Dazy Head Mazy is not an overnight success story. In fact, its 11-year existence has been full of bizarre turns and twists. Writing a theme song for Mankato, Minn., braving a tornado and enduring multiple lineup changes have all been milestones in its career.

Lead singer and guitarist Will Bauermeister said that the band started in 1995 when he and friend Doug Gerdes left their previous bands to form Dazy Head Mazy.

“It went over [with our previous bands] about as well as it could have gone, I suppose. They weren’t jumping up and down about it, but they were curious to see what was going to happen with [Dazy Head Mazy],” he said.

The bands name, as one might guess, is taken from the Dr. Seuss book “Daisy Head Maisy.” Bauermeister said the band’s original bass player was a huge Seuss fan, and he agreed upon the name without objection because he didn’t initially think the band would last very long.

“I wanted our name to be called ‘Phone Cops,’ but Dazy Head Mazy has grown on me over time. I don’t mind it,” he said.

The band’s regular gigs in the Twin Cities area have made it a Midwest favorite, and according to a review from Shakefire.com, it has a friendly sound similar to the likes of Dave Matthews and the Barenaked Ladies.

“Dazy Head Mazy ended up being extremely catchy and I just couldn’t hate them,” said the site’s reviewer. The band’s sound transcends multiple genres, which have probably been a factor in earning it multiple “Best Pop Band” awards from the Minnesota Music Association.

Dave McGlaughion, the band’s manager, said he originally met the band as a fan. After doing some odd jobs for them, he quit his day job because he became so confident in the band’s eminent success.

“So I’m your typical clean-cut, all-American college grad from University of Minnesota that decided he believed in a band so much he quit his job and took a more flexible job so he could run away with a rock ‘n’ roll band, and has never regretted it once,” McGlaughion said.

He said the band takes a very business-oriented approach to things, thinking things through very seriously and even going on a yearly retreat to reprioritize itself.

While on the road to locations as far off as Atlanta and New York, the band has had some experiences it’ll likely never forget.

“We got harassed by a tornado once. [Eric] Moe, our bass player, was driving and we were minding our own business in a rainstorm and he goes ‘Hey, that cloud ahead of us is triangle shaped and it looks funny.’ The next thing I know, the cloud has moved to the other side of the road and was growing and getting closer and closer to touching the ground,” said Bauermeister. He said there was a lot of laughter and a lot of [shouting] “Oh my God!”

Another time while on the road, the band was at a party in a cornfield when a band member [whose name was undisclosed] said something that was taken the wrong way.

“We were chased back to our van and they started shaking it after we got in it. It was really bizarre,” Bauermeister said. The band is currently playing as many shows as it can, providing enough revenue to pay the band’s bills. Each of the band members also have separate day jobs.

“I work at a YMCA camp in Hudson, [Minn.] and I freelance at another nearby camp called Camp Omega,” Baurmeister said. He does environmental education for middle school students and team-building for corporations, and although he said he hasn’t wrestled any grizzly bears – he has had interesting experiences as an outdoorsman.

“We’ve seen some broken legs, we’ve seen super young campers trying to pick up girls. We call it the ‘Axe effect,'” he said.

“They’ll get all sprayed up, thinking they smell great, and these four foot tall campers will go to the campfire and try to pick up girls. As counselors, we think that’s hilarious.”

Other band members currently work day jobs as diverse as selling real-estate and fixing computers. McGlaughion said it’s only a matter of time before the band kicks it up to the next level and starts putting full-time effort into touring and recording.

“It took us a while to get a grasp on the industry, but in the end, it’s no different than any other business. If you do what you’re good at persistently – and you do it long enough – the success will come,” he said.