OXES
Encyclopedia
OXES are an instrumental rock
band from Baltimore, Maryland. Their music has been called math rock
or post-punk
.
OXES are part of what is known as "The Baltimore Rowdy Collective" which stages practical jokes, usually involving a confrontational and outlandish racket in public places. These happening
s are comparable to the Lettrist
scandals and Luther Blissett
.
s) towering over the audiences, a nod to the superiority complex
es of rock bands. They would occasionally step down from the boxes to walk into the audience and stand in front of individuals in the crowd (while still playing) in an attempt to make them feel uncomfortable. This was later aided by the much self-publicized acquisition of wireless guitars. Drummer Christopher Freeland would intermittently get up from his set and barge around the stage, mumbling incoherent babble, only to sit back down and lunge into another song. Miller and Fowler are noted for having the birth and death dates of Jimi Hendrix
respectively.
While the band retained its use of the large black boxes and wireless guitars, its later shows were marked by lesser accepted ideas of showmanship. However, they still maintain a certain level of audacious and silly stage presence. After their 2002 South by Southwest
performance, Entertainment Weekly
named them the "Blue Man Group
of rock."
In late 2004, the group began doing an encore that consisted only of a reenactment of the opening scene for 2001: A Space Odyssey
, introduced by the drummer as a one-act play and a new direction for the band. The two black boxes where stacked longways to resemble the monolith in the film, and Miller and Freeland began a free jazz
rendition of Also sprach Zarathustra
. Fowler would slowly reemerge from an inconspicuous place in the venue, completely naked, bearing an object resembling or meant to symbolize a large bone. As the musical climax arrived, he would become increasingly enraged, much like the ape in the film, and eventually tear down the monolith and run off on all fours.
The most renowned performance came during the 2005 South by Southwest music festival. Here, the encore was performed beside the stage on a rocky waterfall constructed to look like a jungle, high above the audience. At the end of the performance, the boxes toppled down the tiered levels of vegetation into the audience. The press present at the performance documented the event in several articles across the country as saving an otherwise boring week.
The band are set to more shows in Winter 2011, and have been chosen by Les Savy Fav
to perform at the ATP Nightmare Before Christmas
festival that they co-curate in December 2011 in Minehead, England.
. The A-side of the record was performed by OXES. However, the B-side was also OXES—this time convincingly impersonating Arab on Radar. The unusual idea allegedly came about during practice sessions for the record, whereupon OXES happened to write some songs similar to Arab on Radar's, subsequently recording and releasing the record as an OXES/Arab on Radar split, unknown to the latter band.
released a t-shirt
bearing the image of a flier for one of the bands non-existent previous shows. There was no official word on whether or not OXES or Monitor Records, the band's record label, endorsed this. However, as of May 2006, both OXES and Monitor's MySpace
pages bore an anti-Old Navy picture bearing the slogan "Boycott Old Navy (if you feel like it)", as well as the comment relating to "Old Navy Clothing Store now stocking inferior quality versions of our t-shirts!". However, the seriousness of such a comment is thrown into question by a similar comment, "iTunes Music Store now stocking inferior quality versions of our newest record!" also appearing on OXES' Myspace page. The latter comment may, however, be a comment by the band on the use of unpopular DRM encoding which limits the quality and accessibility of digital music.
On August 9, 2006, OXES and Monitor Records filed a trademark infringement
action in the U.S. District Court of New York
, and are seeking monetary damages as well as a permanent injunction against Old Navy.
Instrumental rock
Instrumental rock is a type of rock music which emphasizes musical instruments, and which features very little or no singing.Examples of instrumental rock can be found in practically every subgenre of rock, often from musicians who specialize in the style, most notably Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Link...
band from Baltimore, Maryland. Their music has been called math rock
Math rock
Math rock is a rhythmically complex guitar-based style of experimental rock that emerged in the 1980s and that was very influenced by progressive rock like King Crimson, Frank Zappa, Henry Cow - and 20th century composers such as Steve Reich and John Cage...
or post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
.
OXES are part of what is known as "The Baltimore Rowdy Collective" which stages practical jokes, usually involving a confrontational and outlandish racket in public places. These happening
Happening
A happening is a performance, event or situation meant to be considered art, usually as performance art. Happenings take place anywhere , are often multi-disciplinary, with a nonlinear narrative and the active participation of the audience...
s are comparable to the Lettrist
Lettrism
Lettrism is a French avant-garde movement, established in Paris in the mid-1940s by Romanian immigrant Isidore Isou. In a body of work totaling hundreds of volumes, Isou and the Lettrists have applied their theories to all areas of art and culture, most notably in poetry, film, painting and...
scandals and Luther Blissett
Luther Blissett (nom de plume)
Luther Blissett is a multiple-use name, an "open reputation" informally adopted and shared by hundreds of artists and activists all over Europe and the Americas since 1994...
.
Live shows
In all of the band's early performances, guitarists Marc Miller and Natalio Fowler both stood on large black boxes (or pedestalPedestal
Pedestal is a term generally applied to the support of a statue or a vase....
s) towering over the audiences, a nod to the superiority complex
Superiority complex
Superiority complex refers to an exaggerated feeling of being superior to others. The term was coined by Alfred Adler , as part of his School of Individual psychology...
es of rock bands. They would occasionally step down from the boxes to walk into the audience and stand in front of individuals in the crowd (while still playing) in an attempt to make them feel uncomfortable. This was later aided by the much self-publicized acquisition of wireless guitars. Drummer Christopher Freeland would intermittently get up from his set and barge around the stage, mumbling incoherent babble, only to sit back down and lunge into another song. Miller and Fowler are noted for having the birth and death dates of Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
respectively.
While the band retained its use of the large black boxes and wireless guitars, its later shows were marked by lesser accepted ideas of showmanship. However, they still maintain a certain level of audacious and silly stage presence. After their 2002 South by Southwest
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
performance, Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
named them the "Blue Man Group
Blue Man Group
Blue Man Group is an organization founded by Chris Wink, Matt Goldman and Phil Stanton. The organization produces theatrical shows and concerts featuring popular music, comedy and multimedia; recorded music and scores for film and television; television appearances for shows such as The Tonight...
of rock."
In late 2004, the group began doing an encore that consisted only of a reenactment of the opening scene for 2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey (film)
2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, and co-written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, partially inspired by Clarke's short story The Sentinel...
, introduced by the drummer as a one-act play and a new direction for the band. The two black boxes where stacked longways to resemble the monolith in the film, and Miller and Freeland began a free jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
rendition of Also sprach Zarathustra
Also sprach Zarathustra (Richard Strauss)
Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30 is a tone poem by Richard Strauss, composed in 1896 and inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical treatise of the same name. The composer conducted its first performance on 27 November 1896 in Frankfurt...
. Fowler would slowly reemerge from an inconspicuous place in the venue, completely naked, bearing an object resembling or meant to symbolize a large bone. As the musical climax arrived, he would become increasingly enraged, much like the ape in the film, and eventually tear down the monolith and run off on all fours.
The most renowned performance came during the 2005 South by Southwest music festival. Here, the encore was performed beside the stage on a rocky waterfall constructed to look like a jungle, high above the audience. At the end of the performance, the boxes toppled down the tiered levels of vegetation into the audience. The press present at the performance documented the event in several articles across the country as saving an otherwise boring week.
The band are set to more shows in Winter 2011, and have been chosen by Les Savy Fav
Les Savy Fav
Les Savy Fav is a New York City indie rock band. Their style is influenced by art rock and post-hardcore. The group is known for the stage presence of lead singer Tim Harrington...
to perform at the ATP Nightmare Before Christmas
All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)
All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset, England....
festival that they co-curate in December 2011 in Minehead, England.
The OXES/Arab on Radar split 10"
Prior to the release of their eight-track album OXXXES in 2002, the band put out a 10" record, billed as a split EP between OXES and Rhode Island noise-rockers Arab on RadarArab on Radar
Arab on Radar are a Providence, Rhode Island based noise rock band founded in 1994. They went on hiatus in 2002. Members of the band went on to form or join the bands The Chinese Stars, Athletic Automaton, Made in Mexico, and most recently Doomsday Student...
. The A-side of the record was performed by OXES. However, the B-side was also OXES—this time convincingly impersonating Arab on Radar. The unusual idea allegedly came about during practice sessions for the record, whereupon OXES happened to write some songs similar to Arab on Radar's, subsequently recording and releasing the record as an OXES/Arab on Radar split, unknown to the latter band.
The Old Navy t-shirt fiasco
In the second quarter of 2006 the clothing company Old NavyOld Navy
Old Navy is an American clothing brand as well as a chain of stores owned by Gap, Inc., with corporate operations in San Francisco and San Bruno, California. It is one of the first major corporations to house headquarters in the new Mission Bay district of San Francisco.Gap, Inc. was run by...
released a t-shirt
T-shirt
A T-shirt is a style of shirt. A T-shirt is buttonless and collarless, with short sleeves and frequently a round neck line....
bearing the image of a flier for one of the bands non-existent previous shows. There was no official word on whether or not OXES or Monitor Records, the band's record label, endorsed this. However, as of May 2006, both OXES and Monitor's MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
pages bore an anti-Old Navy picture bearing the slogan "Boycott Old Navy (if you feel like it)", as well as the comment relating to "Old Navy Clothing Store now stocking inferior quality versions of our t-shirts!". However, the seriousness of such a comment is thrown into question by a similar comment, "iTunes Music Store now stocking inferior quality versions of our newest record!" also appearing on OXES' Myspace page. The latter comment may, however, be a comment by the band on the use of unpopular DRM encoding which limits the quality and accessibility of digital music.
On August 9, 2006, OXES and Monitor Records filed a trademark infringement
Trademark infringement
Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attaching to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees...
action in the U.S. District Court of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and are seeking monetary damages as well as a permanent injunction against Old Navy.
Members
- Marc Miller – guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
- Natalio Fowler – guitar
- Christopher Freeland – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Discography
- Panda Strong 7" (Reptilian Records)
- Split with Big'n (Box Factory Records)
- OXES (2000, Monitor Records)
- Fake split with Arab on RadarArab on RadarArab on Radar are a Providence, Rhode Island based noise rock band founded in 1994. They went on hiatus in 2002. Members of the band went on to form or join the bands The Chinese Stars, Athletic Automaton, Made in Mexico, and most recently Doomsday Student...
10" (Wantage Records) - "Half Half + Half"/"Everlong" 7" single (Monitor Records)
- OXXXES LP (2002, Monitor Records)
- OXXXES CD (2002, Monitor Records)
- OXES EP (2005, Monitor Records)