Rocks Off reached out to the artists playing this year's Houston Press Music Awards showcase Sunday, August 5, and asked them to introduce themselves. Here's what they sent back.

Catch up with the other showcase nominees and see the rest of our HPMA coverage

Rocks Off: When and where was your first gig in Houston, and how did it go?

Sean Ozz: Our first gig was at Fitzgerald's. At the time we did not have a guitarist. just two bass players so it was an odd lineup. Drums, vocals and two bass lines. It went over really well with the crowd, and especially the other musicians playing that evening. It was unique, to say the least.

RO: What Houston-area venues do you play most often?

SO: We have played more at the 19th Hole and Fitzgerald's than any other location in Houston so far.

RO: How often do you play in the area?

SO: We try not to play more than once a month in Houston or surrounding areas.

RO: Describe your sound in eight words or less.

SO: Early goth/alternative meets post-punk modernized.

RO: How did you come up with your name?

SO: I have been doing visual art and tattoos for a living under the name The Abyss since I lived in Huntington Beach over ten years ago. It seemed fitting a few years ago when we started making music to just stay with that name.

People already associated it with me, and it seemed to fit the sound we created together. The Abyss is the primal chaos before creation.

RO: Where would you like yourself or your band to be in one year? Ten years? Forty?

SO: One year: Playing major festivals across the state. Ten years: earning royalties off ten different albums. Forty years: On a beach in the Virgin Islands with a tall glass with a tiny umbrella sticking out of it.

RO: What is one thing you'd like to do (as a musician) before you pack it in?

SO: I would love to share the stage at Red Rocks in Colorado with The Cure.

Dive into the Abyss online, on Facebook, and at ReverbNation here by pressing the words that are highlighted in blue, ya big dummy. Haven't you been on the Internetz before? Jeez...

The Abyss plays the HPMA showcase 7 p.m. Sunday, August 5 at The Dirt, 1209 Caroline.