OXES
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| OXES | |
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| Country | United States |
| Years active | 1999 – Present |
| Genres | Math Rock Post-Punk Metal Instrumental |
| Labels | Monitor Records (US) |
| Members | Marc Miller Natalio Fowler Christopher Freeland |
OXES (Born August 16, 1999) are a Baltimore instrumental rock band. Its members are part of what's known as "the Baltimore Rowdy Collective" who stage practical jokes usually involving a confrontational and outlandish racket in public places. These happenings are comparable to the Lettrist Scandals and Luther Blissett.
Their music has been called math rock or post punk but they haven't been known to subscribe to any genre. However all of their recordings and shows are instrumental.
In all of the bands early performances Marc Miller (guitar), Natalio Fowler (guitar) both stood on large black boxes (or pedestals) towering over the audiences (a nod to the superiority complexes of rock bands). The guitarists would occasionally step down from the boxes to walk into the audience and stand in front of individuals in the crowd (while still playing) attempting to make them feel uncomfortable. This was later aided by the much self-publicised acquisition of wireless guitars. Christopher Freeland (drums) would intermittenly get up from his set and barge around the stage, mumbling incoherent babble, only to sit back down and lunge into another song. The two guitarists, Marc Miller and Nat Fowler, are noted for having the birthdates of Jimi Hendrix's birth and death dates, 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 SXSW performance, Entertainment Weekly named them the "Blue Man Group of rock."
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[edit] The Space Odyssey
In the fall of 2004, the group began doing an encore that consisted only of a recreation 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 of the film, and Marc Miller and Christopher Freeland began a free jazz rendition of Also sprach Zarathustra (Richard Strauss). Natalio 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 SXSW 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.
[edit] 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 Radar. The A-side of the record was performed by OXES. The B side was, again, OXES - this time impersonating (fairly convincingly) Arab on Radar, acquaintances of former. The unusual idea allegedly came about during practice sessions for the record, whereupon OXES happened to write some songs bearing aural-similarity to Arab on Radar, subsequently recording and releasing the record as an OXES/Arab on Radar split, unbeknownst to the latter band.
[edit] The Old Navy T-Shirt
In the Spring of 2006 the clothing company Old Navy 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.
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.[1]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Ron Cassie, "Baltimore band sues Old Navy for image theft", Washington Examiner, August 11, 2006.
