Joseph "Joey" Mazzola is a guitarist

Guitarist

A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...

, songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

 and is probably best known as a founding member of the American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 band Sponge

Sponge (band)

Sponge is a post-grunge band from Detroit, Michigan formed in 1991 by Vinnie Dombroski, Mike Cross, Tim Cross and Joey Mazzola. Sponge was signed to Sony Records in 1994 but have since switched to other labels....

. He is currently a member of The Detroit Cobras

The Detroit Cobras

The Detroit Cobras are an American garage rock cover band from Detroit, Michigan, formed in 1994.-History:The Detroit Cobras signed with Sympathy for the Record Industry and released their first full-length album, Mink Rat or Rabbit, in 1998...

 and The Sugarcoats.

Sponge

Mazzola, a Detroit native, spent five of the hardest years of his life on the Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 club circuit. When he decided to return home he hooked up with Vinnie Dombroski

Vinnie Dombroski

Mark “Vinnie” Dombroski is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist and main songwriter for the alternative rock band Sponge. He has also fronted various Detroit-based bands throughout his career.-Sponge:-Albums:...

, with whom he had played earlier in his career. Almost a year after the Loudhouse breakup (Vinnie and the Cross brothers' original band), around the end of 1992, Mazzola sat in on a jam session above a Detroit drugstore with Dombroski and the Cross brothers, Tim & Mike. The four clicked and Sponge was formed. Since Sponge had already formed before actually finding a singer, Dombroski filled in at the mic temporarily, but so impressed that Mazzola & the Cross brothers that they agreed to make him the singer. With the addition of drummer Jimmy Paluzzi, Sponge was born.

Personal

Mazzola graduated from Mount Clemens (Michigan) High School in 1973. He has one daughter, Rose "Casper" Mazzola, who currently lives in Florida. She is a musician in her own right, having been a member of The Distillers

The Distillers

The Distillers were an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1998. They released their first two albums on Hellcat Records/Epitaph Records before moving to Sire, part of the Warner Music Group. The Distillers were originally formed by Australian-born Brody Armstrong , a woman with a...

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