ROSEWOOD FESTIVAL (GR.) PROUDLY PRESENTS: OSUKARU (SWE)

Osukaru is the brandchild of Swedish guitarist Oz Osukaru (ex. Katana, ex. Eye) who had the dream of creating a Scandinavian / American melodic rock outfit having the "all inclusive" package. After teaming up with Los Angeles based drummer Ryan Coyle in the summer of 2008, a new friendship and musical partnership was forged and the dream was finally within reach.

However, it would take until 2010 before the fruits of their labors would show and the world got to know Osukaru. Aside from Oz and Ryan, the band consisted of Oz's two ex. band mates from Katana; singer Johan Bernspång and 2nd guitarist Tobias Karlsson who both joined the line-up during the spring that year. In August, Oz also found a great bass player during a photo shoot and one audition later, the young, beautiful and talented Emma-Lee Gunnari joined the band. Two months later, the first official CD was released; the EP "GBG2LA" which sold out its limited release of only 1000 copies within a month.

Osukaru quickly became the talk of the town and it wouldn't take long before the 2nd EP "Never Too Late" was released in April 2011. This CD introduced a new singer; Carl "CJ" Johan and the keyboardist Kristofer von Wachenfeldt (ex. Platitude, ex. Seven Tears) since Johan and Tobias decided to focus on their primary band Katana, which released their debut album earlier that year. "Never Too Late" was produced by Oz Osukaru and Carl Dahlberg (Frozen Souls) and it was the first single from an upcoming album, entitled "Salvation". It got nothing but positive feedback and the band signed a record deal with the German label City of Lights. The future did seem to be quite bright for the band.

Halfway into the recording of "Salvation", CJ and Wachen decided to leave the band due to personal reasons. With an album in the making and a deadline to follow, co-producer Carl Dahlberg joined the band as the new keyboardist and it didn't take long before a singer called them up, telling them he was the man for the job. This was Chris Tiann (Dirty Dixxx), a passionate and soulful singer from northern Sweden.


Chris had a back catalogue consisting of metal and sleaze but his heart aimed for melodic rock. He had both the passion and the vocal strength this band was looking for and he proved his point during a pre-recording in August 2011. One month later he was back on the Swedish west coast recording the lead vocals for the new album.

"Salvation" will hit the stores around the world in January 2012 with numerous live shows to follow.

• OSUKARU: Oz Osukaru - guitars / Emma-Lee Gunnari - bass / Chris Tiann - lead vocals / Carl Dahlberg - keyboards / Ryan Coyle - drums
• Read the interview with Oz Osukaru here
• ROSEWOOD FESTIVAL FB PAGE here