By BETHANY WIEGAND
BuzzUniverse, hailing from Elizabeth, New Jersey, will bring its eclectic mix of music to the Bullfrog Brewery, 229 W. Fourth St., at 10 p.m., Saturday. BuzzUniverse is made up of six members: Alex Garay, vocals and guitar; Rosie Lazroe, vocals and percussion; Greg McLoughlin, vocals and bass; Dave Migliore, vocals and drums; Brian Ciufo, vocals, sax (bari, tenor, soprano), and flute and Meredith Rachel, violin and triangle.
With a mix of six different personalities, BuzzUniverse has something to offer for everyone.
The group was founded on the philosophy that "music should have no limits and the world's musical evolution should be unflinchingly embraced," according to its website.
In an interview with the Sun-Gazette, Lazroe said that this still holds true.
"We have six extremely diverse individuals in this band who come from six very different walks of life," she said. "The culmination of all that diversity shines when we step foot on the stage as a unit."
Lazroe said that the group incorporates many different influences into its music.
"We'll jump from blues, to Latin, to something beautiful and ethereal right into some good, old-fashioned rock 'n' roll in one performance," she said.
Lazroe cites Gong, King Crimson, Bruce Springsteen, Chaka Khan, Manhattan Transfer and Mozart as just some of the bands influences.
Band members Alex Garay and Dave Migliore have shared a friendship for 20 years and were in numerous bands together before forming BuzzUniverse.
Greg McLouglin joined the duo next, followed by Lazroe herself, and then Brian Ciufo and Meredith Rachel.
"They discovered me about seven years ago when I was singing with New Jersey based band, The Jack," Lazroe said. "I would sit in with BuzzUniverse from time to time and it just evolved into a full time thing for me."
When making music, BuzzUniverse goes through a very organic process, according to Lazroe.
"I'm primarily a writer of lyrics and melodies," she said. "I'll sit and listen to the guys jam or meditate on one of Alex's guitar riffs and kind of fuse myself with the sound and all the energy behind the sound."
To prepare herself for the stage, Lazroe also uses her interest in yoga to help her.
"Individually, I get into some pranayama (breathwork) before a show," she said. "I'm a yogi and a yoga teacher, so I found that experimenting with different types of breath work before stepping on stage enhances my performance."
As a band, the stage is BuzzUniverse's favorite place to be.
"I must say that we enjoy performing. Period," Lazroe said.
BuzzUniverse is on tour on the East Coast. "There's lots of good stuff on the horizon and we plan on getting back into the studio in the near future," Lazroe said.
There is a $5 cover charge for the show.
For more information, visit www.buzzuniverse.com.
