Mazzy Star was formed in Santa Monica, California in 1989 from the group Opal, which consisted of David Roback (guitarist) and Kendra Smith (bassist). Hope Sandoval, a friend of Roback’s, became the band’s vocalist after Smith departed the group. Roback composes most of the band’s material.
With its roots within California’s Paisley Underground movement of the 1980s, Mazzy Star’s genre has been listed as alternative rock, dream pop, psychedelic rock, acoustic, ambient, and shoegazing. Mazzy Star has been active during the following years: 1988-1997, 2000, and from 2010 to the present (2013).
Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You” was a mainstream hit; it received much airplay, as well as being played often on MTV and VHI. In 1994, it peaked at #3 on Billboard’s Modern Rock chart, and to date it is the band’s only single to make the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at #44. In the UK, “Fade Into You” reached #48 on the UK Singles Chart.
Along with Hope Sandoval and David Roback (who produces the band’s music), 2013 band members include Suki Ewers (keyboards), Keith Mitchell (drums), Colm O’ Ciosoig (bass), and Josh Yenne (pedal steel guitar/guitar). Former members include Kurt Elzer (touring guitarist); Jill Emery (bass); and the former keyboard player and violist Will Glenn (AKA William Cooper), who died in 2001.
What follows is from Wikipedia.org:
Hope Sandoval
Hope Sandoval was born in 1966 and grew up in a Catholic Mexican-American family in East Los Angeles, California. 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."
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'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.
