★ About MellowMoodz ★

Roots. Rock.
Rhythm. Soul.

MellowMoodz is a personal music discovery site built around the bands, songs, shows, recordings, and sounds that have been riding with me since way back.

The name has been with me for a long time. I have used the mellmoodz handle for over 20 years, and MMZ has followed me through different versions of music, creativity, and life online. I first started mellowmoodz.com back in 2004, when my then-girlfriend, now wife, was pregnant with our first child. I figured I needed a hobby that would keep me home more, so I decided to learn how to make websites.

At the time, there really was not anything quite like the idea I had in my head. I wanted to build something around the music I loved — the bands and artists that mixed roots, rock, reggae, dub, punk, hip-hop, island rhythm, soul, and live-show energy before the sound had a neat label.

Family started to grow, time got tighter, priorities shifted, and even a stay-at-home hobby had to make room for building a life. The site never became what I imagined back then, but the love for the music never went away.

Over the years, other sites came along and did amazing things for the scene. Places like The Pier and Sugarshack Sessions helped create space for this music to grow, connect, and reach more people. I respect that. But MellowMoodz was always still sitting there in the background — part unfinished idea, part personal archive, part something I knew I wanted to come back to when the time was right.

Now the time feels right.

My wife and I still make live music a priority. We try to get to at least one show a month, and now we have been able to bring our teenage daughters along to some of those shows too. They grew up hearing this music in the house, in the car, and everywhere in between. They know most of the artists I love by sound, even if they did not always know the names at first.

What You'll Find Here

MellowMoodz is a fan-built space for music discovery, artist spotlights, playlists, show notes, live recordings, local music, and personal recommendations.

The focus lives somewhere between roots-inspired rock, reggae, dub grooves, hip-hop influence, island rhythm, soul, alternative sounds, and the kind of live-show energy that makes you want to keep digging for the next band.

Some artists here are foundational. Some are current favorites. Some are newer discoveries. Some are local or regional names more people should know.

The goal is simple: pass along good music.

Why Local Music Matters

Every band that sells out arenas now started somewhere smaller.

They started in bars, clubs, side stages, opening slots, and local scenes where only a few people were paying attention. That is part of why local music matters so much to me. You never really know when you are watching the early version of a band that will mean something to a lot more people later.

The first time I saw Slightly Stoopid, I had to fly out to California to make it happen. They were still a three-piece band then and were not touring much past Colorado, so a buddy and I flew out to stay with a friend who was going to school in Long Beach. In March of 2003, we caught them at a bar called Kozmo's in Huntington Beach.

That kind of thing sticks with you.

Over the years, I also got to connect with artists like Knowledgeborn07, Mike Pinto, and Rob D from Part One Tribe when they were still starting out and trying to make a name for themselves. Those early connections are a big part of what shaped how I listen to music and why I still care about finding artists before they are on everyone else's radar.

MellowMoodz will always make room for smaller artists, regional bands, opening acts, and the names you hear before everyone else catches on. Supporting local music is not just a slogan here. It is part of the whole point.

The Live Archive

Over the years, I have also recorded quite a few live concerts. Some of those recordings are part of my own personal history with this music, and I want MellowMoodz to become a home for that archive.

The MMZ Live Archive is where those shows can live with context — artist, date, venue, city, notes, memories, and the feeling of being in the room. It is not just about storing recordings. It is about preserving moments from the scene.

The Mood

MellowMoodz is for longtime fans, casual listeners, playlist diggers, show-goers, and anyone who still remembers where they were when a song first hit.

It is old-school and current at the same time. It is personal, but meant to be shared. It is about the songs that shaped the past, the artists in rotation right now, the recordings worth preserving, and the discoveries still ahead.

Good songs. Good stories. Good moodz.

That is the whole idea.