Karma Wasp materialized out of a group of friends who jammed every week in the Santa Cruz mountains. After changing form several times, the lineup finalized with Coree Hogan on guitar/lead vocals, Curtis Murphy on keys/synth, Ryan Kistner on bass/backup vocals, and Luke Lucas on drums. <br> <br>Over time, as the bond between the bandmates grew stronger, they became comfortable experimenting with a variety of different styles of music. Their influences include Tame Impala, Led Zeppelin, Tom Waits, Fugazi, and Explosions in the Sky--as well as local San Jose favorites like Smash Mouth and Shinobu. Karma Wasp combined those styles with others to create a sound that disregarded genre boundaries, resulting in a sound that&#39;s aggressive yet playful, cynical yet optimistic, and rough around the edges yet thoughtful at its core.