John Wozniak

born on 19/1/1971 in Minnesota, United States

John Wozniak

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

John Wozniak
Birth name John Wozniak
Also known as Woz
Born January 19 1971
St. Paul, Minnesota, United States
Genres Alternative rock, Grunge, Folk Rock, Indie Rock, Pop rock, Psychedelic rock
Occupations Musician, Songwriter
Instruments Vocals
Guitar
Years active 1990current
Labels Capitol Records
Reality Entertainment
Deep South Entertainment
Associated acts Marcy Playground
Zog BogBean

John Christian Wozniak (born in Minnesota on January 19, 1971) is an American musician, best known as the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of the band Marcy Playground.[1] He is the son of a developmental psychologist dad and a free spirited Bohemian mother.

Solo career, Marcy Playground, and Personal life

John a.k.a. "Woz", learned how to play the guitar at the tender age of 14. His first solo effort was Zog BogBean - From the Marcy Playground, recorded in his own home in 1990. In 2006 he recorded his second solo album, Leaving Wonderland...in a fit of rage and while searching for a label to release it on, decided to call it a Marcy Playground album and include new songs recorded with the rest of the band.[1].

Aside from influences such as Neil Young, Paul Simon, and Van Morrison, a major early influence in Woz's life was his high school girlfriend from tenth grade, until his freshmen year in college, Sherry Fraser, now of the band Two Ton Boa. She collaborated with Wozniak on Zog Bogbean, and on the song "Ancient Walls Of Flowers" from Marcy Playground's self-titled album. The song "Sherry Fraser" was written about her. They were known for being good friends throughout high school and would make movies or write together.

Woz moved to Great Neck Long Island in 1994 in order to collaborate with his then friend Jared Kotler, a multi-instrumentalist/music producer. John had written two albums worth of material and began recording what would become the eponymous "Marcy Playground" recordings at Sabella Recording studios in suburban NY. This included the definitive recording of the soon to be hit single "Sex and Candy". More recording sessions followed with John and Jared hiring Dylan Keefe to take over bass playing duties. Over two albums of material were recorded at Sebella by Engineer Ken Goia and these recordings brought the band to the attention of Capitol Records. The band was soon signed to Capitol and began a year long series of club dates in NYC performing live in support of "Marcy Playground". The band then began a radio promotion tour of the US following the release of the first single "Poppies". Shortly after the label then released the follow up single "Sex and Candy". This song became a smash hit, and ended up rising to a then-record of fifteen weeks at number one on the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks chart. Three albums later, the band managed to produce several singles and several other semi-hits. Woz continues to regularly write, record and tour with Marcy Playground, and is credited as being the brains behind the operation. Woz is recently remarried and has a son named Keegan, of whom the song "Keegan's Christmas" is inspired by. He also has a nineteen year old son in Florida named Christopher Lucas.

Other Collaborations

  • On June 6, 1997, at the John Anson Ford Theatre in Hollywood, Woz joined Toad the Wet Sprocket on stage during the band's encore, trading verses with Toad frontman Glen Phillips, to sing a cover of David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust". [2]
  • In 2003, Woz helped produce Canadian rock band Stabilo's sophomore album, recorded at John's studio known as Mushroom Studios.
  • Later that year, Woz would work with Jimi Haha of the band Jimmie's Chicken Shack to write the song "Paper Dolls", a fast punk-sounding song about growing up and being manipulated. The song appeared on both bands albums in 2004.[3]
  • In 2006, Woz teamed up with Canadian hit-maker Daniel Powter ("Bad Day") amongst other musicians to add new flavor to Leaving Wonderland...in a fit of rage, the solo album turned Marcy Playground album.

Quotes

  • "It sounds like a Marcy record... and has recently been spotted around town walking and quacking like a Marcy record, so.... officially now, it's a Marcy record." [4]
  • "Life is beautiful... drink every last drop. Kindness manifests its own majesty, and love is smiling at someone on the street that you don't know."[5]
  • "Frank Sinatra said you can make a career off of one song. And that's true. Unfortunately, that's not what I ever wanted. I just wanted to make music."[6]

References

  1. Prato, Greg. Biography: Marcy Playground. AMG. Retrieved on 19 May 2010.

External links

  • Official Myspace Page

Template:Marcy Playground

This page was last modified 04.10.2010 00:14:16

This article uses material from the article John Wozniak from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.