide an inherently solid foundation for their music. Six months later, the band released their final cassette-only album, “Bits Between The Bits”, which closed the tape-only period of the band. It included a variety of oddities and relics from 1985 to 89. Hardcore fans have made this time a part of their folklore. These live performances were jam sessions that lasted hours and featured a variety of musicians. These fans trade tapes with the same passion as the Dead-heads of the USA. They have similar rules for free trade and no profit. They realized that signing with established companies would limit their creativity, and in 1989, they started their own label, Dovetail Records. Their first major album, “Pungent, Effulgent”, was released on cassette, CD, vinyl and cassette. It received a lot of praise from music journalists who were not familiar with the band. This record is a clear example of the live experience that the Ozrics bring to every performance and shows the energy they put into it. The Ozric Tentacles built a huge fan base in the UK through constant touring during the 1990’s. The band released their first single in 1991. Sploosh! was the first single to be released by the group and reached the top of the indie charts. The single was released at a time when dance music was in vogue in the UK. Ravers loved its hypnotic beat. “Strangitude”, the next album, took electronic music to new heights. It was electronic but still retained the authenticity of an Ozric recording. The Ozrics had become the soundtrack of summer 1992. Free festivals attracted thousands of people and travelers became a fad. The band’s 1993 album “Jurassic Shift” debuted at #11 in the British indie charts and reached the Top 10 on the National Album Charts. The Ozrics soon won the respect of mainstream media and were featured in publications like NME and Melody Maker. This feat was and is an incredible achievement for a band that has no celebrity status and no major record labels backing. The Ozrics have performed extensively throughout Europe, Asia and North America over the years. Ed’s influences come from ethnic scales and native musics of different continents. This is evident in the many twists and turns each piece has and the varied sounds they use in its construction. The Ozrics are continuing to create music that is genre-free and has no limits. This means their goals and ambitions are constantly raised. Each album must be improved substantially to satisfy the band. The Ozrics’ 1994 release, “Arborescence,” was a wake-up call for the music industry. They were not there to chart success or to become the latest fad. Instead, they wanted to have the chance to explore their music with an almost obsessive passion.
