Mazzy Star
Encyclopedia
Mazzy Star is an American alternative rock
band formed in Santa Monica, California
, in 1989 from the group Opal
, a collaboration of guitarist David Roback
and bassist Kendra Smith
. Smith's friend Hope Sandoval
became the group's vocalist when Smith left the band.
Mazzy Star is probably best known for the song "Fade into You
" which brought the band some success in the mid 1990s and was the group's biggest mainstream hit, earning extensive exposure on MTV
, VH1
, and radio airplay. Roback and Sandoval are the creative center of the band, with Sandoval as lyricist and Roback as composer of the majority of the band's material.
movement of the early 1980s. David Roback, along with his brother Steven, was one of the main architects of leading Los Angeles psychedelic revival
band, the Rain Parade
. Leaving that band after their first LP
, he founded Clay Allison
in 1983 with then-girlfriend, ex-Dream Syndicate
bassist Kendra Smith
. Soon after the publication of their sole release, the 1983 double A-sided single "Fell From the Sun"/"All Souls", Clay Allison renamed themselves Opal
and released the LP Happy Nightmare Baby
on Rough Trade
on December 14, 1987. With Roback as its musical catalyst, Opal were a direct precursor to Mazzy Star musically — often featuring the same psychedelic guitar drones and similar hints of blues
and folk
that would later appear on Mazzy Star recordings. Meanwhile, Sandoval – who was in high school at the time – formed the folk music duo Going Home in the early 80's with fellow student Sylvia Gomez. Both were devoted followers of the Rain Parade, and after a 1983 concert by the band in the Los Angeles
area, Gomez entered the backstage area of the venue and gave Roback a copy of Going Home's demo tape, featuring Sandoval on vocals and Gomez on guitar. Upon hearing the tape, Roback offered to produce a still-unreleased album by the pair.
When Smith left Opal under cloudy circumstances in the middle of a tour supporting The Jesus & Mary Chain, Sandoval was tapped as her replacement. The band continued on as Opal for the next two years, changing their name to Mazzy Star shortly before the release of their first LP. Roback initially conceived of the band's name as the singular idiom
Mazzy, the title of an unreleased instrumental piece he had written several years previously. Sandoval suggested coupling it with the word Star, as starlight
- along with numerous metaphors and various allusions to distant light - had been a recurring theme
of her poetry since adolescence.
was released in 1990 on Rough Trade
and although it was not an immediate commercial success, the album did establish the duo as a recurrent fixture on alternative rock
radio, with lead single "Blue Flower" - a cover of the Slapp Happy
track - peaking at #29 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart.
, who re-released She Hangs Brightly on November 4, 1990, and released their follow-up, So Tonight That I Might See
on September 27, 1993. A year after its release, the album yielded an unexpected hit
single. "Fade Into You
" peaked at #44 to become their first Billboard Hot 100
single, while also reaching a career-high peak of #3 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. On April 19, 1995, the album was certified platinum by the RIAA
for shipments in excess of 1 million units and for over sixteen years remained Capitol's last platinum-certified album in the U.S. The album also peaked at #68 in the U.K., and as of November 2001 had sold over 40,000 copies there. Following the success of "Fade Into You", She Hangs Brightly album opener "Halah" began to receive heavy airplay in the U.S. and peaked at #19 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart, a position based solely on airplay. In 1995, She Hangs Brightly was awarded a gold certification from the RIAA for shipments in excess of 500,000 units in the United States.
Their final album for Capitol, Among My Swan
, was released on October 29, 1996. Entering the Billboard 200
at #68 and, as of September 2001, selling 214,000 copies in the United States, the album was less commercially successful than its predecessors, although it did produce their highest-peaking single in the United Kingdom, when "Flowers In December" entered at #40 to become their only top forty entry on the chart
. The band promoted the album with a five-month tour of the U.S. and Europe, after which Sandoval reportedly "begged" Capitol to be released from her contract.
, made another guest appearance on their final record Munki
, and also collaborated with The Chemical Brothers
, while Roback produced and mixed two songs found on Beth Orton
's 1999 album Central Reservation.
In June 2000, the band reunited for a mini-tour of Europe. Performing up to seven new songs at each of these concerts, Sandoval revealed in interviews around this time that these new songs were written and recorded for Mazzy Star's fourth studio album, which was to be released independently sometime in the future. This did not materialize, however, as later that year, Sandoval joined with Colm Ó Cíosóig (formerly of My Bloody Valentine) to form Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions
. In October 2000, Sandoval issued her first EP with The Warm Inventions, At the Doorway Again
, and followed it up with her debut full-length album, Bavarian Fruit Bread
, a year later. Around this time, Sandoval also contributed vocals to several songs by other artists, notably Air and Death In Vegas
.
Sandoval performed as part of Bert Jansch
's 60th birthday celebration at Queen Elizabeth Hall
on November 3, 2003. As well as Ó Cíosóig, Jansch and his son Adam, she was also joined on stage by David Roback for renditions of "Suzanne" and "All This Remains," a song Sandoval had contributed lead vocals and wrote lyrics to for Jansch's 2002 album Edge Of A Dream
. This remains Sandoval and Roback's final appearance together on-stage.
David Roback made his debut appearance as an actor in the 2004 film Clean
. He also wrote and produced three songs that were performed in the film by actress Maggie Cheung
.
In 2009, So Tonight That I Might See album track "Into Dust
" debuted at #71 on the U.K. singles chart when it featured on a commercial for Virgin Media
. Two years later, the song appeared on the "Dust to Dust" trailer for Gears of War 3
and spent a further four weeks on the chart, reaching a new peak of #47; while it also became the band's first song to ever place on the Irish Singles Chart
, where it peaked at #40.
Sandoval's second album with The Warm Inventions, Through the Devil Softly
, was released via Nettwerk
on September 29, 2009 and was followed on August 10, 2010 by a non-album single, a cover of Syd Barrett
's "Golden Hair." Also released in 2010 was her vocal contribution to Massive Attack
's Heligoland, "Paradise Circus." The song spent several weeks on the U.K. singles chart, peaking at #117 on downloads.
magazine, where she was quoted as saying, "It's true we're still together. We're almost finished [with the record]. But I have no idea what that means." Later, in a September 2009 interview with Vancouver-based music website Straight.com, interviewer John Lucas wrote of the 8-year gap between Bavarian Fruit Bread and Through the Devil Softly, "That seems like a long time until you consider that Mazzy Star, Sandoval's partnership with guitarist David Roback, hasn't put an album out since 1996. Sandoval promises that will change; she and Roback have their very own Chinese Democracy
in the works, but it won't see the light of day until The Warm Inventions have wrapped up their tour."
On October 12, 2011, Hope Sandoval's official website confirmed the duo would release their first new material in fifteen years later that same month. New single "Common Burn
" - backed with b-side "Lay Myself Down" - was released digitally on October 31, 2011, while a limited edition color vinyl was released on November 8, 2011. Their fourth studio album is expected to be released in the latter half of 2012, following completion of a tour earlier in the year.
. She attended Mark Keppel High School
. In 1986, she formed the folk music
duo Going Home with Sylvia Gomez, and recorded one album produced by David Roback, which is yet to be released.
Besides vocals, Sandoval plays acoustic guitar
, harmonica
, Hammond organ
, percussion
, glockenspiel
and xylophone
. During live performances, Sandoval prefers to sing in near-darkness with only a dim backlight, playing the tambourine
, harmonica
, glockenspiel
or shaker. She is reputed to have a shy personality, and rarely interacts with the audience, once stating "I just get really nervous. Once you're onstage, you're expected to perform. I don't do that. I always feel awkward about just standing there and not speaking to the audience, but it's difficult for me."
Roback grew up in Pacific Palisades, California, graduating from Palisades High School in 1975. He started a band called Rain Parade with his brother Steven. They first hit the scene in 1982 as part of a loose aggregate of psychedelic 1960s-influenced guitar bands in Los Angeles, and they were in the forefront of that movement which lasted a couple of years.
After Rain Parade
's first album and tours, Roback left the band. He then became involved with ex-Dream Syndicate
bassist Kendra Smith and formed a new band called Clay Allison
in 1983. The recordings from the summer this year remained unreleased until the 1989 release of Opal Early Recordings.
After Clay Allison's 1984 tour, the band decided to go with a name change, and went from Clay Allison to Opal, whose sound was defined by Roback's spare, distorted guitar work and Smith's vocals. They released the Northern Line
EP in 1985. SST Records
signed Opal and released their album Happy Nightmare Baby
on December 14, 1987. During the Opal tour in December 1987, Smith left the band. She was replaced by Sandoval, and they toured Europe through early 1988. Roback and Sandoval had an intimate relationship at this time and after Opal was disbanded, they took the remaining members of Opal and changed their name to Mazzy Star.
Since 2001, Roback has permanently resided in Norway.
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band formed in Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
, in 1989 from the group Opal
Opal (band)
Opal were an American alternative/psychedelic band in the 1980s. They were part of the Paisley Underground musical style.The group formed in the mid-'80s under the name Clay Allison, featuring guitarist David Roback , bassist Kendra Smith and drummer Keith Mitchell...
, a collaboration of guitarist David Roback
David Roback
David Roback is a guitarist and songwriter best known as a member of the duo Mazzy Star.Roback grew up in Los Angeles and attended Palisades High School, graduating in 1975. He was a classmate and neighbor of John Hoffs, the brother of Susanna Hoffs, who would eventually become the lead singer of...
and bassist Kendra Smith
Kendra Smith
Kendra Smith is an American musician who was a founding member of Dream Syndicate, a member of Opal, and later recorded as a solo artist.-Biography:...
. Smith's friend Hope Sandoval
Hope Sandoval
Hope Sandoval is an American singer-songwriter who is the lead singer for Mazzy Star and Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions....
became the group's vocalist when Smith left the band.
Mazzy Star is probably best known for the song "Fade into You
Fade into You
"Fade Into You" was the highest charting song from alternative rock/dream pop group Mazzy Star. The song was written by lyricist Hope Sandoval and composer David Roback, who also served as producer. The song made the Top 5 of Billboard's Modern Rock chart in 1994, peaking at number three, and is...
" which brought the band some success in the mid 1990s and was the group's biggest mainstream hit, earning extensive exposure on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
, and radio airplay. Roback and Sandoval are the creative center of the band, with Sandoval as lyricist and Roback as composer of the majority of the band's material.
Formation and Paisley Underground (1981–1989)
Mazzy Star have deep roots within the Californian Paisley UndergroundPaisley Underground
Paisley Underground is an early genre of alternative rock, based primarily in Los Angeles, California, which was at its most popular in the mid-1980s.- History :...
movement of the early 1980s. David Roback, along with his brother Steven, was one of the main architects of leading Los Angeles psychedelic revival
Psychedelic music
Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by psychedelic culture and which attempt to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues-rock bands in the...
band, the Rain Parade
Rain Parade
The Rain Parade was a band active in the Paisley Underground scene in Los Angeles in the 1980s.-History:The band was founded by college roommates Matt Piucci and David Roback in 1981, originally as The Moving Sidewalks. David's brother Steven Roback joined the band shortly thereafter...
. Leaving that band after their first LP
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
, he founded Clay Allison
Opal (band)
Opal were an American alternative/psychedelic band in the 1980s. They were part of the Paisley Underground musical style.The group formed in the mid-'80s under the name Clay Allison, featuring guitarist David Roback , bassist Kendra Smith and drummer Keith Mitchell...
in 1983 with then-girlfriend, ex-Dream Syndicate
Dream Syndicate
The Dream Syndicate was an alternative rock band from Los Angeles, California active from 1981 to 1989. The band was associated with the Paisley Underground music movement.-History:...
bassist Kendra Smith
Kendra Smith
Kendra Smith is an American musician who was a founding member of Dream Syndicate, a member of Opal, and later recorded as a solo artist.-Biography:...
. Soon after the publication of their sole release, the 1983 double A-sided single "Fell From the Sun"/"All Souls", Clay Allison renamed themselves Opal
Opal (band)
Opal were an American alternative/psychedelic band in the 1980s. They were part of the Paisley Underground musical style.The group formed in the mid-'80s under the name Clay Allison, featuring guitarist David Roback , bassist Kendra Smith and drummer Keith Mitchell...
and released the LP Happy Nightmare Baby
Happy Nightmare Baby
Happy Nightmare Baby is the debut album by the American band Opal, released in 1987.-Track listing:# Rocket Machine 4:24# Magick Power 6:14# Relevation 2:53# A Falling Star 1:21...
on Rough Trade
Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London. It was formed in 1978 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove...
on December 14, 1987. With Roback as its musical catalyst, Opal were a direct precursor to Mazzy Star musically — often featuring the same psychedelic guitar drones and similar hints of blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
that would later appear on Mazzy Star recordings. Meanwhile, Sandoval – who was in high school at the time – formed the folk music duo Going Home in the early 80's with fellow student Sylvia Gomez. Both were devoted followers of the Rain Parade, and after a 1983 concert by the band in the Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
area, Gomez entered the backstage area of the venue and gave Roback a copy of Going Home's demo tape, featuring Sandoval on vocals and Gomez on guitar. Upon hearing the tape, Roback offered to produce a still-unreleased album by the pair.
When Smith left Opal under cloudy circumstances in the middle of a tour supporting The Jesus & Mary Chain, Sandoval was tapped as her replacement. The band continued on as Opal for the next two years, changing their name to Mazzy Star shortly before the release of their first LP. Roback initially conceived of the band's name as the singular idiom
Idiom
Idiom is an expression, word, or phrase that has a figurative meaning that is comprehended in regard to a common use of that expression that is separate from the literal meaning or definition of the words of which it is made...
Mazzy, the title of an unreleased instrumental piece he had written several years previously. Sandoval suggested coupling it with the word Star, as starlight
Starlight
Starlight refers to the visible radiation emitted by stars other than the Sun.Starlight may also refer to:-Comics:* Starlight , Dr...
- along with numerous metaphors and various allusions to distant light - had been a recurring theme
of her poetry since adolescence.
Rough Trade (1990)
Much of the material found on the band's debut album originates from Opal's planned second album, titled Ghost Highway. Written over a year before Mazzy Star's inception, the track "Ghost Highway" is the group's only original song to not feature a writing credit from Sandoval, while another song found on the album, "Give You My Lovin'", was written by Going Home guitarist Sylvia Gomez and first recorded in demo form by them in 1987. She Hangs BrightlyShe Hangs Brightly
-Personnel:Music*Peter Blegvad – composer, "Blue Flower"*William Cooper*Keith Mitchell*Anthony Moore – composer, "Blue Flower"*Paul Olguin*David Roback*Hope SandovalProduction*David Roback – producerDesign...
was released in 1990 on Rough Trade
Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London. It was formed in 1978 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove...
and although it was not an immediate commercial success, the album did establish the duo as a recurrent fixture on alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
radio, with lead single "Blue Flower" - a cover of the Slapp Happy
Slapp Happy
Slapp Happy was a German/English avant-pop group consisting of Anthony Moore , Peter Blegvad and Dagmar Krause . The band formed in Germany in 1972. The band members moved to England in 1974 where they merged with Henry Cow, but the merger ended soon afterwards and Slapp Happy split up. Slapp...
track - peaking at #29 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart.
Capitol (1990–1997)
The American branch of Rough Trade folded in late 1990, briefly leaving Mazzy Star without a record label. Within weeks, the duo's contract was picked up by CapitolCapitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
, who re-released She Hangs Brightly on November 4, 1990, and released their follow-up, So Tonight That I Might See
So Tonight That I Might See
So Tonight That I Might See is the second studio album by the dream pop band Mazzy Star, released on October 5, 1993. The album's first track, "Fade into You," was the band's only single to make the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at #44...
on September 27, 1993. A year after its release, the album yielded an unexpected hit
Sleeper hit
A sleeper hit, a.k.a. surprise hit , refers to a film, book, single, album, TV show, or video game that gains unexpected success or recognition...
single. "Fade Into You
Fade into You
"Fade Into You" was the highest charting song from alternative rock/dream pop group Mazzy Star. The song was written by lyricist Hope Sandoval and composer David Roback, who also served as producer. The song made the Top 5 of Billboard's Modern Rock chart in 1994, peaking at number three, and is...
" peaked at #44 to become their first Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
single, while also reaching a career-high peak of #3 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. On April 19, 1995, the album was certified platinum by the RIAA
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
for shipments in excess of 1 million units and for over sixteen years remained Capitol's last platinum-certified album in the U.S. The album also peaked at #68 in the U.K., and as of November 2001 had sold over 40,000 copies there. Following the success of "Fade Into You", She Hangs Brightly album opener "Halah" began to receive heavy airplay in the U.S. and peaked at #19 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart, a position based solely on airplay. In 1995, She Hangs Brightly was awarded a gold certification from the RIAA for shipments in excess of 500,000 units in the United States.
Their final album for Capitol, Among My Swan
Among My Swan
Among My Swan is the third album by the band Mazzy Star. Although Among My Swan did not contain any US Billboard Hot 100 hits like its predecessor, So Tonight That I Might See, this album did garner the band its highest-ranking single on the UK Singles Chart, when "Flowers In December" reached #40...
, was released on October 29, 1996. Entering the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
at #68 and, as of September 2001, selling 214,000 copies in the United States, the album was less commercially successful than its predecessors, although it did produce their highest-peaking single in the United Kingdom, when "Flowers In December" entered at #40 to become their only top forty entry on the chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. The band promoted the album with a five-month tour of the U.S. and Europe, after which Sandoval reportedly "begged" Capitol to be released from her contract.
Hiatus, reunion, and subsequent work (1997–2009)
In the immediate aftermath of Mazzy Star's dissolution, Sandoval, who had appeared on The Jesus and Mary Chain's 1994 release Stoned & DethronedStoned & Dethroned
Stoned & Dethroned is the fifth album by the Scottish alternative band The Jesus and Mary Chain. After spending most of 1992 touring, including a slot on that year's Lollapalooza tour, the band went into the studio during January 1993 with the notion of recording an acoustic album...
, made another guest appearance on their final record Munki
Munki
Munki is the final studio album released by The Jesus and Mary Chain. After leaving Blanco y Negro, the Reid brothers signed to Sub Pop in the U.S. and Creation, who had released their debut single "Upside Down" in 1984, in the UK. After hearing the rough mixes to half of the songs on what would...
, and also collaborated with The Chemical Brothers
The Chemical Brothers
The Chemical Brothers are a British electronic music duo comprising Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons. Originating in Manchester in 1991, along with The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, The Crystal Method, and fellow acts, they were pioneers at bringing the big beat genre to the forefront of pop culture.- Background...
, while Roback produced and mixed two songs found on Beth Orton
Beth Orton
Beth Orton is a BRIT Award–winning English singer-songwriter, known for her 'folktronica' sound, which mixes elements of folk and electronica. She was initially recognised for her collaborations with William Orbit and the Chemical Brothers in the mid 1990s. However, these were not Orton's first...
's 1999 album Central Reservation.
In June 2000, the band reunited for a mini-tour of Europe. Performing up to seven new songs at each of these concerts, Sandoval revealed in interviews around this time that these new songs were written and recorded for Mazzy Star's fourth studio album, which was to be released independently sometime in the future. This did not materialize, however, as later that year, Sandoval joined with Colm Ó Cíosóig (formerly of My Bloody Valentine) to form Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions
Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions
Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions is an independent alternative/dream pop band composed of Hope Sandoval from the dormant band Mazzy Star and Colm Ó Cíosóig of My Bloody Valentine. Their first album Bavarian Fruit Bread was released in 2001. Bass player Alan Browne from Irish band Dirt Blue Gene...
. In October 2000, Sandoval issued her first EP with The Warm Inventions, At the Doorway Again
At the Doorway Again
At The Doorway Again is the debut EP from Hope Sandoval, former vocalist of Mazzy Star, and Colm Ó Cíosóig, former drummer of My Bloody Valentine, released under the name Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions on October 11, 2000 by Rough Trade.-Tracklisting:...
, and followed it up with her debut full-length album, Bavarian Fruit Bread
Bavarian Fruit Bread
Bavarian Fruit Bread is the debut album from Hope Sandoval, former vocalist of Mazzy Star, and Colm Ó Cíosóig, former drummer of My Bloody Valentine, released under the name Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions on October 23, 2001 by Sanctuary Records in the United States and on November 5, 2001 by...
, a year later. Around this time, Sandoval also contributed vocals to several songs by other artists, notably Air and Death In Vegas
Death in Vegas
Death in Vegas are a psychedelic rock and electronic rock band from the United Kingdom, comprising two permanent members: Richard Fearless and Tim Holmes...
.
Sandoval performed as part of Bert Jansch
Bert Jansch
Herbert "Bert" Jansch was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s, as an acoustic guitarist, as well as a singer-songwriter...
's 60th birthday celebration at Queen Elizabeth Hall
Queen Elizabeth Hall
The Queen Elizabeth Hall is a music venue on the South Bank in London, United Kingdom that hosts daily classical, jazz, and avant-garde music and dance performances. The QEH forms part of Southbank Centre arts complex and stands alongside the Royal Festival Hall, which was built for the Festival...
on November 3, 2003. As well as Ó Cíosóig, Jansch and his son Adam, she was also joined on stage by David Roback for renditions of "Suzanne" and "All This Remains," a song Sandoval had contributed lead vocals and wrote lyrics to for Jansch's 2002 album Edge Of A Dream
Edge of a Dream
Edge of a Dream is the twenty-second album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, released in 2002.The title track is given a rock treatment, and two tracks are baroque instrumentals. The remaining songs are roughly equally divided between bluesy numbers and folky ones. The album features Bernard...
. This remains Sandoval and Roback's final appearance together on-stage.
David Roback made his debut appearance as an actor in the 2004 film Clean
Clean (film)
Clean is a 2004 film directed by French director Olivier Assayas, starring Nick Nolte and Maggie Cheung. It was jointly funded by Canada, France, and United Kingdom sources.-Plot:...
. He also wrote and produced three songs that were performed in the film by actress Maggie Cheung
Maggie Cheung
Maggie Cheung Man yuk is a Chinese actress from Hong Kong. Raised in England and Hong Kong, she has over 70 films to her credit since starting her career in 1983...
.
In 2009, So Tonight That I Might See album track "Into Dust
Into Dust
"Into Dust" is a song by alternative rock duo Mazzy Star that appears as the ninth track on their second album So Tonight That I Might See. The song's arrangement is sparse and features only acoustic guitar and violin as accompaniment to the vocals....
" debuted at #71 on the U.K. singles chart when it featured on a commercial for Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...
. Two years later, the song appeared on the "Dust to Dust" trailer for Gears of War 3
Gears of War 3
Gears of War 3 is a third-person shooter video game developed by Epic Games and published by Microsoft Studios exclusively for the Xbox 360. Originally due for release in April 2011, the game was delayed and eventually released on September 20, 2011....
and spent a further four weeks on the chart, reaching a new peak of #47; while it also became the band's first song to ever place on the Irish Singles Chart
Irish Singles Chart
The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...
, where it peaked at #40.
Sandoval's second album with The Warm Inventions, Through the Devil Softly
Through the Devil Softly
Through the Devil Softly is the second studio album from Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions. Recorded over a two-year period between 2007 and 2009 in Northern California and Ireland, the album was released by Nettwerk on 28 September 2009 - eight years after the release of their previous studio...
, was released via Nettwerk
Nettwerk
The Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Management, Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk One Publishing, Nutone Records, and Artwerk. With over 150 employees, the Vancouver-based company has offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Boston, Nashville, and Hamburg...
on September 29, 2009 and was followed on August 10, 2010 by a non-album single, a cover of Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter, best remembered as a founding member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic...
's "Golden Hair." Also released in 2010 was her vocal contribution to Massive Attack
Massive Attack
Massive Attack are an English DJ and trip hop duo from Bristol, England consisting of Robert "3D" Del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. Working with co-producers, as well as various session musicians and guest vocalists, they make records and tour live. The duo are considered to be of the trip...
's Heligoland, "Paradise Circus." The song spent several weeks on the U.K. singles chart, peaking at #117 on downloads.
Reformation (2010–present)
The first substantive confirmation that the duo would reconvene to complete work on their fourth studio album came from Sandoval herself in a July 2009 interview with Rolling StoneRolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine, where she was quoted as saying, "It's true we're still together. We're almost finished [with the record]. But I have no idea what that means." Later, in a September 2009 interview with Vancouver-based music website Straight.com, interviewer John Lucas wrote of the 8-year gap between Bavarian Fruit Bread and Through the Devil Softly, "That seems like a long time until you consider that Mazzy Star, Sandoval's partnership with guitarist David Roback, hasn't put an album out since 1996. Sandoval promises that will change; she and Roback have their very own Chinese Democracy
Chinese Democracy
Chinese Democracy is the sixth studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, released in November 2008 on Geffen Records. It is the band's first studio album since "The Spaghetti Incident?" , released exactly 15 years before Chinese Democracy, and their first album of original studio...
in the works, but it won't see the light of day until The Warm Inventions have wrapped up their tour."
On October 12, 2011, Hope Sandoval's official website confirmed the duo would release their first new material in fifteen years later that same month. New single "Common Burn
Common Burn
"Common Burn" is the forthcoming single from alternative rock/dream pop duo Mazzy Star. Their first new material in over fifteen years, the single is set to be released by the group's own independent label Rhymes Of An Hour Records digitally on October 31, 2011 and on limited edition coloured vinyl...
" - backed with b-side "Lay Myself Down" - was released digitally on October 31, 2011, while a limited edition color vinyl was released on November 8, 2011. Their fourth studio album is expected to be released in the latter half of 2012, following completion of a tour earlier in the year.
Hope Sandoval
Hope Sandoval was born in 1966 and grew up in a Catholic Mexican-American family in East Los Angeles, CaliforniaEast Los Angeles, California
East Los Angeles is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Los Angeles County, California, United States...
. She attended Mark Keppel High School
Mark Keppel High School
Mark Keppel High School is a four-year California Distinguished School located in the city of Alhambra, California in the Alhambra Unified School District. The school is on the southern edge of Alhambra, adjacent to the City of Monterey Park, and borders the Interstate 10 Freeway...
. In 1986, she formed the folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
duo Going Home with Sylvia Gomez, and recorded one album produced by David Roback, which is yet to be released.
Besides vocals, Sandoval plays acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
, harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, Hammond organ
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
, percussion
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, glockenspiel
Glockenspiel
A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
and xylophone
Xylophone
The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...
. During live performances, Sandoval prefers to sing in near-darkness with only a dim backlight, playing the tambourine
Tambourine
The tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
, harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, glockenspiel
Glockenspiel
A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
or shaker. She is reputed to have a shy personality, and rarely interacts with the audience, once stating "I just get really nervous. Once you're onstage, you're expected to perform. I don't do that. I always feel awkward about just standing there and not speaking to the audience, but it's difficult for me."
David Roback
In Mazzy Star, Roback plays guitar, keyboard, and piano. He wrote almost all music for Mazzy Star, and he has also produced all their recordings.Roback grew up in Pacific Palisades, California, graduating from Palisades High School in 1975. He started a band called Rain Parade with his brother Steven. They first hit the scene in 1982 as part of a loose aggregate of psychedelic 1960s-influenced guitar bands in Los Angeles, and they were in the forefront of that movement which lasted a couple of years.
After Rain Parade
Rain Parade
The Rain Parade was a band active in the Paisley Underground scene in Los Angeles in the 1980s.-History:The band was founded by college roommates Matt Piucci and David Roback in 1981, originally as The Moving Sidewalks. David's brother Steven Roback joined the band shortly thereafter...
's first album and tours, Roback left the band. He then became involved with ex-Dream Syndicate
Dream Syndicate
The Dream Syndicate was an alternative rock band from Los Angeles, California active from 1981 to 1989. The band was associated with the Paisley Underground music movement.-History:...
bassist Kendra Smith and formed a new band called Clay Allison
Clay Allison
Clay Allison was a Texas cattle rancher and gunfighter. He is one of the best known historic figures of the American Old West.-Early life:...
in 1983. The recordings from the summer this year remained unreleased until the 1989 release of Opal Early Recordings.
After Clay Allison's 1984 tour, the band decided to go with a name change, and went from Clay Allison to Opal, whose sound was defined by Roback's spare, distorted guitar work and Smith's vocals. They released the Northern Line
Northern Line
The Northern line is a London Underground line. It is coloured black on the Tube map.For most of its length it is a deep-level tube line. The line carries 206,734,000 passengers per year. This is the highest number of any line on the London Underground system, but the Northern line is unique in...
EP in 1985. SST Records
SST Records
SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was initially called Solid State Transmitters through which Ginn sold electronics equipment...
signed Opal and released their album Happy Nightmare Baby
Happy Nightmare Baby
Happy Nightmare Baby is the debut album by the American band Opal, released in 1987.-Track listing:# Rocket Machine 4:24# Magick Power 6:14# Relevation 2:53# A Falling Star 1:21...
on December 14, 1987. During the Opal tour in December 1987, Smith left the band. She was replaced by Sandoval, and they toured Europe through early 1988. Roback and Sandoval had an intimate relationship at this time and after Opal was disbanded, they took the remaining members of Opal and changed their name to Mazzy Star.
Since 2001, Roback has permanently resided in Norway.
Additional musicians
The other contributors to Mazzy Star include:- Kurt Elzner – touring guitarist
- Jill EmeryJill EmeryJill Emery is an American artist and former musician based in Los Angeles, California. Best known as the bassist for the alternative rock band Hole from 1990 until 1992, Emery left the band after the subsequent tour for the band's debut album, Pretty on the Inside and was replaced by Kristen Pfaff...
– bass - William Cooper, real name Will Glenn (1957–2001) – keyboards, violin
- Suki Ewers – keyboards
- Keith Mitchell – drums
Discography
- She Hangs BrightlyShe Hangs Brightly-Personnel:Music*Peter Blegvad – composer, "Blue Flower"*William Cooper*Keith Mitchell*Anthony Moore – composer, "Blue Flower"*Paul Olguin*David Roback*Hope SandovalProduction*David Roback – producerDesign...
(1990) - So Tonight That I Might SeeSo Tonight That I Might SeeSo Tonight That I Might See is the second studio album by the dream pop band Mazzy Star, released on October 5, 1993. The album's first track, "Fade into You," was the band's only single to make the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at #44...
(1993) - Among My SwanAmong My SwanAmong My Swan is the third album by the band Mazzy Star. Although Among My Swan did not contain any US Billboard Hot 100 hits like its predecessor, So Tonight That I Might See, this album did garner the band its highest-ranking single on the UK Singles Chart, when "Flowers In December" reached #40...
(1996) - TBA (2012)