Mini Interview with Oneida - playing ATP curated by Deerhunter with Rhys Chatham in June
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Oneida play ATP curated by Deerhunter alongside Rhys Chatham at Camber Sands, UK this June - tickets are on sale now.
Name Of Artist: Oneida
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Year Formed: 1997
Bio:
Legendary composer Rhys Chatham, “who toys with the expectations of amplified guitars so mirthfully in his punk-influenced orchestrations” (New York Times), is joined by the “Brooklyn psych alchemists” (Pitchfork) Oneida, whose performance at the recent All Tomorrow’s Parties USA festival was called “some of the best music I heard all weekend” by Ben Ratliff in the New York Times.
An early innovator and stalwart of the Brooklyn underground music scene, Oneida has been making genre-defying, decidedly uncompromising music for over a decade. Unhindered by limitations of time or energy, Oneida has also become known for their epic all day improvisational performances, most notably at recent All Tomorrow's Parties festivals. Their latest project is a triptych of albums collectively called Thank Your Parents started in 2008 with Preteen Weaponry, followed by 2009's triple-album Rated O and completed with 2011's Absolute II.
Do your best to describe the sound of your band in one sentence:
Despite the unmistakable, unspoken challenge to drop some Faulknerian 1500-word sentence here, let's just say that Oneida sounds like the roiling of molten iron in the crucible from which it will be forged into the anvil that finally destroys the Roadrunner.
What are the most recent activities of your band?
Recording, mixing, and releasing "A List of the Burning Mountains" (listen on spotify); performing a dual fifteenth-anniversary show with Black Dice in Brooklyn; recording a full-length album in collaboration with Rhys Chatham.
How excited are you to play this event?
We have achieved the heretofore unknown-to-us level known as "tickled".
Do you have a connection with Deerhunter / an idea why you were chosen to play?
Well, we did play with Deerhunter at the Earl in Atlanta in 2005. They probably misremembered the show and thought we were one of the good bands they played with eight years back?
Which of your releases do you feel ATP attendees should check out first?
Since we're playing with Rhys Chatham, if you like the show I would definitely recommend our upcoming album together -- but it's probably not out yet, so instead you should probably buy "Rated O", the triple-album that encapsulates the widest range of our music.
Is there one of your tracks you think specifically represents you best?
No, it's all transcendent.
Are there any other currently confirmed bands you're excited about seeing?
Tons! Two worth noting here: the Broadcast/Ghost Box performance because I'm interested in what James Cargill is up to these days; and Pere Ubu, one of my all time favorite bands whose new record is really rad!
If you were curating, name three bands you'd want to play your event...
Not all bands, but here's the top three on the current wishlist:
D'Angelo
Cecil Taylor
Dead at 24 (reunion)
If you could pick one record release in the last year which would you recommend?
Robert Hampson: Suspended Cadences (on Editions Mego). He's made plenty of interesting music in the last few years, but this speaks to me really powerfully, maybe because of its improvisational origins, though I'm not totally sure about why I love it so much. But get that shit, it's great.
What have your previous experiences at ATP been like? Any favourite memories?
Lots of great memories, but Oneida has a special fondness for ATP because of the support we've been given in mounting our "Ocropolis" performances, in which we've gotten to play continuously for 10+ hours, joined by various festival attendees. Particularly memorable for me was playing with Dead C at Minehead a few years back -- a great, shambling noiseblast wreckage of collaboration that forced everyone in both bands to reach outside.