Kazzer

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Kazzer, born Mark Kasprzyk, is a hip hop-influenced alternative rock musician and auto sports television personality from Canada. He grew up in Binbrook, Ontario, near Hamilton.

So far a one-hit wonder in Canada, he is best-known for his hit "Pedal to the Metal", which was aired regularly on MuchMusic and MTV Europe, played on contemporary hit radio, hot adult contemporary, alternative rock and mainstream rock radio stations in Canada.

"Pedal to the Metal" was featured on the soundtracks for the theatrical trailer and for a driving scene in the 2003 film remake of The Italian Job, of the 2004 film Catch That Kid and the television series Malcolm in the Middle. It was also featured in the opening "splash" animation and on the soundtrack of the Midway Sports video game NHL HITZ PRO. "Pedal to the Medal" was co-written by Brian West, Grammy-nominated producer for the likes of Nelly Furtado.

For his 2002 debut album Go for Broke, which included "Pedal to the Metal", he was signed to Epic Records (a subsidiary of Sony BMG); the album was released in Canada, Germany, France and Scandinavia and sold around 25,000 copies worldwide in 2003. However, he was dropped from Sony after failing to sell enough copies the album. He is now signed to Linus Entertainment, a leading Canadian independent record label distributed by Universal Records, his second record Broke was released on June 28, 2005.

Kazzer was nominated for New Artist of the Year at the 2004 Juno Awards. He has toured Canada repeatedly including a 2003 MTV Campus Invasion tour which on some dates he headlined and on others opened for Gob. He has performed at concerts and festivals in Europe, and opened for The Roots in Chicago, and for a New York Jets game.

Kazzer is one of many collaborators on Sports Car Revolution, aired on the U.S.-based specialty television channel SPEED Channel. He had a cameo appearance as a redneck in the 2004 MuchMusic comedy road movie Going the Distance. He is also active in judo; he was part of the Canadian National Judo Team and was an alternate for the Canadian team in the 2000 Summer Olympics.