Griffiths with fellow Craigie Senior High School classmate Shahbaz Rind (Dyna-mikes ) founded Downsyde in 1996. It was the following year that they released a demo cassette Behind the Bucket which topped the independent charts within a week of its release. Optamus and Dyna-mikes met their third and last MC and producer, Darren Reutens Dazastah at Leederville TAFE. The group further expanded adding Damien Allia (DJ Armee), Mathew Cheetham (Cheeky) on bass guitar and keyboard together with Salvatore Pizzata (Salvatore) on drums to form Downsyde. In 2000 they released their debut album, Epinonimous, this was followed by Land of the Giants in 2003 and When the Dust Settles in 2005. The group went into hiatus for three years before releasing All City in 2008.
