Janie Gallegos
- Jun 7, 2021
- 5 min read

"Diggin In Your Mouth," by Bazerk!

Alt/Punk/Metal/Hip-Hop, and Reggae band Bazerk have toured with the greatest of the great and are releasing song after song in warp speed. Are you ready to listen to some new tunes? No need to fear, Janie is here to bring you some dope new music! #newmusic #artist #love

Bazerk, has toured with iconic artists such as Prince, George Clinton, Ludacris, KRS-One, 311, Wu-Tang Clan, Fishbone, and The Black-Eyed Peas! Bazerk, has released their new Mixtape with DJ Mark Luv entitled, Diggin’ In Your Mouth, explaining; "This is for all of the people that have never heard us before. I outdid myself again”! Bazerk has also released their single and music video entitled, Have Mercy 2 (The Orchard/Sony Music), along with a remix of, Turn Off The Radio!

Zu, aka Dwayne Phelps, may have begun his life in Jamaica, Queens, but knew that LA was the place he wanted to be in order to pursue them. He eventually moved to LA and hustled everyday to make his dream of music become his reality! Zu explained; "I’m from Jamaica, but we moved to Indiana for my dad's job. I [later] moved to LA to get away from my crazy ass family. I took my experience of hustling on the streets to LA and hustled my music on the internet. I took every opportunity to collaborate and put my music out there. I hustled from the time I woke up and during my lunch breaks. I hustled all the time; Music is my life”.

When I asked Zu where the name Zu came from, his answer was very simple. "My friends would say I was nutty, crazy, and out of my mind for branching out of hip hop and doing my own thing. The name Zu just stuck. I only use Dwayne Phelps when I'm cashing a check; That's my government name”. He went on to explain the meaning of the band's name, Bazerk; "What do you think of when you hear Bazerk? Wild and crazy right? That's what Bazerk is, wild and crazy. We aint no regular shit”!

But how did Zu begin his journey? ZU’s journey began long ago with a band named, Parliament Psychedelic. In the late 80’s, Zu was invited to a concert at the LA Sports Arena. He was watching a performance of the one and only, George Clinton. He knew at that moment that music would be his life. Zu continued; "I saw him in five different costumes. George was doing everything against the grain. I knew at that time that I wanted to do music and I have been doing music since then. I did hip-hop for a while, but I wanted to make something more interesting for me, so I branched out on my own”.

Parliament Psychedelic, began gigging all over LA while gaining notoriety at every joint. "I have always liked Prince. One night we were performing at a club in LA called, Glam Slam West. That night, Prince happened to be there celebrating his birthday. We played for two hours. After the show, Prince came backstage and told me; Whatever you guys are doing, keep doing it. They will follow.” Zu continued to recall this amazing experience; "I shook his hand and never saw him again. I like Prince because he is very diverse. He didn't just do one thing; One album was pop and one was funk. He didn't brand himself with one kind of music.”

Zu went on to continue making a name for himself by winning 17 Battle of the Bands! On his 17th battle, one of the judges happened to be George Clinton.

"He invited me to his hotel room after the show. We took a sound byte from my phone and recorded, Headphones. I toured with him for like a year and then branched off to take my music to Germany, Japan, and Australia. When I came back from overseas, I had gained notoriety in the states which gave me even more momentum to keep going. I put my music on Spotify and SoundCloud, gaining over 2 million views. I had no manager and no label, so I continued to hustle everyday. The tools are out there to be used, you just gotta use them. I have access to the internet and a brilliant mind to get my music out there, so that's what I did. Publishing companies started to hit me up. They wanted to use my songs in the movies. Hello America, was used in the 2012 movie, Donners Pass. My songs are on games, TV shows, and commercials! I was like, go ahead, let’s go! I felt good, so I went to Pizza Hut and had a Mt. Dew to celebrate...by myself.”

Zu continued to do Zu while making all of his dreams come true. He began accepting applications for his new band, Bazerk! He sent out emails and auditioned potential future members explaining; "All members bring a special touch to the band. There are a total of 5 band members; There’s me, David De Luna (Looney), Fred P. Funk, Mr. A.M.P Wild, and DJ Icee”.

Bazerk, has just released their seventh album entitled, American Made Monster. Zu explained the name of the album in very simplistic terms; "Man, we are all over the internet and our numbers are rising. I’m like, this dude is a monster, my band is a monster. We are from America and are flooding the internet. That's a monster! How is this monster doing this without any help? Because I'm a monster at getting this music anywhere I can”.

Let's add to this greatness by announcing that concerts, for the most part, are back in action!!! Bazerk, is working hard to make sure that you can catch them live super soon! In the meantime, you can watch their virtual live concerts on VOD at FlealeeTV! Tickets are only about $10.00 so get yours pronto. Stay inspired team! Work your hustle and don’t give up. Zu made sure that he gave two shits about what anyone else thought and made his dream come true. You can do this too! Until Next Time… Stay Golden Team!

Fun Facts with Zu:

"I got slapped by Redman.”
"In our downtime, we like playing basketball and talking shit to each other. Sometimes, we go bowling and talk shit about each other's moms.”

Bazerk’s Goals: