ONO at Bootleg Hill Honey Meads -- October 7.
Friday, October 7, 8 p.m.
Bootleg Hill Honey Meads, 321 East Second Street, Davenport IA
Led by core members vocalist travis and multi-instrumentalist P. Michael, the musical collaborators of ONO headline an October 7 concert event at Davenport's Bootleg Hill Honey Meads, the group – still performing 42 years after its inception – offering a unique combination of experimental noise and industrial music with gospel and spoken-word performance.
Prior to joining the group, travis (né Travis Dobbs) grew up playing piano in church and singing spirituals in his home of rural Mississippi. He served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War, a formative period during which he experienced severe racial discrimination and sexual violence. Native Chicagoan P. Michael, meanwhile, grew up in a musical family that included several noted jazz musicians, and prior to forming ONO, he studied music and visual art and worked in academia. ONO began with the meeting of travis and P. Michael in 1980. An early supporter and friend of the group was Al Jourgenson of Ministry, through whom they met scholar, performance artist, and musician Shannon Rose Riley, and who has subsequently worked with the band from the '80s to the present. The name "ONO" was derived in part from onomatopoeia, to emphasize the non-musical, "noise" character of their sound.
The group developed a unique juxtaposition of industrial musique concrète and junk-metal percussion alongside spoken word and liturgical organ. P. Michael's music was largely inspired by The Stooges and The Velvet Underground, whereas travis' vocals drew inspiration from Mahalia Jackson. During their early years, ONO played extensively in and around Chicago, both solo and alongside acts including Lydia Lunch, Cabaret Voltaire, and Naked Raygun. They performed both in music venues and non-traditional spaces such as art galleries, a wedding, and the smoldering ruins of a still-burning house.
From the beginning, ONO performances featured a prominent ritualistic and theatrical element. The group frequently utilized confrontational and subversive imagery, including religious and occult iconography, drag, blackface, and other symbols of racial oppression. After early recordings were passed over by Wax Trax!, ONO began a relationship with Joe Carducci's Thermidor Records which produced two albums, and from 1986, the project lapsed into a period of inactivity lasting over 20 years as group members shifted their energy toward other arts and academic projects.
During their time of inactivity, however, awareness of the group and its work developed and their records become highly sought-after. Re-activation of the group was prompted by support from writer and musician Steve Krakow, who interviewed the group for the Chicago Reader in 2007 and featured them in his "Secret History of Chicago Music" column. Since their return, ONO has played both in the U.S. and internationally, released five new records (most recently 2018's Your Future Is Metal and 2020's Red Summer), and received positive attention from prominent music press including The Wire and the Recording Academy.
The musicians of ONO play their Davenport engagement on October 7 at 8 p.m., additional sets will be performed by Nonnie Parry and Blue Movies, and more information on the night is available by calling (563)345-4400 and visiting BootlegHill.com.
