Gameboy Groove: An Inside Look at Slow Cozy's Latest Release
March 25th, 2023 // Tulsa, OK
Photo by @shot.by.jaden
Tulsa-based indie/pop group Slow Cozy has officially dropped their latest single, "Gameboy," a perfect lil’ taste of what's to come from their upcoming EP, "Dopamine Dreaming." The band, comprised of Tazmen West, Logan Meldrum, Jason Bauer, Gavin Wendland, and Tyler Burke, is set to take listeners on a journey.
Drawing inspiration from their own childhood memories, particularly those spent with siblings and friends, "Gameboy" encapsulates the essence of 90’s/early 2000s nostalgia, reminding us of carefree days spent playing video games and exploring the world with more wide-eyed wonder.
As Slow Cozy sets to debut their new music, they're not doing it alone! The release of "Gameboy" comes ahead of their EP release show at Riverside Studio on March 29th. The band has curated an eclectic lineup of supporting acts and even given us a 90’s dress code!
But, "Gameboy" is just the beginning. Slow Cozy's forthcoming EP, "Dopamine Dreaming," is an exploration of revisiting childhood memories, living in the present moment, and navigating the complexities of love and loss. According to Tazmen, the EP is a reflection of life's journey, from whimsical beginnings to the harsh realities of adulthood. "...I think that's life, you know? It's important to visit all those aspects."
In our interview with lead singer Tazmen West, we got insight into the band's creative process, the inspiration behind their music, and their journey as musicians in the Tulsa music scene. From the evolution of Slow Cozy's sound to the challenges they've faced along the way, he shares candidly about the band's growth and aspirations.
Honey Punch Mag: New name, new sound– Can you take us through the evolution of Slow Cozy? I know a lot of us have been following you since the Roots of Thought days!
Tazmen West: So, we had been Roots of Thought since we were 17 and I'm 31 now. I think after a certain point of trying with Roots of Thought, it had a lot of old ties and a lot of grit and groundwork and kid-ness to it. You know, we were just like a garage, psychedelic, rock band. When Covid really hit everybody and just shut down the music industry for like two years, it just felt right to try to rebrand. Also, we had added Jason, and he had been adding a new element to our sound. We kind of felt like the songwriting was changing and the sound was changing enough to where we needed to go “Alright, why not rebrand? Why not cut a lot of these old Roots of Thought ties and try something new and fresh and see if it makes a difference?”
‘Cause really, Roots of Thought, I know that it did mean stuff to people- people connected with it. I was hoping that if we changed to Slow Cozy, that they would still come with us and I think a lot of them did. It just felt right at the time.
HPM: There are so many bands that keep the same name and identity while still exploring a new look and sound. Do you feel that it was important to the growth of the band start over with the new name and clean slate?
Yeah, I do think it was. It was kind of like a reminder that, like, “Hey, are we all in this together still?” And when we changed the band name and started making new merch and started writing new songs, it was like, “Yeah, we are all still on board.”
I had come up with probably a hundred different band names, no joke. And there'd be one out of five that would say no. Slow Cozy was the first one where all five people said, “Well, actually..” and I was like, “Are you serious? This one of all the ones that I came up with.” Which is too bad, because there were some good ones. Maybe they'll become songs. But, I'm happy with Slow Cozy.
We love that all of the promo for, “Gameboy” and the EP has a very “childhood memory” vibe. What inspired that specific nostalgic theme and how have your personal experiences influenced the songwriting process?
I feel like when I want to write a song, I don't always like consciously choose what I'm gonna sit down and write about, you know? You start writing some of your feelings and then it starts to shape into “Oh, I think I know where these feelings are coming from.” It really is like therapy for me in a way- you sit down and you start writing and then it starts to blossom into something that you didn't know that it would be. Luckily for “Dopamine Dreaming,” a few of the songs had an underlying theme. Lately, I've just been feeling super nostalgic.
I've been wanting to revisit childhood memories. I think you can relate because you grew up with a sister as well, but I have one sister and I'm a ‘92 baby, she's a ‘93 baby. Growing up, we lived out in Coweta, so it was literally just me and her out in the country. She was my video game partner, she was my play outside partner. Those were just some of the best memories of my life.
I wanted to put that out there for the first time I think, because I've never expressed that in music. I want her to know that, I want my mom to know that. I sat down to write “Gameboy” in my apartment by myself and I didn't expect it to turn into that.
The next single is also very ‘90s kid throwback. Once I do get a hold of the theme and the idea, executing it is the harder part. Finding people that want to help you bring that vision to life like Street Juice (Laura Webster) really helped us bring that to life. It was fun and luckily my drummer Gavin, he's a big kid, so he still had a lot of this stuff like the Nintendo 64 the Game Boy.
The title "Dopamine Dreaming" suggests a very introspective exploration of emotions. How have you shaped the narrative of the EP? Was “Gameboy” the first song that you wrote and you went from there? Is there an overall theme of it that you hope listeners will connect with?
Surprisingly, I think there's three songs on this EP that we, kind of wrote and pulled together around the same time we got a grant. When we got that money, we knew we wanted to write more songs. We had a few in our pocket already- there’s a song on this EP called “Eggs and Bacon” that Logan wrote maybe three or four years ago and we thought that it fit. And then there's another song, “Gold Ceilings,” that was a collective writing that me, Logan, and the band wrote probably three years back as well.
So, we've kind of been carrying some songs with us just to see what their place would be. Somehow, they just fit this theme for us. I think the underlying theme is like, we start off in life very whimsical and then life kind of drags you on this journey through love and loss and figuring yourself out. It starts off super cute, and then it ends with a song about my grandma passing. I think that's life, you know? And I think it's important to visit all those aspects.
Let's talk about your upcoming show where I’m hoping we’ll hear all these new songs! What has your experience been in regard to collaboration and the creative scene here? The lineup has some of our favorite artists on it!
I was happy that all of them said yes, because we admire so many people that make music here in Tulsa. When you've been making music for so long, you know the grind. You know what it takes to write songs. You know what it takes to put yourself in front of a crowd. You can't help but appreciate all the other artists in Tulsa and there are some killers here. The fun part though about building a bill is finding people you think make sense with the style of music that you play.
Lexi? Total Powerhouse. Logan plays in MORE&MORE too, so it feels like a brother-sister band now. And Manta Rays! I mean, they're so good. I just love playing with them, very high energy. Jackson's a super cutie and so is Britt. It all just makes sense for the bill. We also have Earl Hazard who is gonna, this is kind of top secret, but he's gonna rap on a song with us. He did on one of the singles. The same thing with Heartspace, an OKC artist who did backup vocals. Just being able to share the stage with them, all under one roof, is going to be so fun. I'm so excited.
You all say you're influenced by bands and artists like Glass Animals and Tame Impala- all those good ones! How do these influences manifest in your music while still, maintaining your unique sound? How do you pay homage to your inspiration while also doing something that hasn’t been done?
I think, more recently now than ever, Glass Animals showed me that you really can have freedom with sampling stuff and bringing it in and I wanted to do that. On How to Be a Human Being, they did so many things that I was just like, “Oh shit. I didn't know that you could do that in music.” And so, I was like, “Yeah, I'm going to implement that in some of my new stuff.” And then people like Tame Impala, you know, he's always hitting those like really high notes and I wanted to do some of that. I want to sing, I want to draw out some of my words. I want to hit some falsettos, see how that sounds with us. And I think it sounds pretty cool. A lot of these songs are going to be us, but they're going to be different and that’s because of that exploration and freedom we allowed ourselves.
What are some challenges you’ve faced establishing yourself as a band and doing it all in Tulsa? How have you overcome them?
If we go way back, I mean, I'm just a kid from Coweta who graduated from Broken Arrow. I wanted to join a band and I didn’t understand what that really meant. You know, when I first started, I was 17, I just wanted to write songs and make music with my friends in a garage. We did that for years and we would play on the outskirts of Tulsa because we didn't even know what downtown was yet. We had to work our way to the heart of what the Tulsa music scene is. We had to fight our way from BA all the way into downtown Tulsa. And we were like, “Oh, this is where the music is.”
Did you guys have any kind of pathway or a mentor to help guide you in a general direction?
I don't know how we figured this out. We used to play venues that no longer exist anymore. I don't even remember how we were finding our first gigs. We definitely had some people point us in the right direction, but I really feel like we had to find out a lot of things the hard way, including figuring out that you're worth something. All of a sudden people are following you for some reason to these venues and they're paying you in beer, and since I'm 18-19, I'm like, “Great! Yeah, pay me in beer!”
I feel like this is always a really hard thing for creatives to navigate- you know your worth but you also want to take every opportunity you get! Was there a specific moment or turning point where you realized you needed change that?
Once we started selling tickets, we realized we were part of the reason people were showing up. It's a fair thing to request because you're not just showing up and playing music- you have to market it, you have to pay someone to make the poster. We used to print hundreds of posters, we still will for shows, and we'll just gorilla style hang them up everywhere. And we do it all ourselves! We don't have a street team. Venues don't expect you to do that. So yeah, there's a lot of groundwork that goes into putting on a successful show, I think.
How are you going to really bring the vibe of “Dopamine Dreaming” to next week’s show?
Every single one of the songs that are on the EP are being played, which kind of adds to my nervousness because we haven't played these live before. And now I'm encouraging, we'll see how that works, but I'm encouraging everyone to put on their best 90's outfit just to completely throw it back, you know? Show up with your Tamagotchis and your Pocket Digimons. Your full-on Britney Spears or Spice Girls outfit!
Anything else that we can expect between now and August when the EP comes out?
We're doing a single release every five, six weeks. And then in August we'll release the final song and all the songs that came before it will make up the full EP. We've never had the opportunity to have this many songs like slow roll, so we're just going to try this out!
How can our Honey Punch Mag readers, support you?
Come to our shows, listen to our music, and if you like it, tell somebody. And maybe buy merch every now and then!