O. Children frontman Tobias holds out a massive hand as I greet the band in Brixton’s dingy Windmill venue on a cold January evening. I had heard and read the man was tall (he’s around 6’6”) but his strikingly angular facial features coupled with a sizable frame gives him an aura to behold.
Sitting in a stark East German style backstage shed, somehow befitting of a band that could accurately be described as having early 80s post-punk roots, I set about finding out why exactly they hate been compared to the British forefathers of the genre, Joy Division…
O. Children frontman Tobias holds out a massive hand as I greet the band in Brixton’s dingy Windmill venue on a cold January evening. I had heard and read the man was tall (he’s around 6’6”) but his strikingly angular facial features coupled with a sizable frame gives him an aura to behold.
Sitting in a stark East German style backstage shed, somehow befitting of a band that could accurately be described as having early 80s post-punk roots, I set about finding out why exactly they hate been compared to the British forefathers of the genre, Joy Division…
Starting at the beginning, the band are a combination of Tobias and drummer Andrew’s ex-band Bono Must Die (who counted Peaches Geldof among their trendy/wannabe fans, and they quite reasonably call her “a psycho”). The controversy of that name led to a subpoena being served by a record company and disbandment, “We were playing gigs we didn’t like – I promised I’d never be in a band again” says Tobias.
This all changed after Bordeaux-born guitarist Gauthier was introduced to Tobias via a friend. “At first I was like ‘oh he’s French,’” says Tobias, “but it turned out he was really good at guitar and we liked the same music”. Bassist and down-to-earth Yorkshire lad Harry met Tobias at a “rad” party where they ended up chatting about music whilst listening to Rage Against The Machine until 7am, after Harry spotted “those legs…” walking into a room. Previously Harry had been putting on house and techno club nights on his arrival in the capital after dropping out of Durham uni.
The band were briefly called Sex Pest, “but we thought ‘we can’t call ourselves that’” for some unknown reason., so the boys adopted their current moniker after bonding over a love of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, thus adopting the Aussie musician’s song as their title.
O. Children are keen to point out their influences are wide and varied, ranging from 70s disco and Donna Summers, to Birthday Party and Susie and the Banshees. Their fusion of disco and synth backing tracks from an iPod, layered under Gauthier’s John McGeoch inspired guitar, results in an edgy early-80s electronic sound. While this is not unique, it is certainly made more interesting following the addition of Tobias’ definitely-not-Ian Curtis baritone vocal. Early comparisons to Joy Division annoy the band, which is fair as in fact they are more New Order than the Manchester band’s ancestors.
Drummer Andrew is keen to dispel any Joy Division comparisons: “We’re not a Joy Division rip-off, we’re a pop band with edgy dance tinged elements. Live we play with a backing track and it works. It helps we’re not like Japanese Girls who plug into a laptop and shout ‘penis, penis, penis’ while people dressed as cardboard robots dance around!”
Tobias does admit to a similarity in the early days of the group, however, “I was thinking about this today and thought, yeah maybe at first, I could see it. My voice is kinda deep so I can see the association with Joy Division. But on the otherhand, Ian Curtis did not invent the baritone vocal. The more we’ve played the more our music has matured from making a specific sound.”
The band have been playing in and around London for the past few months, perfecting their sound in gigs to uber-cool East London crowds, although they are keen to broaden their horizons. “We don’t just want a bunch of hot checker babes from Shoreditch knowing who we are,” says Tobias in is Miami/California meets London accent. “The scene is cool, but we have much more musical clout than the scene itself.”
“We want to get into people’s heads, play to everyone. It’ll be a beautiful thing,” Gauthier adds poetically.
They come across extremely ambitious and plan to play Europe soon. “Italy have wanted us to play for a while,” says Andrew, while Harry adds “my friend went to Japan recently and all the girls had our CD” (previous release split single with S.C.U.M.). Plans to tour will have to wait as Tobias mysteriously has had his passport taken away by the law owing to reasons that we can’t go into on these pages. O. Children are playing the long game and have no plans to release an album during 2009 until they have found the perfect record deal which gives them artistic freedom in true punk ethos, plus the bonus of lots of cash “then we’ll sell out and buy yachts!”
Their live set is dominated by Tobias, complete with funk-dance moves and skinny jeaned long legs. Their live sound is different to their MySpace demos. It’s catchier and not quite as intense. Flanking the stage, Harry and Gauthier stand fairly lifeless in baggy sleeveless shirts and crucifixes adorning their chests. Performing to a subdued yet musically discerning South London crowd, O.Children rattle through a five song mini set including the eerie ‘Smile’ which is underpinned perfectly by echoingly deep vocals.
The upbeat ‘Ace Breasts’ seeing Tobias break out those surely soon to be legendary dance moves again, encouraging the paying punters to get their freak-on, which he is semi-able to manage. Their stand out song of the gig is ‘Dead Eye Lover’ with it’s beautifully 80’s synth backdrop, edgy beats and backing vocals that hang on the listeners lips after hearing. ‘Dead Disco Dancer’ is carried by Harry’s catchy, loose bass line at a pace some may find painfully slow, but stick with it and it reaps rewards. This is followed by a smack in the face with Tobias’ massive voice as he’s shouts poignantly, “I am the disco dancer’s son / and through my soul he’s going to linger on”.
With the snap of a guitar string O. Children march off in true pissed off rock and roll style, halting the gig to a standstill.
Live: 4 / 6
Next release: Dead Single EP (Dead Eye Lover / Dead Disco Dancer) - March/April
Label not announced.
www.myspace.com/ochildren
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