Ozric Tentacles are, simply put, legends of the UK underground.
One of the most influential bands to emerge from the UK’s festival scene, “The Ozrics” layer ambient and ethereal landscapes with freeform dub trips, incredible rave grooves, and psychedelic progressive rock. Their aim is not just to make truly unique and culturally diverse music, but to harmoniously unite all in attendance, and create portals for astral travel. Most fans and listeners report feelings of euphoria, an immediate connection to nature as well as others around them, and intense feelings that they have transported to other dimensions or met with other-worldly beings. It’s an open exploration of music and the soul.
In their 30 + years, the Ozrics have experienced the vicissitudes of the rock and roll life. The band has flourished through a number of line-up changes, spawned several side projects (including Eat Static and Nodens Ictus), created their own record label (Dovetail & Stretchy), put out close to 30 albums, scored a hit record, and sold over a million albums world-wide. And yet, the basic motivation behind the band’s existence has never wavered.
A campfire at the Stonehenge free festival in 1983 witnessed the birth of Ozric Tentacles. It was there that synth player Joie Hinton, stumbled upon brother’s Ed Wynne (guitar) and Roly Wynne (bass), performing in a band known at the time as Bolshem People, along with drummer Nick ‘Tig’ Van Gelder (Jamiroquai). From that very first jam session, a healing musical presence was evoked that has since been a trademark of the Ozric Tentacles. It’s a signature blend of hippy aesthetics and raver electronics with spiralling guitars, textured waves of keyboards, midi, samplers, and super groovy bass and drum rhythms. Having no vocals or lyrics, the multi-ethnic musical references leave the underlying meaning of each song or improvisational moment entirely up to the listener’s own interpretations.